Gee, who could have seen this one coming? I mean, Prof. al-Arian had only taken on Gov. Jeb Bush and the entire state of Florida for his wrongful termination, so it's a bit of shock that the normally moderate and cautious A.G., John Ashcroft, would aim both barrels at him. The charges against him read like a McCarthy-era indictment of a Hollywood screenwriter, or a Red Scare persecution of a Wobbly cell: conspiracy to provide material support to the group, conspiracy to violate emergency economic sanctions, extortion, perjury, obstructing justice and immigration fraud. How the hell do you take part in a "conspiracy to provide material support" to an alleged terrorist group, or "to violate emergency economic sanctions?" Aren't such activities better known by their technical term, "speech"?