oh happy day!

[lazysmurff]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ush_cabinet_dc

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) and Commerce Secretary Donald Evans resigned on Tuesday in a post-election shake-up of President Bush (news - web sites)'s Cabinet.

Ashcroft, a lightning rod of criticism by Democrats and civil liberties groups over the anti-terror policies implemented after Sept. 11, 2001, said in a handwritten resignation letter that "the demands of justice are both rewarding and depleting" and that the Justice Department (news - web sites) would be well served "by new leadership and fresh inspiration."


Evans, considered Bush's best friend, said "I have concluded with deep regret that it is time for me to return home."


"The president accepted their resignations," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.


Ashcroft and Evans began what is expected to be a fairly significant Cabinet reshuffle ahead of the start of Bush's second term on Jan. 20.


Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Secretary Tommy Thompson, who had earlier indicated he was planning on leaving after the first Bush term, said on Tuesday: "I'm waiting to talk to the president and I will let you know my decision very shortly."

[RSX-S777]

He lost an election to a dead man, was given a cherry job as a result, and now he's resigning from said job. What a turd.

[YogsVR4]

Its to bad he's not staying on, but his replacement is cut from the same cloth so all will be well.

[aloharocky]

Ashcroft did a good job, but four years of this shit wore him out. ALL Americans should be grateful for his service.

[lazysmurff]

dear god. ifyou werent appalled by the things ashcroft did, you werent paying attention.

[LotusDreams]

[aloharocky]

Ashcroft did nothing that appalled me. He just worried the shit out of some crimials.

[RSX-S777]

^You've obviously not heard his singing!

(For thos ewho don't know, he has a cd of bible songs)

[lazysmurff]

Originally Posted by aloharocky

Ashcroft did nothing that appalled me. He just worried the shit out of some crimials.

im no criminal, and he scares me. and if nothing he did appaled you, then i think its safe to assume from now on that you do not value your civil liberties.

[aloharocky]

Exactly what civil liberty did I lose? I asked this question of someone else, and her response was,
"The right to threaten to kill the President." What a loozer. Another one was, "the right to not pay taxes."

[lazysmurff]

many, many of your privacy rights, free speech rights, search and seizure rights, and legal system rights.

if you want an in depth description, buy nancy changs "silencing dissent"

but i'll give you a few more specific examples.

free speech zones: implemented and uphelp my MR ashcrofts justice department, these zones limit the area in which disseneters may hold signs at rally's, speechs, and the like. im sorry, i live in a free speech zone, its called america.

medical history: measures upheld by the justice department now allow certain medical records to be searched without your consent.

privacy in general: although mr ashcroft fought hard (with the ACLU as an ally) against measures to invade your privacy by means of mandatory encription breaking software being provided to the government (measures pushed by none other than john kerry) he now encourages the use of RFID chips. hmmmm

like i said....read up on it. be happy he quit.

[thegladhatter]

Only criminals need to fear the law. Privacy of criminals is not something that keeps me awake at night as long as right thinking people are in positions like the Attorney General.

[lazysmurff]

only criminals must fear the law only in so far as that law does not deny the rights of innocent peoples.

when the law encroaches on the rights of law abiding citizens in the name of "increased survielence" and the like, it becomes a problem.

living in a society that has crime is a sacrifice we must make to live in a free society. i , for one, do not find it acceptable to give up my rights for a false sense of security, and i am appalled that people are actually willing to.

[thegladhatter]

NONE of MY rights have been encroached upon.

[lazysmurff]

yes

they

have

sure, maybe your medical records havent been searched, or your phone tapped (but you wouldnt be told if they were) but they could be. and other peoples have.

doesnt that bug you? doesnt it just hit you at the core to know the very rights you hold so dear are being violated by your government? sure, maybe not you personally, but your protection against those violations is gone.

i fail to see how you are capable of considering yourself a concerned american, yet merely shrug when the basic rights that are at the center of being american are slowly being stolen away from you.