A number of years ago, I became a member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). I considered them heroes. I carried their little blue card in my wallet and would pull it out to show people. I was a genuine, no-foolin', card-carrying member of the ACLU.
After a while, I became uncomfortable. When I joined...
...I thought they were dedicated to defending the Bill of Rights and helping people who'd been railroaded in the courts. I also thought they were strictly non-partisan. But as I read the newsletters they regularly sent me, I started to become uncomfortable--then repulsed.
They were (and still are) openly at war with whole sections of the Bill of Rights that the hard left in the U.S. doesn't like. They're also dedicated to a radical interpretation of "rights" that includes welfare benefits, government-funded health care, opposing free choice in education, and other issues that, whatever your stance on them, clearly have nothing to do with the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Not if you've bothered to read those documents, anyway.
Worst of all, they became enemies in the fight against racism--abandoning not only their committment to equality under the law, but at times actively fighting against it. While they were still a (mostly) reliable defender of free speech, their devotion to the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and non-partisanship wasn't just questionable: it was a lie.
Eventually, I left in dissappointment. I thought the world needed an organization like the ACLU pretended to be: dedicated to defending the Constitution and the Bill of Rights from assaults against common sense, racists, and control freaks from all corners. One that defends all of the Constitution, too, not just the parts that fit into a narrow partisan agenda.
Over the last year I've been watching a group called the Institute for Justice and it looks like these are the good guys I've been looking for. They're smart, they're irreverent, and most importantly, they defend the entire Constitution, and most especially the Bill of Rights. They're good folks and, while I can't say yet that I've decided to join or hope you'll send them money (not yet, anyway), I think they're worth checking out.
wanted deanesmay email address , question in reference to article on beyondveg.org
I am impressed with this new group as well Dean & I will sure keep an eye on the web site. Thanks for informing me.
I decided the ACLU were hypocrites when I realized that they can only count to 9...
When's the last time they defended the 2nd Amendment in court?
The ACLU takes the position that the 2nd amendment only protects the rights of states to arm their police forces and national guard units. They are generally hostile to guns or the notion that everyday peasants such as ourselves should be allowed to own them.
They are also at turns dismissive of, or outright hostile to, the 10th amendment. They are weak-kneed about the 4th amendment's defense of property rights, too; search and seizure they're crazy about, but the rest of the amendment's provisions they couldn't care less about.
They also openly assault parts of the 1st amendment, with their radical and extremist readings of the "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a religion" clause. Their reading is the exact opposite of both the clear language and the clear intent of those who wrote and ratified those words.
In short, they're at war with a good chunk of the Bill of Rights--the parts they don't dismiss outright.
Tremendously worded, keep up the tremendou work