Book Review by Chris Banescu
In The ACLU vs. America, authors Alan Sears and Craig Osten argue that despite its carefully cultivated image as a defender of individual “rights” and advocate for “the people,” the American Civil Liberties Union stands for intellectual elitism, hypocrisy, and a blatant disregard for democratic processes. The ACLU, write Sears and Osten, wants “one set of rules for itself” and the ability to dictate “other rules for everyone else.” These malevolent and destructive traits are not a new development in the history of the ACLU, but represent the dominant characteristics of its members. The book focuses on key cases and positions the ACLU has supported and promoted in order to drastically affect the American cultural landscape and impose the extreme views of its members on the rest of the country.
One of the great myths about the ACLU is that it “started out as a good, pro-America, pro-liberty organization that somehow got off the track.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. From its very foundation the mission of the ACLU was well defined by its founder, Roger Baldwin:
“I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class… Communism is the goal.”
by Chris Banescu