8 January 2003
The Honorable U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Mr. Ashcroft,
I would like to express my thanks to you and the U.S. Department of Justice for the unstinting and often unrewarded efforts that you perform in prosecuting crime and seeking to protect the United States from terrorist acts. You make choices that affect every American citizen, and sometimes you must make difficult choices which ordinary citizens may not understand or easily accept.
A number of months ago, I came across a story about the hanging of drapes in the Department of Justice to cover over a statue of Justice personified, a classical full-torsoed figure, blindfolded, and carrying the sword and scales. While she is a pagan figure with one exposed breast, she represents the ideals of Roman law, which accepted the dictates upon which our own legal system is based: equality of citizens before the law; innocence until proven guilty; and the shared responsibility of all to uphold the principles of the republic. As an ancient history teacher, I feel that she represents much of what America is fighting for in Afghanistan and Iraq. The ideals she represents are high among the things we are protecting from the predations of terrorism.
I ask you, in this new year of 2004, to reconsider your decision to cover over this symbol of the highest values of the Western world. Make this great lady visible again, who is kin to the Liberty who stands in New York Harbor, and the statue of America on the dome of the US Capitol. Please, pull back the drapes and show her to the world as a symbol of what we stand for.
Sincerely, etc…
Re: I suspect…
Any road, the letter goes out today.
it’s perfect.
Yeah, she has…
with luck, lots of people will start writing in, and we can spread this meme to America that she needs to be uncovered. I doubt it will work. Ashcroft seems to think that the US has a statute against idolatry.
Re: I suspect…
Ooo! Oooh! Could I be? Could I be really? Does this mean I’m going to be shipped down to Guantanamo and held without rights?
Oh, wait, no. I know… they’ll secretly observe me and use Cointelpro tactics to get me to conspire to commit acts of violence against the government. Or just bug my phone.
Oh, wait, no. They’ll ignore me until after I commit violence, and then use this letter to justify the stripping of civil and religious rights under the PATRIOT III Act.
I can’t decide which fate is most horrible, actually: being arrested; being duped into horrific actions or spied upon; or just being plain ignored.
Any road, the letter goes out today.
I suspect…
that this officially makes you a terrorist.
I suspect…
that this officially makes you a terrorist.
Re: I suspect…
Ooo! Oooh! Could I be? Could I be really? Does this mean I’m going to be shipped down to Guantanamo and held without rights?
Oh, wait, no. I know… they’ll secretly observe me and use Cointelpro tactics to get me to conspire to commit acts of violence against the government. Or just bug my phone.
Oh, wait, no. They’ll ignore me until after I commit violence, and then use this letter to justify the stripping of civil and religious rights under the PATRIOT III Act.
I can’t decide which fate is most horrible, actually: being arrested; being duped into horrific actions or spied upon; or just being plain ignored.
Any road, the letter goes out today.
Re: I suspect…
Any road, the letter goes out today.
it’s perfect.
Eloquent and beautifully written. 🙂
Good luck! (I hadn’t heard that she had been covered over in drapery. It figures!)
Eloquent and beautifully written. 🙂
Good luck! (I hadn’t heard that she had been covered over in drapery. It figures!)
Yeah, she has…
with luck, lots of people will start writing in, and we can spread this meme to America that she needs to be uncovered. I doubt it will work. Ashcroft seems to think that the US has a statute against idolatry.