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Bashing Ashcroft has almost become too easy:

(1) Not only is Ashcroft's flawed plea-bargain mandate the latest in a string that undermines the discretion of his own employees, but it further illustrates his zealous approach to law enforcement as the nation's No. 1 lawman.

The increasingly apparent truth is, Ashcroft is a runaway attorney general who has exploited the war on terrorism to seek more federal law enforcement authority and transform the Justice Department to mirror his heavy-handed brand of justice.

(2) At the Justice Department . . . "you have a group of people in control who really are true believers in incarceration. They have almost religious zeal to see that people get sentenced to prison for a long time."

At the same time . . . in dozens of states with the toughest laws on nonviolent crime, including New York, Texas and California, "people are scratching their heads and saying, `You know, incarcerating people for that long doesn't work.' "