The True ACLU

From IBD:
Posted 6/21/2006

Free Speech: There seems to be no end to the hypocrisy and extremism of the American Civil Liberties Union. But it may now be running into trouble with the law — for violating its own absolutist dogmas.

Seldom does a week go by when an ACLU lawyer doesn't bully a school, business or local government for committing some sacrilege against the radical organization's beliefs.

Last week, these self-styled champions of free speech worked closely with Nevada's Clark County School District to prevent the valedictorian of Henderson's Foothill High School from using the name "Christ" in her commencement address.

As if Brittany McComb lived in a dictatorship, officials read her speech ahead of time — as did their consigliere, Nevada ACLU general counsel Allen Lichtenstein. They then decided to remove at least six of her references to God and two references to the Bible.

The spirited Miss McComb refused to be intimidated, however, and proceeded to read her speech her way.

But before she could say "Christ," which the district and ACLU deemed verboten, the authorities turned off her microphone, spurring prolonged booing from her fellow graduates at the gag order.

It's the kind of treatment you'd expect in Castro's Cuba. Outrageously, it's also what happens in an America in which ACLU ideology permeates the federal courts.

The ACLU peddles the mythology that it's the guardian of expression as guaranteed by the Constitution. Its real purpose is to use the courts to enact a left-wing political agenda. And it doesn't let free speech stand in the way of that agenda, going to great lengths to muzzle members of its own board critical of ACLU positions.

Proposed rules against free speech were blasted by at-large board member Mary Ellen Gale, who told The New York Times:

"I cannot vote for these proposals, as I have violated them nearly every time I have written an op-ed piece or spoken to the press."

New Mexico board member Bennett Hammer called the rules yet another of "the things that have made us a laughingstock with the public."

The ACLU is even considering a policy of systematically destroying the taped records of its board meetings — a surreal spectacle for an organization that during Watergate filed an amicus brief to make sure President Nixon didn't destroy his tapes.

In celebrating the Supreme Court's ruling that the Communications Decency Act was unconstitutional, the ACLU quoted Justice John Paul Stevens' pronouncement that "the interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship."

When it comes to imposing censorship on its own members, the ACLU sees plenty of benefit.