Same old song and dance

John Ashcroft is in Boston this morning as part of his 18-city goodwill tour to protect his Patriot Act against mounting resistance from civil liberities groups.

Well, if his performances in Philly and Buffalo are any indication of what he's prepared for Beantown, you're better off logging onto the website and skipping the lecture.

As Donn Esmonde of the Buffalo News so eloquently put it:

"Dear John: My pen is not a weapon of mass destruction. My notebook is not a suicide bomb. My colleagues and I are We the People, the public's eyes and ears, the carriers of the message."

Why publicize a national tour and then refuse to speak with press?