No subject

   Quoted:

     Dean, I know you usually focus on current events, but this
     particular post took a lot of research and has a LOT of great
     information to educate the public on ACLU positions relating to
     crime. It would be greatly appreciated if you could help give it
     some exposure. Thanks, Jay [1]American Civil Liberties Union

   Well Jay I'm usually happy to oblige when some other blogger asks me
   for a link. I get around to accepting most such requests sooner or
   later, if they're polite and reasonably well-written, which this was.
   But that doesn't guarantee I'll agree with what I link.

   I have deep issues with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
   going back to the 1980s when I was a card-carrying member. No kidding,
   I still have the little baby-blue card somewhere. I quit the
   organization over a variety of issues, most of which boiled down to: I
   didn't honestly think that most of what they were advocating had
   anything to do with protecting civil liberties.

   Nevertheless I can't help but note that the above-linked piece on the
   ACLU isn't very impressive. It strives to use politically neutral
   language, but, it seems to draw only the most sinister possible
   portrait of the organization. Moreover, it relies heavily on
   quotations, but those quotations are almost entirely from two sources:
   a free book published by a group called the Catholic League, and from
   an obscure 1989 book by an author and publisher I've never even heard
   of and which there is almost no information available about. There's
   not necessarily anything wrong with either source per se, but why
   should I or anyone consider them the ultimate authority on any of
   these matters?

   I would also have to note: acccording to the [2]FBI's Uniform Crime
   Reports, violent crime has been dropping overall by quite a noticeable
   amount since at least the early 1990s nationwide. If the ACLU is
   responsiblef for a massive increase in violent crime in the United
   States, you'd think the FBI would be able to document such a massive
   increase over the last decade and a half. Somehow the opposite has
   been occurring.

   I would think, honestly, that those who want to take on the ACLU ought
   to first [3]reference the ACLU's own literature, and identify specific
   items on their agenda, or positions they take, that you find to be
   offensive, and concentrate on those. Dredging up second-hand material
   that may 20 years out of date and involve people who may not even
   still be in the organization strikes me as pointless at best.

   Just my thoughts, take 'em or leave 'em.

References

   1. http://stoptheaclu.com/archives/2006/07/13/american-criminal-libertie=
s-union/
   2. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
   3. http://aclu.org/