The Washington Post's farewell editorial to Ashcroft this week bemoaned his "rhetoric which questioned the patriotism of those who disagreed with him." Never happened. "He presided over an alarming roundup of immigrants after the Sept. 11 attacks," the Post also declared. Also never happened. Yes, after the worst attack on U.S. soil ever conducted by men who gamed the immigration system, the Department of Justice acted. But there were no roundups. Some people were sent letters asking them to voluntarily consent to be interviewed. It's fine to think that was bad, but if you call that an "alarming roundup of immigrants," what will you call an actual roundup of immigrants? Genocide?...Posted by dan at November 12, 2004 02:29 PM...By conventional standards, Ashcroft was among the best attorneys general in American history. Violent crime dropped 27 percent on his watch, reaching a 30-year low. Federal gun crime prosecutions rose 75 percent, and gun crimes dropped - something that should please liberals. By unconventional standards his service was heroic. There hasn't been a single terrorist attack since 9/11, despite all predictions by experts and efforts by terrorists to the contrary. Ashcroft was willing to take gross abuse to do what was necessary. Indeed, even the 9/11 commission certified that the Patriot Act was absolutely necessary to fix many of the problems that led to that awful day.
The chorus that treated him so shabbily says it's good such a "polarizing" figure is leaving. Fine. But maybe it's too bad the people who made him such a polarizing figure aren't.