RIGHT ON ASHCROFT

Wow! David Prather speaks for many in his excellent column on Attorney
General John Ashcroft in The Times on May 15. Ashcroft's pestilent fantasy
of establishing a rigid theocracy must be condemned. Indeed his zealous
attitude overrides accomplishing the tasks described in his job
description. Along with Asa Hutchinson and John Walters, he has been handed
the ever messier policy of drugs prohibition.

He is the bureaucrat handed the King's chamber pot. His job? Declare it
gold and convince the serfs that it is gold. The citizens, er, serfs in
Ashcroft's fiefdom however are beginning to notice an odor emanating from
the proclaimed pot of gold.

If our AG does not understand the law of this land then he is unfit for his
job. Obviously he lacks understanding of state's rights issues and their
correspondence to voter, er, serf mandate.

We did not elect Ashcroft but we know who did and we know who approved his
nomination and they are elected. Or not.

Allan Erickson,

Eugene, Ore.