Bob Barr and Dick Armey to join ACLU as consultants. :eek:
I keep looking at the calendar to see if it’s April 1. To be fair, I see where their fifth amendment views intersect, but still – this is so…creepy…
Consultant, eh?
“So, Dick, you’ve got an insider’s perspective on this. Whaddya think, if we oppose this bit of new legislation on the grounds that it erodes americans’ civil liberties, what do you suppose the chances are that your buddies will go all “Waco” on us?”
Strange times.
The ACLU is by no means a partisan orginization. They gave the Clinton Administration one of the lowest ratings of administrations while theyve been in existance.
Actually, Bob Barr is one of the few voices in Congress (along with Ron Paul and a couple of others) who is extremely dubious of the expanded powers that will be extended to the Homeland czar. Although he is a bit of a moralist, when all is said and done, he’s an advocate for most civil liberties.
I don’t really think that’s so outrageous. I understand from Cutlow and Kramer on CNBC (a Financial channel) that Larry Cutlow (the thin guy) didn’t think that outragous either. Also found this news article from over a year ago.
I know it’s popular to think of people, especially celebrities or otherwise well-known people, as essentially one sided, i.e., if you think this way about this, you must think this way about that.
But I don’t believe I’m one sided (faceted), and I don’t believe anyone else is either. If you think that way, you are missing a great deal of life.
Well, Philo, to be fair it’s not that I’m taking a one-sided view of any of the parties here. It’s just that, outside of fifth amendment search-and-seizure/privacy type issues, the ACLU and Barr/Armey are pretty much polar opposites. I’m thinking abortion, church-state issues, racial preferences, gay rights, etc, etc, etc.
In other words, the intersection of their views is pretty narrow, so it’s odd that they’d formally affiliate with each other.
Though it is a narrow aspect, it is a critical aspect for the ACLU nonetheless.
I thought it was pretty freaky myself, speaking as a card carrying member.
Then I got over it.
“Politics makes strange bedfellows.”
Ace, you’re back! Why the name change?
Not so odd, considering that some right and far-right voices have been speaking out on right-to-privacy issues related to post-9/11 government activity.
And considering the political advantages for the ACLU, as noted in the linked article: “The prominent additions could soften the ACLU’s ultraliberal image.”*
*Disclosure: I find the ACLU’s activities valuable, though they sometimes piss me off.
DCU: Too many spade aces makes the deck suspect. That, plus crystalis. 
This is why I don’t even know what “liberal” and “conservative” mean anymore. What’s more conservative than wanting to preserve and protect the Constitution? (Which is what every President swears an oath to do.)
Bob Barr is an odd duck. Sometimes he sounds like a nutcase a few yards to the right of the KKK, and then he’ll turn around and defend the rights of immigrants to due process. Either way, I think he says what he believes.
AoS: More than one of any card makes the deck suspect. Having a card from a nonexistent suit (American Standard has no swords) makes the deck nonsensical.
Hum. I guess the difference between being suspect and nonsensical is the difference between being George Bush and Ralph Nader.
Amen to that!
BTW Dewey Cheatem Undhow*, I was not intending to impugn your stance. I myself hold views that at first glance seem at odds with each other, but when you understand the reasoning they become clear. Here I am trying to explain myself, and making it clearer than mud! :rolleyes:
Suffice it to say, you’re 
*And your handle is too! So…***Three Stooges!
[sub]I would take it myself, if not already taken.[/sub]
Baldwin Hah! Can’t tell the players without a scorecard!
I’ve been seeing a lot of terms like ‘social liberal’ and ‘financial conservative’, which are almost as confusing as the terms without the adjectives. I hear you!
Wasn’t Bob Barr the Congressman that snuck in a passage of a large bill that prevented the ballots of DC voters from being counted who were voting on the issue of Medical Marijuana?