ACLU Newsletter for December

Un-huh, always an interesting read to say the least. Keeping in mind that the ACLU has been known to exaggerate from time to time, we look at the four headliners this month in the newsletter.

ACLU Argues Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood Before the Supreme Court

This is a challenge to a New Hampshire law requiring 48 hours notice to the parents of a child under 18 prior to an abortion. The challenge is not to the 48 hour notification but rather to the lack of a medical emergency exception to the notification requirement. The law was struck down by a lower court because of the lack of the exception.

This should be a slam dunk as Supreme Court precedent clearly requires exceptions to notification requirements when the health of the woman is involved. The fact that it’s not considered to be a slam dunk indicates how serious things are. This will be the first real indication of how Roberts will affect the future of the court.

Patriot Act Update: Don’t Believe the Spin

Dubyah tried to pull a fast one on the Patriot Act reauthorization and, basically, got nailed. Clearly the ACLU is rabidly opposed to the Patriot Act and there appears to be good reason to be suspicious of the current bill. To quote Ben Franklin, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

President Bush is Lying to Public About Torture Practices

Yup, Dubyah got caught in another lie and one almost as bad as the WMD lie. This whole fiasco reminds of a tongue in cheek debate I saw on the Bill Maher show a while back as to whether Dubyah was ignorant but not stupid or stupid but not ignorant.

Same sort of question here. Did Dubyah know and lie or was he too stupid to realize what was going on. Either way, how could anyone in his right mind have voted for this disgrace to the oval office.

Oh yeah, that’s right, Evangelical Christians voted him into office because they admired his position on “moral values.” I refer these people to the 8th commandment (9th if you’re Catholic).

Bush Staffers Silenced Denver Town Hall Participants

This one is fairly pathetic. According to a law suit filed by the ACLU by two people booted out of a Dubyah Town Hall discussion in Colorado, they were removed because of a anti-war bumber sticker on one of their cars.

According to White House event staffers, there is a White House policy prohibiting people from attending Dubyah public events if they hold a viewpoint other than that of the President!

Now the interesting question is why? Is it because Dubyah doesn’t want to hear about conflicting opinions or is the White House staff protecting him from knowing there are conflicting opinions!

Either way, this kind of stifling of public opinion and free speech is a disgrace. Uh-oh, what’s that knock on the door? Nah, I’m sure they’re only concerned when the press is around.