Although the election controversy ended with the official acceptance of all the nation's electoral votes, the controversy surrounding President-elect Bush and his cabinet choices is only just beginning.

The nominee, who is provoking the most controversy — and with good reason — is attorney general nominee John Ashcroft.

Ashcroft, a former conservative senator from Missouri, appears to be a blatant appeal to the far-right wing of the Republican Party.

A divider of people in every arena, Ashcroft has gone too far in many cases and has even committed actions that would make most people wonder why Bush thinks he's qualified.

An ardent anti-abortion advocate, he felt the best way to make his point was not to calmly and rationally state his reasons, but to hold up a picture of an aborted fetus and essentially call his conservative allies to war.

Although his views on abortion may be seen as justifiable, his views on race are not. He opposed the nomination of Ronnie White to the Missouri Supreme Court.

No justifiable reasons were given, although White would have been the first African-American member of that court. Ashcroft also has, on many different occasions, given interviews to magazines whose readership consists of mainly white supremacists.

The issues of abortion, race, and other civil rights must be examined before this right-wing extremist is appointed to the position because just a cursory glance at the facts shows that he is wholly unprepared to uphold and protect the civil rights laws of this land.