Now I don't put much stock in polls, and I'm sure other polls say different things, but only someone deeply enmeshed in groupthink could believe that Ashcroft is the most hated man in America. It reminds me of when Richard Nixon said that it's obvious the world's overpopulated since everywhere he goes he sees huge crowds.
The Ashcroft-haters also say that all clear-thinking, liberty-loving people know that Ashcroft's demon child - the Patriot Act - is a Great Evil. The problem is that 99 percent of these people don't know what they are talking about. When I ask people why they think my wife's boss is the devil or what's wrong with the Patriot Act, I get ill-informed mush or untrue propaganda.
Just to be quick: Despite the ACLU's insistence that the Patriot Act gave the executive branch "sweeping new powers that undermine the Bill of Rights," all of the snooping, sneaking, spying and other prying powers allegedly granted to the Feds still have to be approved by judges, as always.
Most of these powers already existed for criminal investigations, but the government thought it might be a good idea to use them against al-Qaida as well as the mob. What about the government's newfound power to read all of your e-mail through systems like "Carnivore"? Well, maybe that should bother you, but the Patriot Act constrained the scope of the government to use Carnivore, not the other way around.
I'm not saying a sane person cannot quibble with the Patriot Act or that you have to be crazy to dislike John Ashcroft. But the rhetoric is so far above the reality on both scores, it makes many people and institutions look crazy.
In fact, the Patriot Act is so reasonable it passed the Senate 98 to 1 and the House by 357 to 66. Indeed, with the exception of Dennis Kucinich, all of the senators and representatives currently running for president on John Ashcroft's back voted for it.
So again, I ask, what in the world are these people talking about?