Should I become a card-carrying member of the ACLU?

[Deep N RedLand]

I have been giving this some thought lately in my quest of moving increasing further left. While I agree with 90-95% of the work they do, it is the other 5-10% that bothers me.

Though I feel the same disgust in the examples that the Right-wing loves to constantly trot out regarding the defense of hate groups or NAMBLA, I can at least see the necessity of allowing even unpopular speech to be heard otherwise the next censored opinion might be your own.

However the one insurmountable problem I seem to have is oddly enough not so much the defense of distasteful speech, but the ACLU's alliance with Repubs and corporate interests in the opposition to the McCain/Feingold campaign finance bill.

Campaign Finance Reform could be the most important issue in order to take back the country in the name of the people and to put progressive candidates back in power. Without this first step, it seems almost impossible we can ever win over the NeoCons and their corporate keepers.

By opposing these actions by calling legalized bribery "free speech", it seems the ACLU are harming themselves as well by making it less likely a progressive candidate that supports them will be elected.

Since I feel strongly about this, should I let that one issue be the deciding factor in donating or not?

[pie]

1. I don't agree with everything they do but I always pay my dues.

Seems like quite a bargain to me.

[Paul Dlugokencky]

2. If you agree with 90-95%

that sounds like you should join. Perhaps you can reduce the amount you contribute a bit to make up for the 5-10% you don't agree with.



http://www.cafepress.com/kickindemocrats

[mcscajun]

3. No, you shouldn't let that one issue keep you out. Yes, You Should Join.

The ACLU has one mission only: to defend the Bill of Rights, all our rights, even for those people we disagree with, and even when we can't clearly see the boundaries of 'free speech'.

I've been a member since October 2001, when the threat of BushCo became all too clear. The ACLU needs every member, every dollar, every voice.

www.aclu.org

[XemaSab]

4. Yes!

If we get all the dead republicans spinning fast enough, we can eliminate our dependance on foreign oil!

[annabanana]

8. giggle

As a member for years and years...I say DO IT. (Even though they supported the Klan's rally in Skokie, decades and decades ago)

They truly uphold the saying
"I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

[Jon8503]

5. I don't understand your ? if you agree 90 to 95% of the time

Tell me one group you agree with on that percentage.

Tell me the percentage you agree with your family members or friends.

In other words, I believe you have answered your own question if you agree with them on that percentage.

I have paid my dues to the ACLU for several years and will continue. I agree with them and the work they do more than the Democractic Party.

Another group I agree with highly is The Nation Associates.

Good Luck and hopefully a welcome to the ACLU

[pnorman]

6. 90~95% is a pretty high number,

and that NAMBLA issue is a deliberate and specious BUM-RAP. Please check out ACLU's website, and refer that to your RW friends. Also, be sure to remind them about ACLU helping to defend the "privacy of medical records" for Oxycontin Rush.

I'm probably further to the "left" than many here, and I LOATHE Nazis. Still, I don't have an unsurmountable problem with ACLU's defense of the Nazi marching permit in Skokie Illinois (full of Holocaust survivors). I'm sure they'd have defended the right of counter-protestors. (In the end, the Nazis chickened out --- heh heh --- a very happy ending).

pnorman

[Dudley_DUright]

7. I am a card carrier

but like you, I don't agree with them 100% of the time.

[Bouncy Ball]

9. Heck yeah!

I'm a card-carrying ACLU member (literally, it's in my wallet).

I joined the day after the "election."

I'll echo others here, 95% is a heck of a lot. I bet you don't even agree with your spouse on that much stuff and you married them, right? (Assuming you are married. The analogy still holds for anyone married, though.)

[raggedcompany]

10. I have been meaning to join the ACLU

I have been meaning to join the ACLU and this thread just sealed the deal. I donated 100 bucks. Don't really have an opinion what you should do...decide for yourself I guess. But thanks for the reminder. I care about what they do very much.

[mmonk]

11. Yes

everyone should be. It's rare that someone agrees 100% with everything but the ACLU protects all our liberties.

[Deep N RedLand]

12. Thank you for the responses.

I've been convinced and will be signing up today.
Though that one issue will likely still bother me, I agree it would be foolish to let that override the all the other things I do agree with.
At the very least it will be something more to throw in the face of the Righties I know and let them spout their backwards barbs.
;-)

[AnnInLa]

13. I re-joined during the first * administration, because

I figured that the ACLU is the very last thing standing between us and complete fascism. You don't have to agree with everything they do, just with their general principles...where would we be today without the ACLU?

[KaliTracy]

14. 90-95% is pretty high.... I've been a member since 2002, when it

became clear that the "patriot act" was anything but that.... I pay a little bit on a quarterly basis because I feel it's that important.