ACLU membership soars

The administration's War on Civil Liberties, er, I mean "Terror", has boosted membership in the ACLU to an all-time high.

Part of their newfound success is the newfound respectability among the nation's libertarian right. The organization announced last month that it had signed up former reps. Dick Armey and Bob Barr as consultants. Both those Republicans had strong credentials on privacy issues -- now under strong assault by the Bush Administration.

However, I fear the ACLU is misspending its newfound wealth on its first ever television ad campaign:

ttorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) is the target of an ACLU television ad that has been running since October in 10 cities. The ad shows someone altering the Constitution with a red pen and cutting out parts of it. More ads are likely.

Granted, the premise of the ad is great, and it's an important issue that needs to be understood by the masses. However, wouldn't the ACLU be better off expanding its attorney staff to handle its higher post-9-11 caseload? Or, how about forming an endowment to help fund its activities in the inevitable lean times it will face one day (Ashcroft and Bush won't be in office forever. Hopefully only two more years).

Still, it's good to see the Right (or at least its libertarian wing) get over its hatred of the ACLU. The organization is really the last line of defense between an administration hell-bent on using fear tactics to erode our hard-earned, hard-fought civil liberties.

Posted December 11, 2002 07:11 AM | Comments (16)