John Ashcroft On Freedom And Security

John Ashcroft, once holding such positions as U.S. attorney General, U.S. Senator, and Governor of Missouri spoke at CPAC 2010 giving his insights on security, freedom, and how the two relate.

He started of by saying, "In this country, the people impose their values on the government instead of the government imposing its values on the people."

He later explained that liberty is the core value of the American exceptionalism. Freedom is an essential, core value that transcends all other values. "We believe in liberty here!" he exclaimed.

Ashcroft said that people often talk about balancing liberty and security. "The purpose of security is to enhance freedom, not compete with freedom," he said. "I don't think freedom should be balanced. Security makes our freedom usable and valuable...If seeking to defend freedom, we lose it, we have lost a battle that it very important to us."

Ashcroft also said that some people in Congress need to get their heads out of the sand, and call a war what it really is - a war. "They're so in love with the vocabulary of the civil justice system," he said