Reeves Blasts Ashcroft

In an piece titled There is a Difference Between Dissent and Treason, syndicated columnist Richard Reeves blasts Attorney General Ashcroft: So, the attorney general of the United States tells me: “To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists.” Well, screw you, buddy! What are you trying to say? Are you saying that anyone who talks about civil rights, civil liberties and the freedom that makes us Americans is a traitor in this undeclared but loudly proclaimed war? I have messages for you, Mr. Attorney General John Ashcroft, former governor, former senator and all-round political perpetual: (1) I am no traitor, and neither is anyone else who questions sweeping expansion of government power to search people’s homes and minds; (2) if someone or something has to be blamed and castigated for the breakdown in American security analysis that occurred so horrifically on Sept. 11, we should start with the foul-ups of the government itself in allowing terrorist networks to develop almost openly over the past 10 years.