His-Own-Party-in-the-Back-for-No-Good-Reason?
The position is open after all, what with Bob Kerrey and Pat Moynihan retiring, and Joe Lieberman adopting a more partisan, team-player tone. Just think. Bob Torricelli. . . First Senate Dem to call on Al Gore not to file any lawsuits in Florida. First Senate Dem to call on Al Gore to drop out of the race. First Senate Dem to publicly say Al Gore blew it and shouldn't run again. First Senate Dem to give John Ashcroft a thumbs up for AG. Do I need to go on?
Attempt Number One: Bush spokeswoman Juleanna Glover Weiss (whom I remember as being quite helpful back when she was spokeswoman for Steve Forbes)said Ashcroft's comments reflected that he "believes in an exact reading on history." He believes in an exact reading on history . . . And that means what exactly?
Attempt Number Two: The Bushies and the Ashcroftians told the AP:
As Missouri governor from 1985 to 1993, Ashcroft signed into law a state holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., the slain civil rights leader; established musician Scott Joplin's house as Missouri's only historic site honoring a black person; created an award honoring black educator George Washington Carver; named a black woman to a state judgeship; and led a fight to save Lincoln University, which was founded by black soldiers.
You know, I also hear he once went to dinner with a black guy from Kansas City. Okay, sorry, that was uncalled for. But really. So Ashcroft was not wacky enough to be one of the one or two governors who tried to veto an MLK holiday bill. And he appointed one black woman to be a judge. I mean, geez, no one's saying Ashcroft is a Klansman after all. I would hope he'd named one African-American to the bench during eight years as governor of a state with a large African-American population.
But, wait, there's more! When Ashcroft thought of running to be the head of the Republican National Committee in 1993, he said the party should be "tolerant" and avoid being "mistakenly portrayed as petty, divisive and mean-spirited."
That's bold -- way bold. More on point is the fact, reported in the AP story, that George Bush, Sr. appointed Ashcroft to his commission on race and minorities in America. And Ashcroft was one of only two of the 40 commission members who refused to sign the final report. Ashcroft said the report's "generalizations about setbacks in progress are overly broad and counterproductive." Hmmm.
I haven't seen the report. But I imagine that since it was sponsored by President Bush it probably wasn't a particularly Afro-centric document, if you know what I mean. Anyway, the point isn't that Ashcroft's a racist. But then that's not the standard, is it? Given all the evidence, let's just say that civil rights enforcement just doesn't really seem like John Ashcroft's cup of tea. And since the AG is the head civil rights enforcer, maybe he just ain't the right guy for the job.
"Your magazine helps set the record straight. You've got a heritage of doing that, of defending Southern patriots like [Robert E.] Lee, [Stonewall] Jackson and [Jefferson] Davis. Traditionalists must do more. I've got to do more. We've all got to stand up and speak in this respect or else we'll be taught that these people were giving their lives, subscribing their sacred fortunes and their honor to some perverted agenda."
So, in other words, if you really want the straight scoop on the nation's past read the revisionist, crypto-racist claptrap printed in the Southern Partisan. Man! This guy's got civil rights written all over him, doesn't he? Ya know, for the first time I'm actually starting to think Ashcroft may not make it.