For quite awhile now, I’ve flirted with the idea of joining the ACLU, mostly for the organization’s work on drug laws, upholding criminal protections, and its opposition to the PATRIOT Act.

Problem is, each time I come close to joining, the ACLU takes some public, statist position on the ADA, affirmative action, speech codes, or tries to defend a positive right — a right to education, for example, or a right to access to the welfare state.

Last night I was flipping through the channels, and happened on the beginning of Bill O’Reilly’s show just as we was ticking off his “Talking Points” segment. O’Reilly jumped off on the ACLU’s oppposition to New York City subway searches, then ran off a list of anti-terror measures the ACLU has opposed since 9/11. This was supposed to make me hate the ACLU. As it turns out, I oppose just about every anti-terror proposal on O’Reilly’s list of outrages.

Then, O’Reilly went off the deep end. Excerpt:

“Talking Points” could go on and on, but you get the picture. If the ACLU ever wants money, it should contact the Al Qaeda fundraisers. No organization in America enables terrorism as much as the ACLU, period. It is putting your life in danger. And that is no exaggeration.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about it. No way to stop it. The ACLU operates within the law and uses the legal system to oppose the war on terror. And there are enough loony judges around to give that organization power, especially here in New York City and in San Francisco.

The only thing we can do is hold people who raise and give money to the ACLU accountable. In the weeks to come, “The Factor” will tell you who these people and organizations are, so you can decide whether or not you want to do business with them.

That was more than enough for me. This morning, I became one of those people Bill O’Reilly wants you to stop doing business with.

I am now a card-carrying member of the ACLU. And it’s thanks to Bill O’Reilly.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 5th, 2005 at 11:03 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.