Indicting Ashcroft

Of course, Ashcroft still occupies his office at the Department of Justice. But in recent weeks, the formerly ubiquitous A.G. -- mad-dog scourge of civil libertarians -- has become the Bush administration's Invisible Man.

With each new revelation about who knew what both before and after September 11, the buck stops with disturbing frequency at Ashcroft's desk. The result: The attorney general suddenly labors under a self-evident gag order. Ashcroft's last appearance on Capitol Hill was May 3. In the weeks since, as one Cabinet officer after another -- Rice, Cheney, Rumsfeld -- has taken turns on Sunday talk shows to warn of new terrorist threats, Ashcroft has been nowhere to be found on the airwaves. He emerged this week just long enough to announce a massive ramping up of the FBI's anti-terrorist efforts. The plan centralizes authority under the very Washington officials most responsible for the September 11 failures and seems unlikely to stop the questions.