-Caveat Lector- http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/325/nation/Amid_paean_one_critical_Kennedy_v
oiceP.shtml Amid paean, one critical Kennedy voice Cuomo airs views against Bush, AG By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 11/21/2001 WASHINGTON - Just before the Bush administration named the Justice Department headquarters in honor of Robert F. Kennedy, his daughter chastised President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft yesterday for their handling of detainees following the Sept. 11 attacks and a plan to create military tribunals for defendants accused of terrorism. Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, an author and founder of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, looked at her daughter and said, ''Cara, if anyone tries to tell you this is the type of justice your grandpa would embrace, don't believe it.'' Cuomo made the comment hours before the building dedication, during a ceremony honoring Brazilian lawyer Darci Frigo, who received the annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. The White House refused to respond to the lone but forceful note of criticism. ''The president's focus is on paying tribute to Robert F. Kennedy and the many contributions he made that helped shape the American world we live in today,'' said spokesman Scott McClellan. In his speech at the building dedication, the Republican president saluted Ethel Kennedy, the widow of the Democratic icon, and called her late husband ''a good and decent man.'' He also thanked Kennedy's son, Joseph P. Kennedy II, for his introduction, during which the former congressman commemorated his father and profusely thanked the president. ''There's nothing quite like the eloquence of a loyal son,'' said the president, who often defends his own father, former President George H.W. Bush. In an earlier conversation with reporters, the president denied he was seeking to gain favor with RFK's brother, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, on issues such as education reform. ''I'll get an education bill on its merits, not based upon renaming a building for a great American,'' Bush said. Seventy-nine people have served as attorney general, 25 since the Justice Department headquarters opened at 8th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1930s. Robert Kennedy became the 64th when he was appointed by his brother, President John F. Kennedy, in 1961. He held the post until 1964, shortly after the president was assassinated. He later was elected to the Senate from New York and was himself assassinated in Los Angeles while running for president in 1968. He would have turned 76 yesterday. His career was marked by aggressive pursuit of organized crime and civil rights but was also noteworthy for his decision to approve a wiretap on Martin Luther King Jr. and to attempt to plot the assassination of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Evan Thomas, who wrote ''Robert Kennedy: His Life,'' said: ''He was not a great friend of civil liberties - he probably abused his authority by modern standards in order to protect his brother. But ... on the whole, even counting his warts, he was a great attorney general.'' In his speech, the president said no other attorney general is ''more fondly remembered and few have filled their time here with so much energy or seen events of such consequence.'' Ashcroft compared the current administration's war on terrorism to Robert Kennedy's pursuit of organized crime. ''He was not afraid to call his enemy evil and was unapologetic about devoting all his resources, his energy, and his passion to that evil's defeat,'' Ashcroft said. In his remarks, Joseph Kennedy returned the compliments, turning to Bush, who was seated next to a portrait of his father, and saying: ''Mr. President, your strength since Sept. 11 has been a profile in leadership. You deserve the thanks of all for a commitment to freedom from fear, and for all of us as Americans, we stand behind you and with you at this time.'' About four hours earlier, Cuomo, whose husband, Andrew Cuomo, was a Clinton Cabinet member, caused a stir in the audience at the awards ceremony with her sharp criticism of the administration. She cited State Department condemnations last year of military tribunals in Egypt and Peru in a human rights report, and asked, ''What will it be able to say next year?'' Hundreds of foreign nationals were detained after Sept. 11 as part of a sweep to detect the extent of the terrorist network Al Qaeda in the United States. Many detainees are still being held under immigration law, with civil and judicial rights suspended. Last week, Bush also authorized the creation of the tribunals to try terrorists before a military jury and in secrecy, both of which Ashcroft said were necessary to preserve national security. Cuomo noted her father's prosecution of organized crime, ''but that aggressiveness was always tempered by his commitment to protecting civil rights, even when it meant letting the accused, like Jimmy Hoffa, go free,'' she said. Senator Kennedy said afterward that he agreed that the administration's policies deserved scrunity. The Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he is a member, has called Ashcroft to testify next week. ''Kerry cares deeply about these issues and has spoken a lot about them, has written about them,'' the senator said. Glen Johnson can be reached by e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED] This story ran on page A2 of the Boston Globe on 11/21/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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