A Washington Cover-Up

Laurie Cohn Rosenthal
Mirror contributing writer

   The recent cover-up in our nation’s Justice Department is a frightening example of what happens when you get right wing people in positions of power. The cover-up I’m referring to involves two Art Deco statues, the feminine Spirit of Justice and the masculine Majesty of Law. These statues, which have stood without incident since 1936, have suddenly, many decades later, been deemed inappropriate and $8,000 of taxpayer money was recently spent on curtains to cover up these works of art from another era.
   Of course no one has come right out and said the statues are too sexy for the Justice Department’s Great Hall, but why now, why all of a sudden, why with this administration is the oft-used backdrop for press conferences no longer palatable? The official word is that the curtains will make a better backdrop. In a recent press conference, the Spirit of Justice, including her exposed breast, can be seen behind the conservative Attorney General John Ashcroft, who holds daily prayer meetings in his taxpayer-supplied office. I have no complaint against prayer, but separation of church and state, anyone?
   People For the American Way Foundation President Ralph G. Neas described Ashcroft’s general plan of action several months ago. Said Neas, “If Ashcroft and his allies in the White House and Senate are successful, the federal courts could turn back the clock on 70 years of social justice progress. If Senators don’t take a stand, we’ll find ourselves right back in an era when states’ rights trump civil rights, and we’ll lose First Amendment freedoms, reproductive rights, environmental protection, and so much more.”
   The statues have been in place for 66 years. Maybe Neas is, unfortunately, correct in his assessment of the Attorney General. Ashcroft opposes abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. He has, in the name of “National Security,” ignored some constitutional rights of individuals. He’s supported by members of the religious right, including Pat Robertson. He’s anti-women, anti-gay, anti-minority, and it’s very frightening to think this is the man enforcing the laws of our nation. This is not a man I want deciding anything, let alone what is or is not art.
   I’ve thought a lot about those two beautiful statues, and what our country was like when they were made and what has happened since. When the statues were installed, the population of the U.S. was 128,053,180. During the 2000 Census, the U.S. population was 281,421,906, over double the 1936 figure. In 1936, the Yankees won the World Series over the Giants; in 2001 the Yankees lost the World Series to the Diamondbacks. In 1936, King George V of Britain died while in 2001 Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of Holland got married.
   The Spirit of Justice and Majesty of Law could survive free and out in the open for 66 years, through World War II, through Korea, through Vietnam, through Desert Storm, but couldn’t withstand the right-wing Bush, Jr. Administration. How very, very sad. The Bush Administration is only one year old. I dread the next three years. Hopefully when a new administration is in power the statues will, once again, be allowed to view world events unencumbered.