I protest.

Mendacity and manipulation.

Jeralyn at TalkLeft again shows why I read her site several times a day, with "Ashcroft Defends the Patriot Act." She points at a Washington Post article about Ashcroft's news conference today in Alaska, "Ashcroft Defends USA Patriot Act." In that news conference, he called criticism of the Act "based on exaggerations and falsehoods" and claimed that it "extended to anti-terrorism efforts the same law-enforcement tools that were available to fight other forms of crime." The claim of "exaggerations and falsehoods" is absurd; it is in his interest to deprecate those who criticise him and this is how he chooses to do so.

His claim, though, that the Act only "extended" existing "law-enforcement tools" is a lie. I don't have the time to locate and cite the proof of his mendacity, but the Act at the very least made those "existing tools" much more invasive and much easier to obtain. At least in traditional "murder or drug-trafficking investigations," solid probable cause is required for a subpoena. Now, under the so-called "USA PATRIOT" Act, investigators no longer have to establish probable cause. It's almost to the point that a mere suspicion is enough to garner a subpoena. In some cases even now, subpoenas may be issued for little, if any, reason. Ashcroft knows this. He likes this power and wants more. Therefore he lies when he tries to counter criticism of his beloved Act.

He went on to say,

We use these tools to secure the liberties of our citizens. We use these tools to save innocent lives,

I think the complainants mentioned in the latest Inspector General's report would disagree very strongly indeed with that assessment. So far, as far as I am aware, Ashcroft has shown not one single attack that was thwarted using the powers of the Act. So he is lying on both counts. More, he is playing on the fears of his audience, telling them indirectly that they need to depend on him and on the powers given him by the Act for their safety.

The Washington Post article ends with this sentence (emphasis mine):

The Republican-controlled state legislature in Alaska has approved a resolution condemning the act as an infringement of civil liberties.

So even some Republicans are resisting the new order of things. I'm not surprised; the nastiness from this Administration has become too egregious for even Republicans to ignore, particularly the moderate Republicans. I'm sure that Ashcroft and his buddies in Washington are fuming at this "betrayal." Heh.

Bravo, Alaska!