An Open Letter to John Ashcroft

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joyfulgirl

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(old news, new poem)

AN OPEN LETTER TO JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES by Claire Braz-Valentine (award-winning and internationally produced poet, playwright, and journalist)

On January 28, 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that he spent $8,000 of taxpayer's money for drapes to cover up the exposed breast of The Spirit of Justice, an 18 ft aluminum statue of a woman that stands in the Department of Justice's Hall of Justice.

John, John, John,
you've got your priorities all wrong.
While men fly airplanes into skyscrapers,
dive bomb the pentagon,
while they stick explosives into their shoes,
and then book a seat right next to us,
while they hide knives in their luggage,
steal kids on school buses,
take little girls from their beds at night,
drive trucks into our state capital buildings,
while our president calls dangerous men all over the world
evildoers and devils,
while we live in the threat of biological warfare
nuclear destruction,
annihilation,
you are out buying yardage
to save Americans
from the appalling
alarming, abominable
aluminum alloy of evil,
that terrible ten foot tin tittie.
You might not be able to find Bin Laden
But you sure as hell found the hooter in the hall of justice.

It's not that we aren't grateful
But while we were begging the women of Afghanistan
To not cover up their faces
You are begging your staff members to
Just cover up that nipple
To save the American people
From that monstrous metal mammary
How can we ever thank you?

So, in your office every morning
in your secret prayer meeting
while an American woman is sexually assaulted every 6 seconds
while anthrax floats around the post office
and settles in the chest of senior citizens,
you've got another chest on your mind.
While American sons arrive home in body bags
and heat seeking missiles
fly around a foreign country
looking for any warm body
you think of another body.
And you pray for the biggest bra in the world John
because you see that breast on the Spirit of Justice
in the spirit of your
own inhibited sexuality.
And when we women see
our grandmothers, our mothers,
our daughters, our granddaughters,
our sisters, ourselves,
when we women see that
statue the Spirit of Justice
we see the spirit of strength
the spirit of survival.
While every day
we view innocent bodies dragged out of rubble
and women and children laid out
like thin limp dolls
and baptized into death as collateral damage
and the hollow eyed Afghani mother's milk has dried up
underneath her burka
in famine in shame
and her children are dead at her breast.

While you look at that breast John
that jug on the Spirit of Justice
and deal with your thoughts of lust
and sex and nakedness
we see it as a testimony to motherhood
And you see it as a tit.

It's not the money it cost.
It's the message you send.
We've got the right to live in freedom.
We've got the right to cheat Americans
out of millions of dollars and then
just not want to tell congress about it.
We've got the right
to drop bombs night and day
on a small country that has no army,
no navy, no military at all,
because we've got the right to bear arms
but we just better not even think
about the right to bare breasts.
So now John you can be photographed
while you stand there and talk about
guns and bombs and poisons
without the breast appearing over your right shoulder
without that bodacious bosom bothering you
and we just wanted to tell you
in the spirit of justice
in the spirit of truth

John there is still one very big boob left
standing there in that picture.

- Claire Braz-Valentine

statue.jpg
 
Ahem.

With all respect, joyfulgirl, you're making yourself appear very foolish.

First, you lament that Ashcroft is a sexually repressed do-nothing concerned about little more than that silly little statue (a man who PRAYS, heaven forbid), but Danospano says he exhibits "evil, fascist tendencies."

Which is it? He can't be both a dolt AND a villian.

(Certainly, I can't blame you for Danospano's contradictory remark, but I would have thought that the complaints against the man would at least be consistent by now.)


Second, you have posted this timely (cough, cough) poem the same week that Ashcroft announced that we caught a guy planning to assemble and detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb."

How can this be if he's just concerned about that statue?


Finally, I quote:

While every day
we view innocent bodies dragged out of rubble
and women and children laid out
like thin limp dolls
and baptized into death as collateral damage
and the hollow eyed Afghani mother's milk has dried up
underneath her burka
in famine in shame
and her children are dead at her breast.


Three observations:

1) That's a run-on sentence.

2) It's woefully inaccurate of the reality in Afghanistan. In fact, I don't know of this happening once, much less a daily basis; if I wanted to be less-than-nice about this, I would call it a brazen lie.

3) John Ashcroft is Attorney General. He has NOTHING to do with Afghanistan.

Like I said, this poem makes you look quite foolish.
 
i have no opinion on Mr. Ashcroft in terms of politics in either one direction or another. But this did make me laugh.
 
sulawesigirl4 said:
i have no opinion on Mr. Ashcroft in terms of politics in either one direction or another. But this did make me laugh.

this cracked me up too. probably because i think ashcroft is an evil imbecile.

*forwards poem to everyone she knows :evil:
 
Screaming Flower said:


this cracked me up too. probably because i think ashcroft is an evil imbecile.

*forwards poem to everyone she knows :evil:

Sorry, but imbeciles cannot be evil. Again, Ashcroft may be a dolt or a villain or neither - but not both.

And I wonder, will you forward this poem with the full knowledge that it's, um, rather inaccurate?
 
Ashcroft is losing it. The Whitehouse chose and keeps him to placate the extreme right.

Threat of 'dirty bomb' softened Ashcroft's remarks annoy White House

By Kevin Johnson
and Toni Locy

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft on Monday overstated the potential threat posed by ''dirty bomb'' suspect Abdullah Al Muhajir, Bush administration and law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
Ashcroft's remarks annoyed the White House and led the administration to soften the government's descriptions of the alleged plot. ''I don't think there was actually a plot beyond some fairly loose talk and (Al Muhajir's) coming in here obviously to plan further deeds,'' Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told CBS on Tuesday.


There is nothing wrong with being religious.

Ashcroft problem is that he blurs the lines are has no objectivity.

That Karen Hughes was bit off, too. She said she believed the Lord used 911 to unite the American people behind W and raise his popularity. And she knew this because the Lord intervened in the election mess and delivered it to Bush.
 
Achtung Bubba said:
Ahem.

With all respect, joyfulgirl, you're making yourself appear very foolish.

First, you lament that Ashcroft is a sexually repressed do-nothing concerned about little more than that silly little statue (a man who PRAYS, heaven forbid), but Danospano says he exhibits "evil, fascist tendencies."


First, I didn't write the poem.


Achtung Bubba said:
Second, you have posted this timely (cough, cough) poem the same week that Ashcroft announced that we caught a guy planning to assemble and detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb."

Second, (cough, cough) this is why I prefaced the post with "old news, new poem".


Achtung Bubba said:
Finally, I quote:

While every day
we view innocent bodies dragged out of rubble
and women and children laid out
like thin limp dolls
and baptized into death as collateral damage
and the hollow eyed Afghani mother's milk has dried up
underneath her burka
in famine in shame
and her children are dead at her breast.


Three observations:

1) That's a run-on sentence.

Finally, it's a poem.
 
Very quickly:

An imbecile cannot be a villain because the former implies below-average intelligence and the latter demands at least some intelligence - intelligence enough to know the difference between good and evil (and to choose evil) and intelligence enough to actually commit evil acts.

The same logic applies in the criminal justice system, when people are declared mentally incompetent and therefore unfit to stand trial.

Granted, an imbecile and a villain can commit the same acts (the former making a mistake, the latter intentionally causing harm), but I find it very difficult to believe that Ashcroft is simultaneously too mentally slow to take the current state of the world seriously AND an evil fascist.

Again, you people should decide what you think he is, one way or another.


And on the subject of "Ashcroft losing it," deep, you failed to quote the entire USA Today article, including this little blurb (emphasis mine):

Publicly the White House defended Ashcroft, saying he was technically correct.

So the fact that Ashcroft's tone was "too ominous" is overshadowed by the fact that we DID catch someone who, in Ashcroft's own words was "a known terrorist who was exploring a plan to build and explode a radiological dispersion device, or 'dirty bomb,' in the United States."

Ashcroft's losing it? Uh-huh. Right.
 
joyfulgirl said:


First, I didn't write the poem.

Second, (cough, cough) this is why I prefaced the post with "old news, new poem".

Finally, it's a poem. [/B]

It was not at all clear that you weren't the author. Besides, you posted it and signed off on it. You gave your seal of approval and I still think doing so makes you look foolish.

Second, preface it as "old news," but it's still WRONG NEWS. Even then, Ashcroft wasn't just concerned with that statue. The fact that you posted this days after the arrest of yet another terrorist is an added bonus in my book.

Finally, the run-on sentence observation was much less serious than the other two observations, including one I put in boldface, one you apparently ignored. I'll reiterate:

ASHCROFT IS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. AS SUCH, HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS IN AFGHANISTAN.

Maybe those who write poems like the one above (and those who reprint them) should actually study how the U.S. Government functions before criticizing those who hold government positions.
 
Whether accurate or not, I sill love the message of the poem--breasts on a statue ... there are too many other things that our government should be worrying about. Hasn't this image of justice been around for hundreds of years.
 
So many people love to make Ashcroft their Villain.. Isn't this the guy who lost a senate race to a DEAD MAN.. YET Did Not Complain or File some sort of BSladen Suit?... I mean.. can you even begin to think of what a Democrat would have done?.. But I digress.. He was tried to be painted as a racist.. Nope.. that didn't stick.. He had more blacks in his office working than white people.. Hahah.. Now people are whiplashing him for quote unquote exaggerating things with this Piece of Shit Padilla Guy.. Someone had to tell AshCroft these things.. He didn't make up the severity of this threat.. There's some Dark humor in this.. especially when you start throwing the work imbecile around, but I've got more important priorities than.. ah.. well.. Good Day.

L.Unplugged
 
Lemonite said:
So many people love to make Ashcroft their Villain.. Isn't this the guy who lost a senate race to a DEAD MAN.. YET Did Not Complain or File some sort of BSladen Suit

Yes, but isn't the other side of the issue that the electorate would rather elect a dead man than John Ashcroft? That's hardly a glowing reference now, is it?
 
FizzingWhizzbees said:


Yes, but isn't the other side of the issue that the electorate would rather elect a dead man than John Ashcroft? That's hardly a glowing reference now, is it?

The idea was that they voted for the dead man's widow, a woman who - debatably - exploited the death of her husband to gain sympathy and ensure her victory.

But why let facts get in the way of everyone's favorite hobby of crucifying Ashcroft? It hasn't stopped anyone before.

But while I have a moment, let's us now look at the facts:

JessicaAnn said:
Whether accurate or not, I sill love the message of the poem--breasts on a statue ... there are too many other things that our government should be worrying about. Hasn't this image of justice been around for hundreds of years.

JessicaAnn is right on two points:

1) The statue HAS been around for a really long time. In fact, most attorney generals have given press conferences in this same room, in front of the same statue.

And yet, I've never seen a picture Janet Reno in front of the "testimony to motherhood."

(I imagine if such a picture were taken, the juxtaposition alone would have made it memorable, and we would have all seen it thanks to this glorious World Wide Web.)

The fact is, a photographer has to go out of his way to frame the statue in the shot. The fact is, photographers HAVE BEEN GOING OUT OF THEIR WAY to ensure that Ashcroft's face was right in front of "that terrible ten foot tin tittie."

I've personally heard conflicting reports about who covered up the statue - be it Ashcroft or an aide making the decision on his own - but let's assume it was in fact Ashcroft. DO YOU BLAME HIM? After all, he's the Attorney General, not the host of "The Man Show," and I can understand an AG getting a little irritated about being mocked so thoroughly.

Does that mean, though, that he's some sort of pervert, sexually repressed and obsessed about the statue? No, it doesn't seem that way.

(It actually seems that the photographers, Claire Braz-Valentine, and those who post her "poem" are MUCH more obsessed.)

Does that mean that he's not doing his job as Attorney General? No; the facts show otherwise, that he's probably doing the best he can to prevent further acts of terror.

Does that mean that he's not doing his job in Afghanistan? Well, again, he's the Attorney General; HE'S NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

All this brings us to the second point that JessicaAnn nailed:

2) Many people are probably less concerned with reality than with satisfying their deluded images of Ashcroft and others: they love "the message," regardless of accuracy.

What I mean is this: this "poem" paints Ashcroft has a hypocritical, puritanical, sexually repressed "Christian conservative." REGARDLESS of whether the fact bear the opinion out (and they do not), some people here will still cling to the image and forward the poem to their friends.

And THAT is why my attempts to correct other members' skewed view of reality is so frustrating - and why I ultimately spend very little time here: many of you couldn't care less about things such as truth, facts, reality, and rational thought.
 
sulawesigirl4 said:
i have no opinion on Mr. Ashcroft in terms of politics in either one direction or another. But this did make me laugh.

Me too.
 
Achtung Bubba said:



(It actually seems that the photographers, Claire Braz-Valentine, and those who post her "poem" are MUCH more obsessed.)


yes, I'm certain that everyone who reads this thread will walk away with the feeling that joyfulgirl is obsessed with this statue:rolleyes:
 
Why else would you post a poem about such "old news"?

At any rate, if suggesting that was a step too far, I apologize. I've said my peace about that silly little poem.
 
Last edited:
Achtung Bubba said:
Why else would you post a poem about such "old news"?

At any rate, if suggesting that was a step too far, I apologize. I've said my peace about that silly little poem.

I post many things obsession-free. I posted this because I found it mildly amusing, with some truth in it regarding what I feel is a waste of taxpayer money, and l correctly assumed that some other members of this forum might find it amusing as well, regardless of its timeliness. The poem was read publicly sometime this spring and just came to my attention today.

Apology accepted.
 
I guess now we're waiting for the latest.. 'Gore Had the Election Stolen' thread to come to light... My vote's on Dr. Gonzo for that one..

L.Unplugged
 
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