Boy, this is just plain arrogant.

I've been catching up on some of my news and bumped into an op-ed piece in the New York times from the former Senator and Attorney General, John Ashcroft. You may recall he served as President Bush's first Attorney General before the sorry term of Alberto Gonzales. Mr. Ashcroft argued in his opinion piece that the telecommunications companies that co-operated with the Bush administration by handing over customer information and access to their networks should be protected from legal action--you know, immunity.

Mr. Ashcroft seems to be arguing, and in fact Congress passed such an act, for an ex post facto law, making this legal when the actions, at the time, were of dubious legality.

But the key point of his argument is that the telcos who participated in this violation of our privacy shouldn't be held accountable because they relied on the administration's--and Mr. Ashcroft's Justice Department's--assurances that the data in question were not protected by law. That's just arrogant, to say that they shouldn't suffer the consequences because the Attorney General said so. Each of these telcos has an enormous legal staff that's quite capable of judging the matter for themselves. What's more, they are the putative experts in the field, not the Justice Department.

But here's the part that really makes me angry: Mr. Ashcroft's entire argument is based on the assumption that the executive branch of the United States government is responsible for interpreting the law. Um, excuse me, but what do we pay our judges for? And why didn't the telcos do as Qwest did and simply ask the administration to get a subpoena for the requested information? It's worth noting that the Justice Department, when challenged by Qwest, didn't even bother to attempt to get that subpoena. Presumably, that indicates they knew this wouldn't pass judicial scrutiny.

How dare he make such a preposterous case to cover this abuse? Didn't Mr. Ashcroft attend eighth grade Civics class? They teach these things there, you know.

CDs listened to today:

• Charlie Musselwhite: One Night In America
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 9
• Pixies: Bossanova
• Bill Frisell Quartet: (eponymous)
• Steve Reich: The Four Sections