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CONSERVATIVES TURN ON ASHCROFT
Drudge Report ^ | 07/23/2002 | Matt Drudge

Posted on 07/23/2002 6:07:53 PM PDT by Pokey78

CONSERVATIVES TURN ON ASHCROFT
Tue Jul 23 2002 20:58:38 ET

Many religious conservatives who were instrumental in pressing President Bush to appoint John Ashcroft as attorney general -- now say they have become deeply troubled by his actions, the NEW YORK TIMES is planning to report in a blistering Page One spread on Wednesday.

"His religious base is now quite troubled by what he's done," Grover Norquist tells the TIMES's Neil Lewis.

MORE

Several Bush advisers have begun complaining that Ashcroft has projected himself too often and too forcefully. More significantly, they say privately that he seems to be overstating the evidence of terrorist threats, the paper claims.

Conservtives cite Ashcroft's anti-terrorist positions as enhancing the kind of government power that they instinctively oppose.

Norquist: "If there hadn't been this big government problem, Ashcroft would have been talked about as the Bush successor. Instead, the talk is that 'too bad we pushed for him."'

Ashcroft was also criticized by some in the administration for declaring early on that the case of John Walker Lindh was a major terrorist case, the paper reports. Some officials in the Justice Department believed that the attorney general made needlessly harsh public comments about Lindh. The case came to an abrupt end last week, when Lindh pleaded guilty to two felonies and the department dropped the most severe terrorism-related charges against him, treating him as a far less important figure than depicted by the attorney general.

Developing...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gnorquist; grovernorquist; norquist
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To: Pokey78
Any problems I have with Ashcroft are more than overshadowed by his position on the 2nd Amendment.
21 posted on 07/23/2002 6:27:06 PM PDT by caltrop
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To: jwalsh07
Does this mean you won't be reporting suspected terrorists in a community near you?

Of course not, it means that we don't need a massive government program encouraging people to spy on their neighbors.

22 posted on 07/23/2002 6:28:31 PM PDT by ThinkDifferent
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Comment #23 Removed by Moderator

To: Alissa
Mr. Ashcroft should take a leaf out of Rummy's book and retaliate the way Rummy does - talk straight and make the liberal media look like the idiots they are.
24 posted on 07/23/2002 6:30:15 PM PDT by maxwellp
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To: Dog
You're right...Every headline sounds like the Dems at work..aimed at the usual "herd" mentality.

Remember when the Dems insisted that the airport workers be federalized against Bush's wishes. Now they won't give the department the money to put the the new FED employees and detectors in place by the deadline.

What a lot of crap.

Last week the market drop could only be caused by the present administration.

Now Ashcroft..Get the job done but when you do, we're gonna criticize you for everything we can think of.

I'm getting the message that there is something called Political Greed...where being a Politician and collecting those benefits is better than the stock market. A big fat Federal Pension and all the other benefits are the big payoffs (Ask Gary Condit, ask the Clintons...They'll tell you how it works.

How do we get rid of some of these sleezy politicians??

Term limits might be a start!

Sac

25 posted on 07/23/2002 6:30:21 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: ThinkDifferent
Of course not, it means that we don't need a massive government program encouraging people to spy on their neighbors.

How is a telephone tip line a massive government program?

26 posted on 07/23/2002 6:30:23 PM PDT by Texasforever
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To: jwalsh07
Well, what I was referring to was the new TIPS program, wherein the government hires people to spy on those in their community. If someone is buying 5 tons of fertilizer and a Ryder truck, I'm sure as hell gonna talk to the FBI about it.
27 posted on 07/23/2002 6:30:53 PM PDT by Thane_Banquo
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To: Thane_Banquo
At least he allows you the right to have gun in your home to defend yourself.
28 posted on 07/23/2002 6:31:25 PM PDT by wallcrawlr
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To: caltrop
Amen to Ashcroft re the right to keep and bear arms. For his work in clarifying and defending that right alone, he deserves our thanks and support. When he goes wrong, it's because he's let the Clinton holdover DOJ pr staff talk him into acting more "moderate" i.e., appeasing the insatiable media appetite for pc leftist claptrap. Stick to your guns, John.
29 posted on 07/23/2002 6:32:10 PM PDT by Argus
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To: Thane_Banquo
I have a severe problem with Ashcroft okaying using private citizens to spy on Americans and spying on places of worship

Hey! Thane! Then don't go to those places. Stay away from my neighborhood watch. Your idea of an American and most others is most likely at opposite ends of the universe.

30 posted on 07/23/2002 6:32:46 PM PDT by chachacha
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To: Thane_Banquo
I have a severe problem with Ashcroft okaying using private citizens to spy on Americans and spying on places of worship.

I live within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant. On my way to work I drive past a gasoline pipeline/tank farm, an asphalt/propane rail head and the water supply for most of the Raleigh-Durham area.

What's wrong with having one number to call if I see something suspicsious?

I've read too many of these stories where someone spots something bad and goes through hell trying to find an appropriate authority to report it to.

BTW, did you know we're at war? Did you know there are thousands of terrorists in America? Do you know where they'll strike next?

31 posted on 07/23/2002 6:33:46 PM PDT by TC Rider
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To: Pokey78
Ah, John Ashcroft....

He who disbanded the campaign finance task force...which means Chinagate, which means national security. The fellow who sent away that task force's head, Robert Conrad, the same Conrad who told JReno to appoint an IC to investigate Gore. The same fellow who acts in a manner that says its okay to fine the shareholders of Loral $several million while the criminals go free. John Ashcroft, who ignores government corruption inthe lynx fur and BIA backdate corruption.

John Ashcroft, the sanctimonious fraud and dangerous man....and none of these actions were forced upon him by the NYTimes.

32 posted on 07/23/2002 6:35:22 PM PDT by RJCogburn
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To: Ted
So do the people that know him say that he's really a good guy, and really a Christian, and really an honest and trustworthy individual? This is where the conspiracy theories seem to falter: they require the Ashcrofts and Bushes of the world to be profoundly evil, but the people who know them don't find this to be the case.
33 posted on 07/23/2002 6:35:40 PM PDT by Yardstick
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To: Pokey78
If the NYT attacks Ashcroft, it means he's doing a good job. His standing with me just went up.
34 posted on 07/23/2002 6:37:41 PM PDT by tomahawk
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To: Thane_Banquo
So when I'm making a delivery at the Port of Tampa, ans I see some middle eastern looking individuals hanging arounf the Ammonium Nitrate pipe lines, I should just keep my mouth shut...right?????
35 posted on 07/23/2002 6:38:17 PM PDT by TJFLSTRAT
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To: caltrop
after OKC everyone saw thru the set-up and denounced the phoney anti terror law made as a result of it....just because the SAME govt changes the letter from "D" to "R" on its hat and spouts " iam a christian, i am a christian!!" you-all roll over and play dead. and to think i trusted you, my PHONEY fellow americans!!! its all slogans to most of you....take them away and,,,well, you, you're giving away all of your freedoms AND THE GUNS THAT GO WITH THEM, for the power trip of agreeing with the guys with the biggest guns....BUT THEY'RE NOT YOURS!!! so sorry
36 posted on 07/23/2002 6:38:21 PM PDT by truefrankness
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To: LarryM
Norquist is a muslim lackey. He's mad at Ashcroft for going after his terrorist buddies.

But that wont stop people who claim to be conservative from piling on. This should be fun to watch.

37 posted on 07/23/2002 6:38:33 PM PDT by RedBloodedAmerican
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To: Pokey78
Beats being turned on by Liberals.....
38 posted on 07/23/2002 6:40:49 PM PDT by NeoCaveman
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To: Thane_Banquo
the new TIPS program,

I'm with you....a very bad idea.

39 posted on 07/23/2002 6:41:16 PM PDT by RJCogburn
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To: Argus
When he goes wrong, it's because he's let the Clinton holdover DOJ pr staff talk him into acting more "moderate"

Well, that is just a ridiculous excuse for his actions, IMO.

40 posted on 07/23/2002 6:42:58 PM PDT by RJCogburn
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