I can't support the ACLU

[FLyellowdog]

anymore than I already do. I'm happy and proud to say that I just renewed my membership today!!!


I love telling my republicant friends that I'm a card-carrying member. Their heads almost literally explode when they see my card.

[yardwork]

1. I have them on automatic donate. Why - are they in the news today?

[FLyellowdog]

2. No, my renewal notice just came.

I should do the automatic thing too. That would give me one less thing to remember.

[bluestateguy]

3. They supported Citizens United and the Westboro Baptist Church

That's fine, but they can do it without my membership dues.

[FLyellowdog]

6. Lest we forget, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights.

One needs to know one's facts if they want to be viewed as credible.

For example,

re: Citizens United
"The issue at stake in Citizens United was whether, consistent with the First Amendment, the government could make it a felony to criticize a public official who was also a candidate for elective office 60 days before a general election and 30 days before a primary."

http://www.dailycamera.com/guest-opinions/ci_17229907

re: Westboro Church
The lawsuit was filed because the ACLU believes that the Constitution does not limit protesters' free speech based on the content of their message.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union

The American President quote just about says it all.
"America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free"."

You don't have to give them your dues. This is the land of the free thanks in large measure to the ACLU.

[Upton]

8. The ACLU refuses to support the 2nd Amendment..

since they claim to support the Bill of Rights, that makes them hypocrites of the highest order.. They'll never get a penny from me..

[FLyellowdog]

9. Please pay close attention to the statement in bold at the end of this post.

http://www.aclu.org/racial-justice_prisoners-rights_drug-law-reform_immigrants-rights/second-amendment

ACLU POSITION re: 2nd amendment
"Given the reference to "a well regulated Militia" and "the security of a free State," the ACLU has long taken the position that the Second Amendment protects a collective right rather than an individual right. For seven decades, the Supreme Court's 1939 decision in United States v. Miller was widely understood to have endorsed that view."

"The Supreme Court has now ruled otherwise. In striking down Washington D.C.'s handgun ban by a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller held for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, whether or not associated with a state militia."

snip

The ACLU disagrees with the Supreme Court's conclusion about the nature of the right protected by the Second Amendment. We do not, however, take a position on gun control itself. In our view, neither the possession of guns nor the regulation of guns raises a civil liberties issue.

[Upton]

11. In other words...they refuse to accept Heller

The ACLU is doing their own interpretation of the 2nd Amendment..

I don't want the Bill of Rights interpreted...I want it defended..

[rhett o rick]

13. No law is understood the same by all. There are "interpretations". What you want is

for the ACLU to defend your interpretation.

[TheWraith]

12. That statement is why so many people take issue with them.

There is, in fact, no real judicial history backing the idea of the second amendment as a "collective" right rather than an individual one, not even in US vs. Miller. Both the writing of the framers and legal history has always put forward the second, like all the other items of the bill of rights, as an individual right, which puts the ACLU solidly on the side of restrictions against rights instead of fighting for them.

In other words, the ACLU takes the position that it's okay to regulate the second amendment out of existence, but that there can be no restrictions on "free speech" being defined so broadly that it passes completely out of the realm of political speech and into legalizing campaign-by-propaganda with victory going to whoever has the deepest pockets, and any attempts at fairness are to be considered "banning free speech."

[TheWraith]

10. Okay, that is NOT what was at stake in Citizens United.

"The issue at stake in Citizens United was whether, consistent with the First Amendment, the government could make it a felony to criticize a public official who was also a candidate for elective office 60 days before a general election and 30 days before a primary."

No. The issue was whether the government could forbid someone from taking a nuclear-powered megaphone to blast the public with a message right before election day. There is nothing there about "felony to criticize a public official," that is utter horseshit and the worst kind of strawman argument. You're free to criticize any public official at any time. You were NOT free to dump millions of dollars into completely unaccountable advertising to do so. Claiming otherwise is like saying that the second amendment gives you the right to keep nerve gas and cruise missiles in your garage.

[bluestateguy]

15. Yeah, well it's not going to come from any help from me

An organization that buys into the "corporations are people" with free speech rights is not for me, nor is any group that would defend people (Westboro) who so flagrantly abuse freedom of speech.

[tpsbmam]

4. I have their bumper sticker on my car...."I'm a Constitution voter"

and then it says ACLU. Love it! It's the only bumper sticker I have aside from one advertising my dogs' groomer, who's also a friend of mine. I have them set on auto-renew.

Always loved that spiel from "The American President: "For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is why aren't you, Bob? Now, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution?"

[quinnox]

5. Great outfit

I'm a member, newly joined relatively recently. Especially in these times, its more important than ever to have an independent organization that supports basic freedoms of the individual and is against the ever encroaching police state, and that doesn't have a loyalty to any political party.

[FLyellowdog]

7. Exactly.

Why wouldn't every American support the efforts of the ACLU? Our freedoms are what make us Americans. It seems like a no-brainer to me.

[Earth_First]

14. +1

They came to my defense finding me an attorney and working with the legal team to draft our motions to dismiss when I needed them for an arrest stemming from Occupy.

I joined the very next day.