John Ashcroft is a dangerous menace to American values. He doesn't believe in freedom, states' rights, or the rights of an individual to freely practice no religion. His Pentecostal agenda is at odds with the needs of the country and the Constitution, and I call for his immediate resignation for the good of the United States of America which all of us, including Ashcroft, love.

Heroes Thomas Paine Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Franklin Alexander Hamilton

 
LILEKS (James) The Bleat Lileks is as close as we come to a philosopher/poet/parent/pundit and his work is always intense, personal, and finely attuned to nuances that most miss until he points them out. Today's piece on an invasion of Iraq is a masterpiece of balance with the citizens of Iraq on both sides of the scale. He comes down firmly on the side of "dump Saddam". So do I.

The best antidote to terrorism turns out to be democracy and I can't see Bush and company choosing Saudi Arabia as their first test case for imposing elections and freedoms. A democratic Iraq, however, will shed great light on the whole region and Arafat, the mullahs in Iran, and the heretical Saudi princes can all scurry for cover at the same time.

Of all the Al Qaeda members rounded up and herded to Cuba, there isn't a single Muslim representative from India, the world's largest Muslim state with a population of 150 million Muslims.There's something intoxicatingly liberating about living in a democracy where you have the freedom to say and do what you like. We could spend a century racially profiling visitors from the Middle East and still not solve the terrorist dilemma. Far easier and smarter to share the boon of freedom now and let them choose their own futures. It's unlikely they'll choose terrorism.
posted by Dave Roberts at 10:11 AM

 
Mercury News | 08/13/2002 | INS greets New Zealand woman with handcuffs and humiliation I am big, bearded, and travel often. To my surprise I never get checked, never get patted down, and only had to take my shoes off once. During this time I have seen many female seniors being checked, including one particularly frail looking woman in a wheel chair. The story I linked to is a troubling example of bureaucratic idiocy run amok. I never thought I'd say it, but Norman Mineta has got to go.
posted by Dave Roberts at 9:52 PM