Activist judges should stop actively judging

Outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft railed against "activist judges" last week during his first post-resignation public appearance. The conservative stalwart warned judges who, in his opinion, are "second-guessing of presidential determinations in these critical areas can put at risk the very security of our nation in a time of war."

The term "activist judges" has become synonymous in right-wing circles with all things liberal and wrong with the world. Add in the fact that questioning the President and/or the war was considered "un-American" by rabid Bushies even before George W received his mandate from the masses, and Ashcroft's got a double shot of conservative rally juice.

Thankfully, Ashcroft is no longer the sitting Attorney General, so it's a moot point to say that his call for a blanket judicial "pass" on all war-related decisions made by the Bush Administration is not only reckless but also flies in the face of the balance of powers.

I'm guessing those "activist" judges wouldn't have listened to him, anyway; giving the right-wing "activist" activists yet another reason to assert they should be stripped of their power to judge.