If your in-box is like mine, it is stuffed with charity appeals for last-minute giving. My appeal to you is this: Give to support free speech, but don’t give a penny to the ACLU.
...it has done nothing while classically illegal forms of First Amendment-protected speech have been violated...
Tax-exempt non-profits often count on last-minute giving as people finalize their spending with a look toward filing taxes. That’s when the heavy press comes for support, championing the achievements and benefits of a group and lionizing the donors for making a difference. You, for instance, can make a huge difference in the national conversation by supporting LibertyNation.com with your tax-deductible contribution to One Generation Away, the non-profit that supports LibertyNation.com (and if the spirit moves you, please do donate – not all heroes wear capes!).
You will not be giving to free speech, or liberty, or even protection for due process, or equality, if you support the ACLU, however. It perpetrates a fraud on the public. Splashed across its home page are a countdown donation clock and an appeal for the organization that supports individual rights.
“For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
Fraud in the Inducement
While the organization long frustrated those who wished it would support the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment, there was no debate that it supported the rights guaranteed by the First and Fourth amendments. That is now over, and why the language above is a lie. The ACLU announced its reversal not proudly, or at least explicitly with concern or regret, but with a deafening silence and a tweet that showed its true colors.
On the First Amendment, it has done nothing while classically illegal forms of First Amendment-protected speech have been violated through heckler’s vetoes, security fees, and outright discrimination on college campuses. In 2018 free speech was vilified and attacked, with the statists in academia dealing body blow after uppercut to the concept that challenging ideas must be reckoned with and are welcomed. The ACLU led the pack against this direct action against free speech with lawsuits, press conferences, protests a couple of tepid tweets cautioning against the behavior well after the fact.
That left the Fourth Amendment. Surely it did not give up the ghost on that? I mean, yeah, it wouldn’t help neo-Nazis who wished to march in Skokie today, but they’re like Nazis right? What about regular old due process? As it turns out, due process rights, too, are now suspect. In fact, they may be the opposite of desirable.
Tortious Interference With Liberty
C. Johnson and Stuart Taylor Jr., authors of The Campus Rape Frenzy: The Attack on Due Process at America’s Universities, explain how the ACLU has not just stopped protecting our rights but are fighting against them! “For more than seven years, the ACLU never criticized the evisceration of due process and fundamental fairness in campus Title IX tribunals….” It never said the tribunals were kosher, “[b]ut in case after case, it ignored egregious unfairness to accused students who had strong claims of innocence.” That all led to the coup de grace after the Department of Education released its new guidelines on campus sex misconduct charges. “In an inflammatory Twitter thread, the ACLU described the new regulations as ‘inappropriately favoring the accused.’”
Now the ACLU is free to say whatever it wants, but not commit fraud. The organization needs only to make a few simple changes to come into compliance with the law and truth. I suggest a “find and replace” mission to change “individual” to “collective” in reference to rights.
What if you want to support free speech? First, you are a hero; if speech is free, minds can be free, and whatever else we have to deal with, the truth stands a chance in such a world. The FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) is a great bet for supporting free speech on campus. It understands due process is required and guaranteed for all students, frat boy rugby players and non-binary slam poets alike, something the ACLU understood before it became another victim of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
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