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During the course of reporting Attorney General John Ashcroft's resignation, Reuters repeats a pesky old myth:

Ashcroft, a devout Christian who once ordered two partially nude statues covered up at the Justice Department so he would no longer be photographed in front of them, began what is expected to be a gradual Cabinet reshuffle ahead of Bush's second term on Jan. 20.

The National Review's Jay Nordlinger attempted to debunk this meme over two years ago:

The war aside, this AG has been swimming in bad raps. Maybe the baddest of them all has been Breastgate. Surely you are familiar with the statues that live in the Great Hall of the Justice Department: the Spirit of Justice (a lady) and the Majesty of Law (a gent). (Spirit has a nickname, by the way: Minnie Lou.) Because these statues are partially nude, they are noticed only during conservative Republican administrations. Minnie Lou and her one exposed breast became famous when photographers gleefully took their picture with Ed Meese, as he announced President Reagan's report on pornography back in the mid 1980s.
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When President Bush visited the Justice Department to rededicate the building to Robert Kennedy, his advance men insisted on a nice blue backdrop: "TV blue," infinitely preferable to the usual dingy background of the Great Hall. Everyone thought the backdrop worked nicely — made for "good visuals," as they say. This was Deaverism, pure and simple. Ashcroft's people intended to keep using it.

An advance woman on his team had the bright idea of buying the backdrop: It would be cheaper than renting it repeatedly. So she did — without Ashcroft's knowledge, without his permission, without his caring, everyone in the department insists.

But ABC put out the story that Ashcroft, the old prude, had wanted the Breast covered up, so much did it offend his churchly sensibilities. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, ever clever, wrote that Ashcroft had forced a "blue burka" on Minnie Lou. Comedians had a field day (and are still having it). The Washington Post has devoted great space to the story, letting Cher, for example, tee off on it — as she went on to do on David Letterman's show.

And yet the story is complete and total bunk. First, Ashcroft had nothing to do with the purchase of the backdrop. Second, the backdrop had nothing to do with Breast aversion. But the story was just "too good to check," as we say, and it will probably live forever. Generations from now, if we're reading about John Ashcroft, we will read that he was the boob who draped the Boob. The story is ineffaceable.

Nordlinger's prediction about the tale's marathon mileage was correct; more than two years later, a news wire service presented the popular canard as undisputed fact in a story marking the AG's retirement. It's pretty ironic that sneering secularists had to create and parrot their own man-made mythology in order to lampoon their target's strong brand of faith.

I doubt that Ashcroft and I would agree about much regarding social policy, and history will have to appropriately contextualize and judge his aggressive efforts to defend the country, but the man did his best during an incredibly difficult period of crisis while suffering the withering scorn of an unfair press. I hope that retirement or reemployment treats him well.

UPDATE: More from Ubique Patrium Reminisci and Michelle Malkin.

UPDATE: TruthOrFiction.com features a couple of takes on the issue:

Attorney General John Ashcroft has not issued any official statement that we know of about the statue issue. The story was broken by Beverly Lumpkin of ABC News who said Ashcroft had made the request for the draperies. The Justice department has said that the draperies were an aesthetic decision that allowed the room to be changed for various functions and that the blue draperies looked good on camera.
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Supporters say Ashcroft has no problem with the art or the exposed breast but has gotten tired of photographers strategically positioning themselves to snap pictures of Ashcroft or other officials framed with the breast. They say it is the photographers who have caused the breast to be an issue, not Ashcroft.

Via Cold Fury's round-up on the matter.

Posted by Bill at November 10, 2004 07:00 AM | TrackBack (7)

Comments

Posted by: erp at November 10, 2004 09:35 AM

Posted by: Dr. Rusty Shackleford at November 10, 2004 09:54 AM

Posted by: Lornkanaga at November 10, 2004 10:33 AM

Posted by: Baron Bodissey at November 10, 2004 12:22 PM