A.C.L.U. May Block Criticism by Its Board

NY Times ^ | 24-May-06 | STEPHANIE STROM

[Jay777]

READ THE ANTI-ACLU VERSION AT STOP THE ACLU

[Jay777]

PING!

[Ptarmigan]

When will the IRS audit the ACLU?

[Freeport]

"... would discourage its board members from publicly criticizing the organization’s policies..."

Kinda say's it all. So much for free speach.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

“For the national board to consider promulgating a gag order on its members — I can’t think of anything more contrary to the reason the A.C.L.U. exists,” Mr. Hentoff added.

He hasn't been following the news.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Fits the marxist viewpoint...

[Danae]

New ACLU Motto:

"Free speech for all....

As long as it expresses what we want it to."

[David Allen]

This is so typical of leftists. Find a group of leftists, and you'll find an environment that cannot tolerate thoughts outside the narrowly accepted range. There's no place on the internet where there's less freedom of speech than at DU. I enjoy DU Funnies, but the reality is "it ain't funny." The lack of open discourse, that is.

It's like watching a bunch of people talk nonstop over which shade of green is best, when someone suddenly says "what about red?" Then all hell breaks loose until the guy who mentioned red is gone.

Then they go back to talking about how great green is.

[jveritas]

Exactly right. The hypocrisy of the left cannot be described in words and they wonder why they are despised by the majority of Americans.

[Mo1]

A.C.L.U are Hypocrites

[dead]

Nat Hentoff, a writer and former A.C.L.U. board member, was incredulous. “You sure that didn’t come out of Dick Cheney’s office?” he asked.

“For the national board to consider promulgating a gag order on its members — I can’t think of anything more contrary to the reason the A.C.L.U. exists,” Mr. Hentoff added.

I would have thought Hentoff would have cut bait with the ACLU years ago.

Wake up, Nat. You don’t share the same concept of political and religious freedom that these leftist fascists do.

[Sunshine Sister]

Someone disagrees with the ACLU? Imagine that!

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

Nat Hentoff is a very intelligent man, but he seems blinded to reality when it comes to Liberals and Conservatives.

What he fails to realize is that Dick Cheney might agree that someone is a "Big Time" major league a-hole, or he might tell you to "F___ Off", he will defend to his death the right for you to say the same things to or about him.

Liberals do not allow that. They want to suppress speech that is "offensive" (to them), they want to suppress speech that is "insensitive" (to them), they want to suppress speech that is "overly critical" (to them).

In other words Nat, they want liberality for themselves and no liberty for those they disagree with.

[mkjessup]

So what does the ACLU propose to do to board members who do NOT obey their "gag order"?

Maybe they could borrow some sword-swinging decapitation teams from CAIR?

[Psycho_Bunny]

In the early 90's I would have said you were full of crap.

But after living and working in downtown Seattle for the last dozen years or so, I'm convinced that the largest group of unbridled bigots in the United States are Leftists. 

The vitriol and hatred is simply astonishing.  If you voice any disagreement with the prevailing Leftist thought, you are shouted down and verbally abused.

The last straw for me was when a complaint was filed with the HR department at my company, against a woman who did nothing more than say "Well, I voted for Bush" in the lunchroom at work.  Seriously.  A co-worker tried to get her fired for literally "voting for Bush."

And I know that's all she said because I was sitting next to her (and staying out of the conversation) when she said it.

Sure, the right has it's bigots.....but they are generally not tolerated the way the left embraces its bigotry.

 

 

[Danae]

Yup.

It never fails to amaze me, how the Left bleats on and on and on about how 2+2 = "what ever they say it does this week", and the sheeple following the Leftists eat it up! Good Grief! Can't these people figure out for themselves that 2+2 = 4? What the hell is WRONG with 2+2 equaling 4? It gets the job DONE! It is what makes the economy run! It is what kills and or imprisons people that are out to BEHEAD our children! It is what should be keeping illegal invaders out of our Nation!

I tell you, if this Nation falls, it won't be because of Terrorists, or Illegal aliens. It will be because of the Popularist movements that tell us that reality is NOT what it is. 2+2= whatever= oblivion

[WinteryDays]

Nope. I support them on this issue. This is not an issue about public free speech. They have a right to police their own organization and if they feel they are employing someone that is presenting a negative image they have a right to remove that person.

I agree with their right to do so 110%.

[God luvs America]

classic liberal/leftist hypocrisy....

[dead]

Of course they have the right to do it, but their self-censorship creates a pretty bad PR problem for them.

It really enforces the image of the "defenders of free speech" as hypocritical and intolerant of speech outside their concept of what is acceptable.

But they have every right to parade their hypocrisy. It's a free country.

[BlueStateDepression]

OK, absent context you make a valid point. One that I agree with from the standpoint of a private sector tax paying business.

Now lets add the context of the ACLU being an entity that is at least in part funded by tax dollars gained from suing public infrastructure and collecting lawyers fees for doing so.

Lets add the context that the ACLU is supposedly doing much of this suing under the pretext of privay rights and the ability to speak your mind freely.

I ask you this, how does an entity in this context retain its credability (barf) on the issue of supporting free speech for all when they restrain their own people from excercising that very speech?

Do as I say not as I do? Sure looks that way to me!