You may have a point, Larry. I'm pleased to see the appointment of Colin Powell as Secretary of State, but it made the right-wingers very angry. The appointment of Ashcroft appears to be an attempt to appease the right-wingers. Now, if he had announced the Attorney General first, he could have gotten away with appointing a moderate. Powell is a shoo-in for State, so he could have been announced after the Attorney General.

Can't say I know much about Ashcroft, other than that he was one of the "Singing Senators." What I've read of him seems to indicate that he's conservative, but maybe not irrationally so.

I guess I don't know what to think about the abortion issue. There's all sorts of rhetoric and accusations going around, but very little in that way of factual information that you can really believe. The outspoken people on both sides of the issue seem to be irrational.

I think I'd call myself pro-choice and anti-abortion - which is a position that gets me in hot water with both liberals and conservatives. I think the decision to have an abortion is not one to be taken lightly - but it is a decision that should be made by the pregnant woman, not controlled by legislation. In general, I'd say that abortion is not a good thing, and widespread abortion is an indication that there may be a serious problem in our society. Birth control is a far better solution, but many of the anti-abortion people and the powers-that-be in the Catholic Church are dead set against birth control.

I searched the Web for information about Ashcroft, but didn't find anything that specifically described his opinion on the abortion issue.

-Joe Offer, radical moderate- (nobody likes me - I think for myself and honor no ideology)