The World O' Crap Archive

Welcome to the Collected World O' Crap, a comprehensive library of posts from the original Salon Blog, and our successor site, world-o-crap.com (2006 to 2010).

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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Probably No Topless Women Were Included

I feel slighted and diminished because I didn’t get invited to John Ashcroft’s blogger teleconference yesterday.

Heck, if he would have included me, I would have promoted his self-serving new book (for instance, I would have highlighted his claim that prosecutors botched the Tim McVeigh case. presumably because they didn’t charge McVeigh with failing to blow up the NY Times building).

But no, I was excluded. It’s just like high school again (but in a GOOD way).  However, Mary Katharine Ham, who was invited, blogged about it, so we can all share Mr. Ashcroft’s insights, including this one about why we should get rid of that old-fashioned “three branches of government” thing, and that quaint idea of balance of power.
“I am a little bit uneasy about the courts making assessments about the seriousness of our cirumstances. They are not privy to the intelligence the President is, nor should they be.”
Ashcroft argued with the notion that the Congress is somehow automatically more legitimate or responsive in exerting war powers than the President.
“I think we need to ask, ‘who is the most responsible branch and who is the most responsive?’”
“The President is voted on by many more people than any other public official.”
Paul from PowerLine suggested that the electorate also holds the President more personally responsible for acts of terror committed in the country than it does any single member of Congress.
“I don’t think there’s any question about that. Most members of Congress are not asked to answer to the media in D.C. They go home to the media…The President has to face the national media and, frankly, that’s healthy.”
And that’s why we should just go ahead and make George Bush our “Fearless Leader on the War Against Terror for Life”: because he’s more responsible, more criticized, and because more people voted for him than for all your damned Supreme Court Justices and snooty Senators combined, probably.

I was also impressed with Mr. Ashcroft’s defense of the Patriot Act, which he claims was passed in order to enrich the coffers of the ACLU (really, that’s pretty much what he said).

But if I had been included in the discussion, I might have voiced a minor quibble about this remark:
He noted that pure ignorance keeps people believing that, prior to the Patriot Act, the government couldn’t subpoena business or financial (or any other) records; somehow people have this idea that prior to the Patriot Act, no one could look into your books, even with a court order.
My question would have been “Mr. Ashcroft, sir, doesn’t the Patriot Act give the FBI the authority to look into your records WITHOUT A COURT ORDER?  You know, that part of the Act (Section 505) which allows local FBI officials to grant “administrative subpoenas” to obtain any personal records they deem relevant to an intelligence investigation — and the medical facilities, libraries, hotels, gun dealers, banks and any other businesses have to comply without ever letting you know that your records have been provided.  You know, the part that says that they can do all this without having to appear before a judge, and without having to have any evidence that you are involved in any criminal activity.  Do you recall that section, sir?  And can you discuss it while further explaining what you meant about ”the pure ignorance of the people” who believe that this Act somehow curtails their Constitutional rights?

But I guess that question might have taken away from the fan-boy tone of the event, so it’s probably a good thing I wasn’t invited after all.

7 Responses to “Probably No Topless Women Were Included”

well, if they were I’m sure he’d be happy to spend several thousand $$ apiece to cover them up
Okay, that’s the third time in the past couple weeks I’ve listened to some variation of “the President is elected by a nation-wide vote” routine. But he ain’t, of course, as we all know by now. The President is elected by 538 voters–he has the smallest constituency in the national government.
Am I splitting hairs? Well, excuse me for being correct, as a professor of mine used to say after pronouncing “Van Gogh” like he was coughing up a furball. But then, 1) if you’re smart enough to try to make the argument you’re smart enough to be expected to get it right; and 2) if the Republicans would quit blocking the direct election of the President they’d be free to use the argument as much as they wanted.
S.Z, it’s time you face it. It’s not your political views that kept you out, it’s your raw feminine power.
Think about it, the man is frightened by aluminum breasts and calico cats – of course he’s scared of you.
I have to admit to a certain uneasiness about aluminum breasts myself.
I suspect it would be impossible to determine if these people were more crazy, mean, or dumb without three index cards and a dart.
his claim that prosecutors botched the Tim McVeigh case
Huh? The guy was EXECUTED. We’re not talking OJ here.
Ashcroft is just pissed that they didn’t legalize torture in time to use it on Timmy.
no one asked him why he stopped flying on commercial jets in 01?
Ashcroft is just pissed that they didn’t legalize torture in time to use it on Timmy.
Naah. I’m sure it’s more along the lines of thinking that McVeigh was only doing things that Ashcroft sees as good, necessary, and patriotic, and that the Government had no right to persecute him. He probably also thinks that Eric Rudolph is getting a bum deal.

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