Monday, March 05, 2007

John Ashcroft: Will fight for food

John Ashcroft was Bush's first-term attorney general, and as such is used to having a degree of flexibility in his working life. You know, like being put in a position overseeing the investigation of campaign funding while claims that he abused his position in Missouri to fund-raise on State time (and stationery); and being the chief legal officer for a nation while simultaneously refusing to reveal contents of a memo allegedly offering advice to torturers on how to avoid being prosecuted for abusing human rights.

So, now that he's out of power - oh, up to a point - and looking to get involved in a little light lobbying, it's no surprise he's still spinning round like an elephant in a circle of mice. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ashcroft offered his services to lobby on behalf of XM, helping himself to the company's money ("helping the company through the regulatory hurdles in their upcoming merger with Sirius"). XM - perhaps worried about all that blood dripping onto their carpet - politely declined.

Guess what, though? Ashcroft has taken rejection on the chin - after all, he doesn't care about any of the policy implications, he just needs to top up his pocketbook. So now, he's helping the National Assocation of Broadcasters try to throw some hurdles in the way of XM's upcoming merger with Sirius.

It's not clear if Ashcroft believes anything at all; we probably can't afford the money it would take to pose the question to him.


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