Jumping To Conclusions

Attorney General John Ashcroft often gets criticism he doesn't deserve, mostly coming from people who would object if he put cream in his coffee. But sometimes, he's just a total idiot. At a time when we're fighting Middle Eastern terrorists, when there are sleeper cells being discovered in Buffalo, when there are more and more revelations about the failures of the FBI and CIA before 9/11, when our airports can't actually screen luggage for weapons, our Attorney General is spending time and money on other things:

The Bush administration asked a federal appeals court Monday to strike down Oregon's assisted-suicide law as counter to U.S. drug law.

Attorney General John Ashcroft is seeking to sanction and perhaps hold Oregon doctors criminally liable if they prescribe lethal doses of medication under the Oregon measure, the only such law in the nation.

Philosphically, this is an issue of personal freedom. Legally, this is an issue of federalism. But the legalities are beside the point; even if Ashcroft has the law on his side, it should be an issue of priorities. Every prosecutor has to use his discretion as to where to focus his attention. Is terminally ill people taking their own lives really one of the top ten problems in the United States? It is one of the top 50 problems?