If You Had April 13th In Your BLAME CLINTON Office Pool, You Win!

Ashcroft trotted it out today at the hearings. Blame Clinton. What a jackass.

Ashcroft at Center of Storm Over Sept. 11 Attacks

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft told the Sept. 11 commission on Tuesday the Clinton administration bore most of the blame for the attacks because it allowed the nation's defenses to wither for eight years.

Facing charges he blocked counterterrorism funds in 2001 at a dramatic day of testimony on the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, Ashcroft found himself at the center of a storm over his actions in the months before they took place.

In two staff reports, the panel investigating the hijacked airliner assaults on New York and Washington also leveled stinging criticism at the Justice Department and FBI for failing to meet the growing threat from al Qaeda.

The commission cited a May 10 Justice Department document setting priorities for 2001. The top priorities cited were reducing gun violence and combating drug trafficking. There was no mention of counterterrorism.

When Dale Watson, the head of the counterterrorism division, saw the document, he "almost fell out of his chair," the commission report said. [...]

Ashcroft said the Justice Department was still operating under the Clinton administration's budget in 2001. He said President Bush had proposed the largest counterterrorism budget increase for five years and was moving urgently to upgrade the FBI's antiquated computer systems when the attacks took place.

He said that over the eight years of the Clinton administration, the FBI's technology budget was "starved for funds" and was $36 million below its 1992 level.

This is exactly the sort of thing the Big Dog does not sit still for. Clinton's commitment to this matter is common knowledge by now, and Ashcroft is playing the desperation card, plain and simple. This might be the day when he gasped his last as a Bush hitman - a feeble attempt to put the blame on Clinton. His being a good soldier today will cost him dearly - professionally and personally (as a testiment to his character).

Ashcroft has thrown down the gauntlet. He and his band of thieves in the White House are now fair game, ex-president or not. Go get 'em, Bill.