“To those who scare peace loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: your tactics aid terrorists for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America’s enemies and pause to America’s friends.”

One cannot think words actually mean something then disavow any responsibility for those words. Slander, libel and false alarm steal the freedom of people to make rational judgements; and in the midst of war, to engage in agenda driven mendacity rather than debate the points at hand is the stuff of not disagreeing but being on the other side. Facts, gentle people, debate the facts not phantoms.

Utter and complete drivel. It is those lost liberties that Mr. Ashcroft liked to gather to himself in the name of "security."

He speaks truely, only our enemies want to put this down (and rightly they should, as they aim to destroy us).

Liberty must always be forefront in our minds, as it is she who defines us as Americans. Anything that threatens her therefore is the greater enemy, and the one to whom we must defend ourselves. Never forget that we protect our beloved from threats both foreign and domestic, from both the yammering, stifling majority and the power-wielding minority. When we were British we declaimed British tyranny. Now that we are American we must declaim American tyranny.

Asscroft has proved to be a traitor and counter to everything that America stands for. This quote should be deleted. He was and is a jackass pawn for traitors.

this man should be hanged

This is an attempt to crush Free Speech, a puppet of this regime.

Ashcroft displays here a poor understanding of freedom. Many in government think themselves or the government as an institution to be the grantor of liberty. Neither are. Liberty comes from God and only from Him. We need to remind ourselves often "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men" as well as "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it"

He tries to make it look like our loss of liberties is "conspiracy theory" and not indeed, FACT. He thinks We should all be scared out of our God given Rights of LIfe, Liberty, Property and the Right to Protect all of those at ALL costs.

Those willing to give up a little liberty for a little security deserve neither security nor liberty. Benjamin Franklin

A justification for all of the power grabbing acts done by our past 'leaders' in the name of protectionism - A lie and a falsehood.

John "Asscrack" Ashcroft's quote does not deserve to be in the same company as such great Americans as George Washington Ben Franklin John Adams and G.Gordon Liddy.

Couldn't believe my ears when I heard this. I had no idea how crazy they were. And Ashcroft was relatively sane

Equating any American citizens with terrorists, but especially the ones who value this country for it's supposed freedom and are not silent, is deplorable. GOVERNMENT is a threat to our national security. If we weren't occupying every forsaken piece of land in the world, maybe the terrorists wouldn't have as much thunder behind their hatred of America. Ashcroft = FAIL.

WHAT?? "To those who scare peace loving people with phantoms of lost liberty..."??????? What about "those who scare peace loving people" with phantoms of WMDs, Nigerian uranium supplies, bogus unsupported reasons for invading countries and starting expensive WARS, bogus "security checks" (which are really 'security theater' for the benefit of those very peace loving people scared by Ashcroft and the flawed administration which spawned him and these despicable tactics and outright lies) -- all of which has led to LOST LIBERTY!!! This quote is ridiculous, especially considering its source. "The people never give up their liberties, but under some delusion." ~Edmund Burke

No quote from John Ashcroft belongs in a list of quotes about liberty.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. --Franklin

Only fools believe in sacrificing liberty in return for false security.

Lost liberty isn't a Phantom, in the growing USSA Police State, it's a definate reality.

"... If America ever does seek Empire, ... then planned reforms in our domestic life will be abandoned, States Rights will be abolished - in order to impose a centralized government upon us for the purpose of internal repudiation of freedom, and adventures abroad. The American Dream will then die - on battlefields all over the world - and a nation conceived in liberty will destroy liberty for Americans and impose tyranny on subject nations." George S Boutwell, (1818-1905) American statesman, Governor, Senator and Representative

Ashcroft once lost an election in Missouri to a dead man. Those people in Missouri were smart.

I'm pretty sure that by "terrorist" he meant "freedom-lover", and by "America" and "our" he meant himself and his cronies. That makes more sense, anyway.

It sure does Matthew.

And that lying diversion stated by a Terrorist Extraordinaire.

What a twisted crock of shite. Propagandist doublespeak.

Horrible quote by a horrible man. "Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have." - Harry Fosdick.