I learned that John Ashcroft was visiting the Hatfield Federal Courthouse today by the driving in front of it and seeing the masses of protesters with signs like "Please take your jackboot off my neck". Ashcroft is not a popular character in the northwest, especially Portland which George Bush Sr. dubbed "little Beirut" when visiting our fair city.
I was followed by a dozen or so motorcycle police while driving in front of the courthouse. They were part of a larger force (I believe some were wearing actual jackboots) which was heavily armed and wearing body armor. It was very intimidating, and I threw the horns to the protesters for being tough enough to stand of for what the believed in. Ashcroft really represents a lot of things that Portlanders are against: government encroachment on abortion, doctor-assisted suicide, medical marijuana, and freedom from blanket wiretaps. I was really happy to see people out there protesting against him.