Ding Dong the wicked Ding Dong is dead...

Or at least on his way out.

Yeah the good news is that Attorney General and terrorism supporter John Ashcroft has resigned.

Why do I call him a terrorism supporter? Well, first and foremost, his administration has been focused on eroding civil liberties - exactly the goal of the terrorists. He claims this has been to protect us from terrorism... but what does he have to show for it? The arrest and conviction of a handful of young men who received military training in an Al Qaeda camp. There's no evidence that they ever intended to use this training for terroris purposes - so their conviction is probably a civil rights violation too.

Additionally, Ashcroft's attack on civil rights has detracted from the business of pursuing and destroying the real terrorist threat. He's got FBI agents checking up on how far you've gotten in the latest Tom Clancy novel instead of running down terrorist leads. (OK, that's a little bit of a stretch, but Ashcroft does argue that the FBI needs to be able to conduct that sort of surveillance.)

And the bad news? Well first, Ashcroft will continue his tenure as the worst AG in the history of the country until his successor is confirmed, which, given the poisonous political environment may take a while. And, second, it's unlikely that we will get to see justice done in the form of a well deserved treason conviction of Ashcroft.

Well, you can't always get what you want.