Skip to content

ACLU gives up

The American Civil Liberties Union took a new stance on firearms Thursday, announcing a change in policy that it would not represent hate groups who demonstrate with firearms.

ACLU executive director Anthony Romero told The Wall Street Journal that the group would have stricter screenings and take legal requests from white supremacist groups on a case-by-case basis.

“The events of Charlottesville require any judge, any police chief and any legal group to look at the facts of any white-supremacy protests with a much finer comb,” Romero told the Journal. “If a protest group insists, ‘No, we want to be able to carry loaded firearms,’ well, we don’t have to represent them. They can find someone else.”

Indeed they can. But that is you giving up matey.

We might think that carrying arms in public isn’t a right that Americans should have but they do. Similarly, we might think that Americans shouldn’t be racist but they do actually have a right to be.

The great glory of the ACLU, over the decades, has been that it does simply do what is said upon the tin. Here, Americans have these rights. As we defend the rights of Americans then we defend these Americans in the exercise of their rights. That’s it.

The moment, the very moment, the ACLU says, well, you know, maybe they, that group, for this reason, shouldn’t have those rights then, well, that’s the organisation busted. Over.

Mr. Romero, you’ve just destroyed the reason for the existence of your own organisation. At which point, fuck you.

Because this is what you are for:

Citing the First Amendment, the American Civil Liberties Union is defending a group that supports pedophilia against a civil suit filed by the family of a molested and slain Massachusetts boy.

Because those lines of defending those liberties are with the hateful people that no one else likes, right?

My hope, most unlikely to be met, is that Romero gets fired immediately.

42 thoughts on “ACLU gives up”

  1. No, Tim.

    They did not say that this group should not have that right. Not even close.

    They simply stated, as a matter of preference, that they would not represent them. Exact quote, via you: “They can find someone else.”

  2. I thought the ACLU’s constitution was the US Constitution…

    Entryism ?

    A quick rummage around the web site shows some trendy “whitey is bad” stuff and other left liberal progressive boiler plate guff.

    disappointing

  3. Since when was carrying a weapon “civil”? Sure, Americans have the right to do so, subject to any applicable restrictions, but that doesn’t make it civil behaviour.

  4. I recall a conversation from several years ago (10-ish) with the MIL in the USA, where she was disappointed to see the ACLU fighting for the right of Nazi groups to go marching. My view was that that’s what the ACLU is for.

    How times have changed.

  5. civil (adj.) late 14c., “relating to civil law or life; pertaining to the internal affairs of a state.”

  6. @tomo “A quick rummage around the web site shows some trendy “whitey is bad” stuff and other left liberal progressive boiler plate guff.” Agreed – usual whining about white supremacy and all for destroying statues. book burning next ???

  7. ‘that doesn’t make it civil behaviour’

    It guarantees it.

    ‘an armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.’ – Robert Heinlein

  8. Bloke in North Dorset

    “an armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.’ – Robert Heinlein”

    My first experience of working in the USA was for the now defunct Nortel in Dallas nthr late 90s. I drew the short straw on the first weekend and did the driving.

    I mentioned to the (later found out to be very red knecked) conciergere how polite the other drivers were when I made a mistake. His response was that they didn’t know whether or not I was armed, so therefore not worth picking a fight.

  9. The right of assembly is a human right.
    Rabble-rousers in Charlottesville tried to stop a group from meeting. The Left said it was okay, cos those meeting are bad people.

    I think Democrats are bad people.

    Once you accept that some people can’t meet, then all can be stopped. Another suppression of human rights by the Left.

    The 1st Amendment is needed so that mean, ugly, stupid people you don’t like can meet. Decent people should fight for the scum’s right to meet. Decent people should fight for the KKK’s right to meet. The anti’s in Charlottesville were anti-American, and anti civil rights. In my view, the biggest scum there. Disgusting people worthy of prison sentences.

    As for the ACLU, they are just showing they are partisans. Not real lovers of the Constitution.

    ‘The KKK’s right to assemble peaceably was secured by the famous 1977 case of National Socialist Party v. Skokie, in which the American Civil Liberties Union successfully argued that the First Amendment prohibited officials of Skokie, Ill., from banning a march by the National Socialist Party.’

  10. @ Peter S.
    ‘They simply stated, as a matter of preference, that they would not represent them. Exact quote, via you: “They can find someone else.”’

    Too bad that Christian bakery didn’t get to use the same reasoning.

  11. The ACLU declare themselves stooges of leftist evil.

    End the ACLU. Trump should give it a choice–to drop its bullshit , fire the mouthpiece, issue a full retraction and do (lots) of legal work for the Charlottesville people for free (while being monitored from outside at their own expense to ensure quality work) or be placed on a list of banned terror organisations and utterly destroyed.

    If it is now a brazen creature of the left that is where it should be.

  12. “If a protest group insists, ‘No, we want to be able to carry loaded firearms,’ well, we don’t have to represent them. They can find someone else.”

    Which conveniently allows them to represent antifa thugs, since their weapons of choice seem to be bicycle chains, flagpoles, batons, baseball bats, and such-like.

  13. “Alex
    August 18, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    Since when was carrying a weapon “civil”? Sure, Americans have the right to do so, subject to any applicable restrictions, but that doesn’t make it civil behaviour.”

    Its perfectly civil behavior in the US. I’m *carrying*, not waving it in your face. That you might freak out because you catch a glimpse of a firearm in my pocket doesn’t make it uncivil on my part.

  14. For when SJW turns up, he mentioned the other day “Meanwhile, here‘s a picture of an anti-fascist viciously assaulting your friends by attacking their boots and sticks with his body.”

    Well here is another https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DHj2v0IVYAEct-T?format=jpg&name=large of Mr Deandre Harris carrying the Mag Lite of peace with which he peacefully beat a violent white protestor while exercising his right to peacefully intimidate the violent white protestors as part of a peaceful mob.

    Fortunately Mr Harris’ sob story earned him $100k on Gofundme so he won’t be needing the ACLU’s help.

    On which matter Tim is correct, if your a civil liberties union you protect all of everyone’s liberties or nobody’s, they are snivelling cunts.

  15. So paedos are OK but people who march with slung rifles or holstered pistols are Just Beyond The Pale.

    Watch the ACLU’s stance change when lefty groups start doing it, cos that’ll be different, innit?

  16. @Agamammon: I guess it depends on what you consider is the purpose behind carrying a weapon. I can think of three: to kill, to injure or to intinidate., None of which strike me as civil behaviour.

  17. Really? You don’t think that for a law abiding citizen self-defence is a justifiable purpose?

    And the reasons you give are applicable to anything that might be used as a weapon. So what you are saying is only people who are prepared to be considered uncivil can carry weapons. Congratulations, you’ve armed all the wolves and disarmed all the sheepdogs.

  18. I have an uncomfortable feeling that the tactics used by the so called US deep state around the world for the last 70 odd years – divide and rule, encourage dissident groups, arm and encourage some useful idiots, run false flag operations to undermine political opponents – are now being used within the US itself. Antifa and BLM are going to be ‘protesting’ with implicit official support against the evil white supremacist bad guys until it all ‘accidentally’ all gets out of control and the police in some Trump stronghold shoot a few photogenic protesters. Cue mass rallies, the re-appearance of the sainted Obama , martial law and impeachment of Trump for being out of control and the usual swamp dwellers get back in power.

  19. Since the left have steadily marched through education, much of the military, the police and criminal justice, the media, all forms of popular entertainment, politics, the Internet, sport, charity, and commerce and business, what on earth makes anyone think they wouldn’t infest the ACLU?!

  20. Sad really. They’ve always been very even handed, historically.

    If I was living in the USA, this would be my ‘cancel donation with disgust’ moment and I suspect others will too.

    Then again, I think the USA is now institutionally fucked. When the best candidates for president are Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, it’s broken.

  21. It was fucking lucky Trump was there as otherwise its a choice between Killery and a Killery-lite POS like Mitt Romney.

  22. It would be a mistake to think that representing a paedo group means that “they would represent anybody”. It means they are happy to represent anybody who is in favour of fucking up normal civil society.

  23. “They’ve always been very even handed, historically.”

    Not really. As a long-time NRA member, I can say that gun owners have long asked, “Where is the ACLU?” They have always been uninterested in the rights of gun owners.

  24. “Alex
    August 19, 2017 at 8:55 am

    @Agamammon: I guess it depends on what you consider is the purpose behind carrying a weapon. I can think of three: to kill, to injure or to intinidate., None of which strike me as civil behaviour.”

    The purpose of the weapon is all three, of course. Its to intimidate you into being polite and to injure or kill you if you attack me.

    And if you’ve ever been over here, I can guarantee that you’ve talked to tons of people – face-to-face – that were armed and you didn’t even know it.

  25. “It means they are happy to represent anybody who is in favour of fucking up normal civil society”

    That simple sentence is sufficient to define what’s wrong with it. What’s “normal” & what’s “fucking-up”? Our SJW friends would regard “normal” as the society they’re determined to achieve & “fucking-up” anything impedes their process. And you can do the same for any value of “normal” you care to assign. Normal for white Americans is, or was, white America. So, indeed, they should defend “white supremacists” from having their society fucked-up by SWJs.

  26. @Agamammon: I lived in the US for 3 years and could never get comfortable with the idea that a stranger might be armed. It was a great relief when I moved back to the largely gun-free UK.

  27. @Alex – that says more about you than about them though…

    Did you ever travel to Switzerland pre-99? Exactly the same thing applied.

    Been to the Czech Republic recently? Again, exactly the same thing applies.

  28. @magnusw “Congratulations, you’ve armed all the wolves and disarmed all the sheepdogs.”

    True, but if I was starting out on this journey, I wouldn’t start from here. However, compare the number of gun related homicides in the US and Europe, or indeed the prevalence of gangs in the US compared with Europe, and it is clear that these are very different societies, and gun ownership is a big factor in the difference.

  29. @abacab “Did you ever travel to Switzerland pre-99? Exactly the same thing applied”

    I also lived in Switzerland, but felt quite safe. Despite the stories about keeping guns at home for military service, gun ownership in Switzerland is lower than Germany or Austria, and licenses are required but rarely given to carry loaded weapons in public.

  30. It must be nice to be so comfortable that you can depend on others for your self protection.

    Do each of you have your own policeman assigned to you? Private security guard?

    Or are you just naked as hell and dependent on the good graces of people who want to kill you? You have just been lucky so far. The bad guys and Muslims have just picked someone else so far.

  31. @Alex – pre-99, almost anyone could carry in public. Hence mentioning that date.

    And I have massive difficulty believing that gun ownership is higher in DE or AT. Are you citing the study that relied on phone polling? Cos if so, lots of people lie to pollsters. Cos they might not actually be pollsters…

  32. @Gamecock “It must be nice to be so comfortable that you can depend on others for your self protection.”

    It is nice to live in a society where gun carrying in public is so rare that the perceived danger is negligible. I know several Americans who have settled in Europe who give that as one of the advantages of European life.

  33. One thing I don’t think most Brits get is that the people with the legal firearms, the concealed carry permits and the NRA bumper stickers are not the people who are committing all those murders you read about in the paper. That’s an entirely different set of people, and taking Second Amendment rights away from the former is going to have zero impact on the behavior of the latter.

  34. @abacab: 1999 was the date of the first Federal law. Before that it was controlled at a cantonal level, generally much stricter in urban cantons.

    The Swiss don’t hunt as much as the Germans and Austrians.

  35. @JerryC; I think we do understand the differences but 1. we don’t want to have to worry about which is which 2. even the most family living mom or pop can go berserk if pushed and 3. I agree that total abolition is not going to clean up the mess, but that is the hole you have dug for yourselves.

  36. It’s a long time ago but I remember an American ex-boxer being accused and convicted of “assault with a deadly weapon” and jailed when he was attacked (AFAIK, unprovoked) in a bar and used his fists to defend himself.
    US Courts and Justice are two very separate entities, which is why a lot of American citizens like to carry a gun.
    Fifty years ago, the British felt no need to carry a weapon to defend themselves. That has gradually changed since the abolition of capital puishment.

  37. “I know several Americans who have settled in Europe who give that as one of the advantages of European life.”

    I’m glad they left. More sheep for you.

    You are naked. Anyone can kill you tonight and there is nothing you can do about it. I know, I know, you feel lucky.

  38. I am against NAZIs, wife beaters, anti semites, racists, bullies, sexists, homophobes. I got bullied at school for being shy, and that has made me empathize with victims of bullying, such as gays, Jews, gypsies, Muslims, women, Christians, men, whites, asians, mexicans, lesbians. I am against bullies. We must suppress bullies for bullying is tyranny for the victim.
    I say well done to anti NAZIs, we must not let the NAZIs take power. And well done to brave liberals for fighting evil.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *