Former attorney general speaks to hostile crowd
Speaking to a packed and often hostile crowd Tuesday evening, former Attorney General John Ashcroft spoke about his controversial tenure in office and the future of the United States following the events of 9/11.
“We all know, and every fifth grader knows, the past cannot be changed,” Ashcroft said. “We all know the past can be repeated and we know unless we change the past will be repeated.”
One point Ashcroft spent a great deal of time emphasizing was the new “paradigm of peril” in the United States in the wake of 9/11. Ashcroft said he believes the United States had to make substantial changes in order to combat the threat of terrorism.
“If we don’t want history to repeat itself, we have to change what we’re doing,” he said. “You have to remember, at the outset of the republic, the most lethal of the instruments against the republic was black powder. Now, by contrast, someone with a container as large as this podium might have a nuclear device.”
Immediately after coming on stage, several students from the Students for Peace and Justice stood up wearing shirts protesting the war and the Patriot Act.
Jessica Evans, a peace and conflict studies major from Naropa University who was with the SFPJ group, said her main goal was to show a form of silent resistance to what Ashcroft had done.
“When people don’t feel like they have a voice, human nature is to react,” Evans said. “I think it was an unskillful reaction.”
Evans also said she believes Ashcroft didn’t adequately address many of the criticisms leveled at him.
“The question I had was how do you deal with criticism?'” Evans said. “My impression is that it is still a very real question.”
Ashcroft vigorously defended the Patriot Act, saying Congress asked the ACLU to look into any alleged violations and the ACLU refused to do so. He also said the Patriot Act was vital to securing the information necessary to prevent future terrorist attacks.
“The best friend of prevention is information,” he said. “The truth is, the Patriot Act has helped the United States of America. That’s what the law is for.”
Ashcroft also said the Patriot Act is not unconstitutional in any way despite multiple allegations that the Act robs many people of their civil liberties. Ashcroft said he described the creation of the Patriot Act as “thinking outside the box,” but also said the act is totally legal within the framework of the Constitution.
“Listen, while we’re thinking outside the box, we cannot think outside the constitution,” he said.
Ashcroft was heckled multiple times by several audience members throughout the duration of his speech, as well as the question and answer session following it. Several of Ashcroft’s remarks prompted boos, sarcastic laughs or even yelling. However, most of the audience was polite and encouraged the hecklers to be respectful.
Contact Campus Press Reporter Rob Ryan at rryan@thecampuspress.com
