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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (1455)	12/14/2001 2:26:48 AM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

"John Ashcroft once hailed Confederate war heroes as "patriots," refused to sign a report on minorities in America and rented his fundraising list to Linda Tripp when he was sitting in judgment of President Clinton at the impeachment trial." December 28, 2000 DEMOCRATS READY TO TROT OUT ASHCROFT'S CONSERVATIVE VIEWS chicagotribune.com By John Solomon Associated Press December 28, 2000 John Ashcroft once hailed Confederate war heroes as "patriots," refused to sign a report on minorities in America and rented his fundraising list to Linda Tripp when he was sitting in judgment of President Clinton at the impeachment trial. Now the conservative views of President-elect George W. Bush's choice to be attorney general are being laid out in public as his soon-to-be-former Senate colleagues weigh his nomination. A review of Ashcroft's writings, speeches and interviews found that the Missouri senator and former governor and state law-enforcement official: Opposed federal money for drug treatment, saying government assistance shouldn't further the "lowest and least" conduct. Advocated an increased role for charities in assisting the needy. Fought vigorously against abortion rights. Opposed federal job training money for Americans who don't complete high school, saying a diploma was necessary to "enable workers to adapt and meet the needs of ever-changing technology." Ashcroft's Democratic critics have made clear they intend to focus on his views on race and civil rights. In a 1998 interview, Ashcroft criticized efforts by some historians to portray early Americans, like slave-owning George Washington, as racists, calling them "malicious attacks" and "revisionist nonsense." "Your magazine also helps set the record straight," Ashcroft told the Southern Partisan, a 20-year-old periodical that has published articles defending Confederate figures." "You've got a heritage of .. defending Southern patriots like [Gen. Robert E.] Lee, [Gen. Stonewall] Jackson and [Confederate President Jefferson] Davis," Ashcroft said. At the time, he was courting conservatives for a possible presidential candidacy. "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," he added. During the campaign last winter, Bush's campaign criticized Arizona Sen. John McCain for using a consultant who wrote for and helped edit Southern Partisan, calling the consultant's writings in the magazine "offensive" and "out of line." A Bush spokeswoman offered words of support and explanation for Ashcroft's contribution to the same magazine. "He will be an exceptionally strong enforcer of the civil rights laws as he has been a proponent in Missouri and throughout his career," spokeswoman Juleanna Glover Weiss said. She said Ashcroft's comments reflected that he "believes in an exact reading on history" and that he "holds sacred the legacies of Jefferson, Washington and Martin Luther King." 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. When he considered becoming Republican Party chairman in 1993, he urged Republicans to be "tolerant" and to avoid being "mistakenly portrayed as petty, divisive and mean-spirited." In 1988, Ashcroft would not sign the final report of a 40-member federal commission on the plight of minorities. The report concluded that the nation was slipping in its efforts to achieve equality for blacks, Hispanics and Indians. Ashcroft's office said at the time that he believed the report's portrayal of minorities was too negative, "overly broad and counterproductive." A decade later, Ashcroft found himself under attack from black leaders after he helped scuttle a federal judgeship for Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White, the first black on the state's high court. He said he considered White to be soft on criminals, and noted that during his Senate tenure he had supported 23 of the 26 nominations of black judges. Ashcroft came under fire for accepting an honorary degree and giving the commencement speech at Bob Jones University, which until recently opposed interracial marriages and dating. He said he was unaware of the university's iews when he gave the speech but declined to return the degree. In his book, "Lessons from a Father to a Son," Ashcroft devoted a chapter to the issue of race, writing that his father taught him "race did not deserve our focus" and "wanted to empty me of prejudice by helping me to fall in love with the highest levels of black performance." In February 1999, as he sat in judgment of Clinton during the Senate impeachment trial, Ashcroft's political action committee sold access to his fundraising mailing list to Tripp, who secretly taped former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, so she could raise money for a legal defense fund. Ashcroft earlier rented the same list to Paula Jones, who had sued Clinton for sexual harassment.