From: nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous)
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 08:44:17 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: Plea from a parent who wants to keep their kid free of SSNs
Message-ID: <199709270031.CAA28078@basement.replay.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



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Declan McCullagh wrote:
>The ACLU certainly deserves criticism for its knee-jerk left-wing
>view on some issues. I'd also be interested in seeing them take a
>stand on 2nd Amendment issues; right now they don't have a position,
>as I understand it.  But on free speech and SSN-type issues they're
>generally good.

The ACLU can be fairly criticized for their general sympathy to the
causes of the Democratic Party.  This would be acceptable if they were
honest about it, but they are not.

Likewise, while they may have no official position on the 2nd
amendment, you will generally find members of the organization are
staunchly opposed to it.  Again, no real tragedy except that their
advertising proclaims their organization is the only one in the United
States devoted to protecting the Bill of Rights.  Unfortunately, it
just isn't true.  They protect the amendments they like and ignore or,
in the case of the 2nd amendment, undermine the rest.

Most people probably don't know how the ACLU is structured.  There is
a national organization and then a variety of state level chapters
which have a great deal of autonomy.  The chapters do a lot of the day
to day work helping people who are getting severely screwed by their
local governments.  (There was a great case about ten years ago
involving a state sponsored alcohol rehabilitation program.  Once in,
it was understood that participants wouldn't be allowed to leave for
about 60 days so they could really dry out.  It seems there was a
little funding program and the facilities provided couldn't handle all
the people who applied.  So, they threw a bunch of the women in jail!
The ACLU chapters handle cases like this all the time.  They don't get
much credit for it and nobody else does much of this work.)

However, the chapters tend to be a little more squirrely than the
national organization.  Usually when you hear about some flaky case
"The ACLU" was pushing, it will turn out that a chapter was behind it.

About five years ago the Southern California chapter campaigned
against California Proposition 165 because it would cut welfare
benefits.  A friend and ACLU member complained that this was not a
civil liberties issue and they should not be campaigning for the
Democratic Party.

This letter came back:

>Dear Mr. X,
>
>First, let me apologize for the lengthy delay in answering your
>letter, which was recently referred to me from the National ACLU
>office.
>
>You question whether the ACLU met its charter mandate to preserve
>civil liberties when it opposed Prop. 165 on the ground that it would
>adversely affect the poor.  The ACLU-SC firmly believes that economic
>justic and civil liberties are inextricably intertwined.  Without the
>assurance of basic economic security -- including jobs that pay a fair
>living wage, adequate food, housing, and health care -- most people
>cannot fully exercise their civil liberties and civil rights.
>
>This office has consistently opposed cuts in federal, state, or local
>budgets that will adversely affect poor people who depend upon
>governmental assistance to fulfill their basic needs.  Poverty in the
>United States is the result, to a great extent, of government policies
>which favor privileged groups at the expense of the disadvantaged, and
>which deprive the latter of opportunities to enjoy the full range of
>rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
>
>Again, please accept my apology for not getting back to you sooner.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>J. Random Democrat
>Associate Director

While the ACLU is great in certain ways, so far as most cypherpunks
are concerned I recommend considering them to be uncertain allies.

It's sad.  If they were truly a multi-partisan organization which was
devoted to the Bill of Rights they would be many times more effective
than they are currently.  In principle there is no reason why the NRA
and the ACLU shouldn't be the same organization except the membership
of each brings too much baggage to the table.

Monty Cantsin
Editor in Chief
Smile Magazine
http://www.neoism.org/squares/smile_index.html
http://www.neoism.org/squares/cantsin_10.html

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