S.M. Oliva responds to my post on John Ashcroft’s latest assault on freedom:

“So what exactly is the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats?”

When it comes to the Justice Department, I would say one difference is that the Republicans have shown themselves to be far more vindictive in wielding prosecutorial power. Having followed the antitrust division at DOJ and the FTC, I can say that the Republican appointees enjoy hurting people through state action to a greater degree than the previous Democratic appointee.

The DOJ’s antitrust chief recently told two foreign audiences that he considers cartels a “supreme evil”–a statement that in the context of the nation at war leads me to believe he’s a borderline psychotic. And the FTC has prosecuted over 12,000 physicians on illusory “price-fixing” charges through a campaign of bullying and intimidation that puts the Democratic trial lawyers to shame.

The Democrats are stupid and misguided. The Republicans are full of rage and can’t control themselves. That’s the difference.