THIS KINDA MAKES ME FEEL SORRY for John Ashcroft:

When Attorney General John Ashcroft was lampooned for shrouding the bare-breasted statue at the Department of Justice, many expected he would reverse the eight-year decline in obscenity prosecutions under former President Bill Clinton.

But today, as Mr. Ashcroft prepares to vacate the highest law enforcement office in the land, anti-porn advocates are deeply disappointed with the Bush administration’s record — under Mr. Ashcroft’s guidance — for pursuing peddlers of smut.

That suggests to me that, in a time of war, he’s got his priorities straight. But boy, you just can’t please everyone, can you?