Your Reading Lists to John Ashcroft
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1/31/04
Attorney General John Ashcroft
US Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington DC 20530-0001

Mr. Ashcroft:

I have become aware of your plans to enact ‘Patriot II’ and I’m actually happy about for one reason: I get to write you and tell you what a load of rubbish it is. Of course, a humble informed person like me could never sway you. I’m sure you and the good ol’ folks down in the Axis of Evil Bush Administration think it is quite American to utilize e-mail monitoring, cell phone monitoring, wiretapping, expanded undercover activities, closer monitoring of bank accounts and credit card transactions, and stronger document checks and physical security for travelers in order to waste money combat terrorism. Now you want to access LIBRARY accounts? George Bush sure has an imagination, if not a brain. Really, would a terrorist just stroll down to the public library and check out a copy of Terrorism For Dummies? No. But here is my reading list, anyway, to show you how ridiculous you are:

1. Lies [And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them]: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right -- Al Franken

2. Dude, Where’s My Country? -- Michael Moore

3. Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations -- Al Franken

4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -- J.K. Rowling *

5. Domain -- Steve Alten

6. Meg -- Steve Alten

7. The Trench -- Steve Alten

8. Goliath -- Steve Alten

9. Jesus Loves You [Unless You Voted For Gore]: A Collection of Republican Bible Tales Re-written For a New Century**

* Please don’t send the army after me and make me recite our CHRISTIAN pledge. I would also hate to have quarters bearing ‘In GOD We Trust’ thrown at me. I know that in the Bush Administration, the First Amendment is void.

**Fair and Balanced Publications: Crawford, Texas.

It’s a new year, so I haven’t gotten much reading in. Please forgive my short list, and remember that regardless of my library records, I HAVE NOT checked out Suicide Bombings: A Beginner’s Guide.

Honest.

Cordially yours,

Christopher Bakka

Dear Attorney General Ashcroft,

In the spirit of DemocracyMeansYou.com's Operation Full Disclosure, I've
decided to include a list of all the books I remember reading in the year
2003. One of the books was borrowe from a friend, whose name I'll include
just to stay out of trouble, but the rest of them were bought by me or were
gifts.

Please keep in mind Ashy (can I call you Ashy?) that I'm going off an
admittedly imperfect memory, so this list may not be entirely complete. I
tell you this so you won't think I'm holding anythign back. Also, I haven't
read all the books I purchased in 2003 yet. I have a lot of books you see.
For example, I just started reading The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester this
year. I got the book in November of 2002. Anyway, enough of that. On to the
list!

Dude, Where's My Country? by Michael Moore
Knight Life by Peter David
Star Trek New Frontier Books 1-4 Collector's Edition by Peter David
Welcome To Percotran by Richard Davidson
Underneath It All by Traci Lords (hey don't laugh, it's a good book!)
The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy
Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy
The Cleric Quintet by R.A. Salvatore
CSI Cold Burn by Max Allen Collins
CSI Double Dealer by Max Allen Collins
CSI Sin City by Max Allen Collins
Total Recall A V.I. Warshawski Novel by Sara Paretsky
Deadlock A V.I. Warshawski Novel by Sara Paretsky
Guardian Angel A V.I. Warshawski Novel by Sara Paretsky
The Beach House by James Patterson & Peter DeJonge
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchet
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind (borrowed from co-worker Mark Miles)
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (the Towers in question are the ones
controlled by Sauron and Saruman BTW. No 9/11 reference here, I swear)
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser
Charmed The Power of Three by Constance M. Burge
The Media Monopoly VIth Edition by Ben H. Bagdikian
The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Warning Signs by Stephen White (a mystery novel set in Boulder, again,
nothing to do with 9/11)
Congo by Michael Chrichton
The Golden Age by Gore Vidal
What Liberal Media? The Truth About BIAS and the News by Eric Alterman
Starship Troopers by Rober Heinlein (borrowed from my Dad, and if you
haven't read it Ashy, skip it. It sucks)
The Darwin Awards by Wendy Northcutt (not actually about evolution per se,
but about dumb people who kill themselves in humourous ways)
Star Wars X-Wing Book 9 The Starfighters of Adumaar by Arron Allston
Star Trek First Strike by Diane Carey
Shadows of Steel by Dale Brown
The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick (actually I got about halfway
through then some punk on the bus stole it. Jerk)
Crashing The Party by Ralph Nader
Global Sense by Ken Freed

OK, those are the only ones I can remember and there are a tleast a dozen
more I read in '03 that I forgot about. If I ever remember I'll send them

31 December 2003

Attorney General John Ashcroft
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Mr. Ashcroft:

Forgive me for taking so long to get this letter to you, but I haven't had
much time for reading or writing recently. However, in order to make life a
bit easier for you this holiday season, as well as for my local librarians,
booksellers, professors, and roommate, I decided to send you my reading
list.

I have recently finished or am currently reading:

1.) The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown.
2.) Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding.
3.) Patterns in Magical Christianity, by Nicholas Whitehead.
4.) Schott's Original Miscellany, by Ben Schott.
5.) Dude, Where's My Country?, by Michael Moore.
6.) Nickel & Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich. (A fascinating look at our
great American economy. I love living in a country where $7 an hour lets me
aspire to be trailer trash! Don't you?)
7.) The Writers' Market 2004.
8.) Magick in Theory and Practice, by Aleister Crowley. (I realize that
Crowley was "the most evil man in the world" (well, till 9/11, anyway), and
that this sounds like some sort of Satanist Harry Potter tome, but it's
actually quite dry. You have much more to worry about from people like
Michael Moore, who can actually write.)

The movies I have watched recently include Love Actually, Mona Lisa Smile,
Escanaba in da Moonlight, Bowling for Columbine, and It's a Wonderful Life.

Mr. Ashcroft, I would like to thank you for your valiant efforts to protect
hardworking Americans, such as my roommate and myself, from the wanton
exercise of Constitutional rights by subversive Middle Eastern immigrants
and/or Green Party members, such as my roommate and myself. It's good to
know our leaders truly care.

Yours,

Dominique Boden

Dear Mr. Ashcroft,
As a citizen of this nation, which could be better, but on the other end could be in worse shape, I would like to let you know PATRIOT II is even less then necassary than PATRIOT I was. I'm not the author of this article so I won't lend you a list of facts that you already are aware of. I am volentarily giving you a list of the books I endulge in so that you can understand that I have nothing to hide:

• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• Into the Wild by John Krieker
• All Quiet on the Western Front
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
• The Universe According To Steven Hawking
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (I found it to be dragged out
  and slow)
• The Oddyssey by Homer (Honestly, did you read this whole book? I cheated a
  little bit)
• Things Fall Apart by Chenua Acabea (forgive me if I spelled that wrong)
• Ghandi: A biography (can't remember the authors name)
• And I constantly visit sites such as Democracymeansyou.com and
  undergroundactionalliance.com

Ther you go Mr. Ashcroft, I hope you enjoy, and i highly recommend Of Mice and Men I've read it several times, and the ending is quite good.

Peace-Love-Unity
Jacob Troxell, A freedom loving american

PS: When can I invade your privacy and challenge your ammedments?

Dear Mr. Ashcroft:

I know you must be very busy with your new Patriot act, hacking into
people's personal records, and talking to all those legal immigrants who
'volunteered' to be interviewed, so you're probably a little swamped right now. I
decided to save you a little time and some taxpayers' money and just send you my
reading list right now. It will save you the time of actually looking it up.
Plus, it's constitutional if I actually volunteer my reading list. I don't want
you to infringe upon my rights any more than you have to. Keep in mind I'm a
perfectly normal high school student. I'm a taxpayer, I have a job (I work at a
library, how ironic) I get good grades, and I'm a National Merit Semifinalist.
I'm not a member of any radical groups, although I am a member of Amnesty
International and support PETA and the World Wildlife Foundation. Here is a list
of books I've read in the past few months:

1. Bobos in Paradise by David Brooks. Great book. Mr. Brooks is a very
talented author, although I'm a bit disappointed by his column in the Times.
2. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
3. Animal Liberation by Peter Singer
4. Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson. I swear I'm not a member of ELF.
5. Mother Jones Magazine. I know this isn't a book, but I thought I'd make
the list as complete as possible. There are coupons for soymilk in this
particular publication, and they certainly come in handy.
6. CDC by William Steig. I read this one to the little girl I babysat and
she loved it. George W. should try it.
7. The Empty Ocean
8. Blinded by the Right by David Brock. A book about evil conservatives.
9. Slouching towards Gomorrah by Bork. A book about evil liberals.
10. World on fire The dangers of exporting free market democracy and how it
breeds ethnic hatred. By ? You really need to read this one.
11. Vegan, the new ethics of eating.
12. High and Mighty, by Keith Bradsher
13. Growing up Empty,
14. Reefer Madness, by Eric Schlosser.
15. Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser.
16. No Exit, by Jean-Paul Sartre
17. Downsize This! By Michael Moore. The man is hilarious, and he's a
genius.
18. Stupid White Men by Michael Moore. Hmmm…. stupid white men…
19. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
20. The Communist manifesto by Karl Marx
21. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K Rowling

I hope I saved you some time and energy by surrendering my reading list to
you. This list may not be complete, for more books I've read check out the 12th
grade Advanced Placement Reading list at my school, and go ahead and check out
my library records. I'm sure you have my barcode and pin number (hint*** its
my birth date) You'll also see I have about 4.50 in fines.

Sincerely, Caroline Barrett

Dear Attorney General Ashcroft,

I wanted to give you the opportunity to view my reading list early in the process of reviewing what the general populace of our country is reading. I didn't want to get lost in the shuffle of random wacko's reading lists. I consider myself to be a fairly average American. I have a job, I vote, I pay taxes, I'm well educated, I come from a very conservative family, I've never committed a crime (other than blocking the front of my own driveway and receiving a traffic ticket for it) and I routinely exercise my rights as a citizen of this country. It's been getting difficult to do that recently because there are a lot of issues floating around that we, as citizens need to be aware of but I am doing my best to be heard. In fact, I have become very involved in politics for the first time as a result of our response to the 9/11 tragedy. Anyway, here is my list of recent reading material:

1. The Nation Magazine - a great source of information about what is really going on in the world and our country.

2. Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the U.S." - incredibly factual information about what our country is based on.

3. "Shakey" - A biography of Neil Young - a pretty good book

4. YES Magazine - A wonderful magazine based on Vashon Island, WA that has great positive ideas on how to deal with these troubled times that we live in. I would highly recommend that you read it. Heck, I'll even buy you a subscription if you are interested.

5. "Police State America" - edited by Tom Burghart. A chilling book

reporting on the militarization of our local police forces in an attempt to keep the general populace (such as myself) from rising up against increased oppression from our government - This is a must read!

6. "Letters to a Young Activist" by Todd Gitlin. A great book detailing the importance of working from within in order to affect change around you. It speaks of the futility of protests and radical movements.

7. Mother Jones Magazine - Yet another great magazine chock full of carefully researched facts that our government would rather we not know about.

8. "Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore. What can I say - the man is brilliant!

I know the above list may seem a little bit heavy but these are difficult times and it is important to stay fully informed. With television in the extremely censored state that it is in, these are the only sources I was able to find where I could get some truthful information. I agree with Carl Estrada that perhaps you should ask folks for info on TV watching patterns (I don't have one); radio listing habits (Democracy Now, Pacifica Radio, The Sports Animal AM 610, NPR); Music Buying (Elvis Presley, The Austin Lounge Lizards, Sweet Honey In The Rock); activism (I am a member of the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center and Stop The War Machine) and raise money for various non-profit groups and individuals who are fighting for the rights of people around the world; and maybe even eating habits (I hate fast food places).

That's it for now - if you need to know anything else about me just give me a holler, my door is always open.

Desi Brown

Albuquerque, NM

Dear Attorney General Ashcroft,

I heard that I should submit my reading list to you. I realize that you are busy implementing president Wolfowitz' plan, but to save time and resources, I thought I'd just volunteer my reading list to you. You may actually want to look into some of these, although they might upset your apple cart.

1. Crashing the Party, Ralph Nader
2. The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks, Randall Robinson
3. Black Wealth/White Wealth, Oliver and Shapiro
4. The Crabgrass Frontier: the Making of Suburban America, Kenneth T. Jackson
5. The Progressive Magazine, January through July editions
6. EVO Magazine (U.K. car mag)
7. The Indianapolis Star
8. The Anchorage Daily News
9. The Peninsula Clarion
10. Hundreds of various cases for law school and internships
11. Environmental Law in Context, Robin Kundis Craig (not yet published)
12. Criminal Procedure, Weaver, Abramson, Bacigal, Burkoff, Hancock, & Lively
13. The Jewish New Testament, David Stern (translation)
14. The Chosen, Chaim Potok
15. Rage of a Privileged Class, Ellis Cose
16. I think you get the picture. . .

I wish to remind you that one of the MANY fundamental principles on which the United States sits is that old maxim, although you may dislike it, "innocent until proven guilty." Usually, the "proving" part happens in court when the prosecutor (you know what they do, right?) meets his or her burden of proof. In a criminal case, it is the highest burden: beyond a reasonable doubt. And hearsay only comes in if an exception applies. I know this is all review, but I thought you needed a little reminder.

Very truly yours,

Jonathan R. Dawes
Intern, Alaska Public Defender Agency
3L, Indiana University School of Law--Indianapolis

"When the black living suffer real and current consequences as a result of wrongs committed by a younger America, then contemporary America must be caused to shoulder responsibility for those wrongs until such wrongs have been adequately compensated and righted." Randall Robinson, "The Debt: What America Owes Blacks"

"The largest federal housing subsidy by far is the homeowner deduction for mortgage interest and real estate taxes...We need universal housing insurance... We must prevent demolition without adequate replacement housing; restore the one-for-one replacement requirement; and lobby for increased [government] subsidies for very low income people...to match those provided for people who are rich." (Florence Wagman Roisman, "The Lawyer as Abolitionist"

"We have to believe that, should we make the effort, our convictions will count for something. This is where a reading of American history becomes so energizing in forming a personal political philosophy." Ralph Nader, "Crashing the Party"

7/20/03
Attorney General John Ashcroft
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Mr. Ashcroft,

I'd like to join my fellow Americans and offer you my reading list in anticipation of Patriot II. I fully support your plans to invade America's privacy and to show that support, i'll save you some snooping and tell you what I'm reading right now! I know you're really busy right now but maybe you can take a few minutes off and try a few of these. If an above-average high schooler like me can handle them they should be no problem for you.

1. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown - It's got a lot of stuff about pagan
religions and goddess worship and stuff but I like it anyway.
2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling - I'm hooked to this series. I mean, don't we all wish that we could have a magic wand?
3. The Princess Bride - S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Golding - This is one of my favorite books of all time. Golding is very good at lying.
4. I, Robot by Issac Asimov - Can't you just picture the whole world being run by super-intelligent robots?
5. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett - I know Beckett was French but I just can't help loving this play.
6. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard - This was
recommended to me by a friend, a Beckett enthusiast. It's really good if you like Shakespeare.
7. Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen - This book is great, it's all about how information is often presented wrongly in textbooks. Can you believe it? Textbooks will twist information or even change it to make America look like the good guy! Shameful - I think every good American should be warned.

Sincerely,
Hannah Kaplan

7/18/03
Attorney General John Ashcroft
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear John,
I just thought I would save you the trouble and give you a start on my reading list. Actually it may not be complete but that is only because I am writing in my office and my reading is scattered throughout the house. Be sure when you send your trespassers out to check that they have plenty of time because it will take a lot of it to look into all my many bookcases. I am working my way through Gore Vidal's book on War for Peace (or something like that); I plan to read his sequel soon. I have just finished the excellent biography on John Adams…. Who was the author? Earlier this year I read Cane River, a fine novel about women and slavery. Forgive me, but I pass these on so am uncertain as to the author. Also read An Italian Affaire. Nice and juicy, that one. I hope to get to Michael Moore's Stupid White Men soon, it's been waiting quite awhile. I am sure you are familiar with that one. Just bought a book about Women Nomads….. By Golden, I think. Earlier, I also enjoyed Ronald Rolheiser's A Holy Longing; Susan Sontag's On the Suffering of Others.

You know, I am tiring of this exercise. Maybe you should just pop in. You'll get a much clearer picture that way. I'll try to leave them out. But I don't read as fast as I would like to. I am much too busy marching and participating in letter writing campaigns.

Yours,
Susan Pyburn

Dear Attorney General Ashcroft,

As the attorney general of the United States of America, you have every reason to know everything about me right down to the books I have read. The Patriot 2 Act you are pursuing sounds like a simply genious idea. After all, one must protect freedom and democracy, and obviously one way to do so is to make sure people are reading safe and wholesome books.

I'm going to save you all the trouble of finding out what I read and tell you flat out what I've read this year, as all good Americans should. I wouldn't want to be unpatriotic!

The Awakening and Selected Stories by Kate Chopin
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Flight #116 Is Down by Caroline B. Cooney
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Caroll
Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkein
The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkein
The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
2002-03 Kent State University Undergraduate Catalog
I hope you will find these to be stellar reads. In general I did. None of these make me a possible terrorist do they? If they do please detain me right away so as not to be a risk to national security. If you also need to know the few movies I watch and internet sites I've visited, just say the word and i'll send you those as well.

Sincerely,

Kourtney M.

7-18-03
Attorney General John Ashcroft
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001 Dear. Mr. Ashcroft,

Along with many other citizens, I have decided to give you a list of my reading materials for this calendar year, saving you from having to search through library lists and half.com. (You'll notice few extremely recent books, I wait until they reach the secondary market, where they are cheaper, as I like to own books, not just read them.)

1. You Can't Catch Death - by Ianthe Brautigan. Tells the story of her father, the suicidal poet Richard Brautigan in loving terms. If you enjoy Richard Brautigan's poetry and prose, this will lead you to further enjoyment of it. Ianthe takes us into a corner of Richard's life that was only seen by his daughter. A loving tribute.

2. The Red Tent - by Anita Diamante. A tale of the Biblical Dinah, from Genesis, and her difficult, often sad, often rewarding life. The Red Tent is the menstrual hut where women were sent to be not seen "during that time" and for childbirth and convalescence from childbirth.

3. Stupid White Men - by Michael Moore. I don't think I've ever been more astonished by what goes on behind our backs. You might be interested in reading it, Mr. Ashcroft, as it points out our own home-grown economic terrorists - mainly large corporations that control the government. Fascinating, scary, something I'm sure the Justice Department is very interested in, the co-opting of our freedoms and choices by megacorporations.

4. Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates - by Tom Robbins. A CIA man on hallucinogenics who later falls in love with a nun in Syria. Can you possibly imagine?

5. From Holy Mountain, A Journey among the Christians of the Middle East - by William Dalrymple. Fascinating reading on how early Muslim, Jewish and Christian societies interacted and lived peacefully together. Beautifully written, extensively researched. Again, recommended reading, sir. Perhaps we can again strike that delicate balance that our ancestors achieved.

6. The Murder Book - by Jonathan Kellerman. Detective/psychology fiction read while traveling. I don't think I can recommend this to you sir, as one of the main characters is a gay man. I enjoyed it. Kellerman always does a great job of getting one away from it all.

7. Longitudes and Attitudes, Exploring the World after September 11th - by Thomas L Freidman. Pulitzer Prize winner about the ramifications of September 11th worldwide. Very clear, another extensively researched book. Both Friedman and Dalrymple have traveled extensively to find meaning for the books. Another recommended read, sir. A lot of salient points are made that, if followed, could help prevent another 9/11.

8. Villa Incognito - by Tom Robbins. Still reading this and enjoying it immensely. Set in Japan and Guam, involving American MIAs from Laos who chose to stay missing, a folkloric dog that marries a Japanese woman...vintage Robbins, funny, sexy.

I hope this list helps you in some manner, sir. It will cut down on your work load, so perhaps you'll have time to read some of the recommended materials.

A question for you, sir. Now that the statues of the Spirit of Justice and the Majesty of Law are safely draped and unseen, why is it that the only portion of the American flag visible behind you is that of the eagle's talons grasping the arrows? Is this a coded message to your fellow Americans, a la Saddam's glasses, or is the view you prefer to the beauty of the human breast? We in the heartland anxiously await your response.

Sincerely,
Deborah Trimmer

7/16/03
Attorney General John Ashcroft
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Mr. Ashcroft:

I am sure that you are a very busy man, what with checking up on how often I sign out my favorite books from the library, and making sure that my feminist and liberal activities are carefully monitored. However I did want to write, in hopes that I could make your job a little bit easier. So I am sending you my reading list, so that you can find out what I am reading, just in case those pesky librarians shred my files.

I read a lot, so this is just the most recent books...I'm sure you know the rest.

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling. It is a children's book, but I am an educator, so it's important for me to read...plus, the British are our friends after all.

2. Partnership by Anne McCaffrey. A book about a talking spaceship who foils the crimes of the elite upper class...ummm...never mind.

3. Tales of the Slayer Volume II. A collection of short stories related to Buffy the Vampire Slayer...a show about a powerful woman who takes the law in her own hands to make the world a safer place...no, not with the Patriot Act...by killing demons and evil government scientists...

Also, I am reading an assortment of feminist nonfiction and independent magazines. I'm sure you are not familiar with these publications, so I won't bother you with the names...I am looking for a good bicycle repair manual...but then, I'd be using less oil, which might save me some money and protect the environment...that's not very patriotic, now is it?

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Deidre Purcell

7/16/03
Attorney General John Ashcroft
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear John,

I just thought I would save you the trouble and give you a start on my reading list. Actually it may not be complete but that is only because I am writing in my office and my reading is scattered throughout the house. Be sure when you send your trespassers out to check that they have plenty of time because it will take a lot of it to look into all my many bookcases. I am working my way through Gore Vidal's book on War for Peace (or something like that); I plan to read his sequel soon. I have just finished the excellent biography on John Adams.. Who was the author? Earlier this year I read Cane River, a fine novel about women and slavery. Forgive me, but I pass these on so am uncertain as to the author. Also read An Italian Affaire. Nice and juicy, that one. I hope to get to Michael Moore's Stupid White Men soon, it's been waiting quite awhile. I am sure you are familiar with that one. Just bought a book about Women Nomads... By Golden, I think. Earlier, I also enjoyed Ronald Rolheiser's A Holy Longing; Susan Sontag's On the Suffering of Others.

You know, I am tiring of this exercise. Maybe you should just pop in. You'll get a much clearer picture that way. I'll try to leave them out. But I don't read as fast as I would like to. I am much too busy marching and participating in letter writing campaigns.

Yours,

Susan Pyburn

7-15-03
Attorney General John Ashcroft
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Ashcroft,

I want to do my part to support the Patriot II by surrendering my reading list from the get-go so that you don't have to bother to intimidate my librarian or bookshop workers. They have enough on their mind without worring about subpoenas, DHS Agents, and disappearing into "protective custody."

Please enjoy my reading list. There's alot of good books on it. Obviously, I recommend them all.

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by JK Rowlings. Great read. Don't worry about the witchcraft stuff... it's all make believe.

2. What the Budda Taught, Walpola Rahula. I know he sounds like he might be a terrorist, but I can personally vouch for Walpola. And although this "Buddhism" stuff isn't really sanctioned by the church, until Patriot III goes through, I still can read it, can't I?

3. PHP for the World Wide Web, by Larry Ullman. Very subversive.

4. A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn. I know Howie is on your shit list, but still, it's a great read!

5. Fortunate Son, by JH Hatfield. This is some serious shit you should know about that Bush guy you're working with. He's not the man you think he is. Please. Read this. I know you'll change your mind and help him see the light.

6. The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff. I know, it's NOT Christian. Sorry. What's wrong with a fat cute bear, anyway? Then again, it's possible that Christopher Robin was gay... I mean tromping around some forest with a bunch of stuffed animals and all. Really.

7. The Te of Piglet, by the same author.

8. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I'm not really sure what this is about but my friend gave it to me to read. Maybe you could tell me what you think?

Well, sir, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. I hope that helps out and gives you more time to catch the other bad guys.

Best,

Ian Kleinfeld
Chief Troublemaker
DemocracyMeansYou.com