Ashcroft in Seattle this Tuesday

On Tues. July 22nd at 8:30am, people from across Cascadia plan to converge at the Coast Guard Integrated Support Command on Pier 36 on Seattle's waterfront. They plan to protest US Attorney General John Ashcroft and his policies.

Some of Ashcroft's critics contend that he has done more to erode the US Constitution than any Attorney General in US History. Others add that Ashcroft's PATRIOT Act has such sweeping powers that everyone is considered a "terrorist" suspect until proven innocent.

Ashcroft's career as a politician was almost cut short in 2000 when he lost his Senate seat to a dead guy's wife. Jean Carnahan, wife of Missouri's Governor Mel Carnahan who died in a mysterious campaign airplane accident, defeated Ashcroft in a landslide. Ashcroft's unemployment, law background and deep ties to fundamentalist Christian groups made him a prime candidate for Bush's White House.