Posted on 02/27/2003 5:27:37 AM PST by Liz
Dudley Brown didn't want to talk about it. It's a little too weird for him. "I'll let the national organization speak about this," he said. But, yes, he said, it's true. The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and the ACLU are on the same team.
Let's pause for a moment to savor the image.
As executive director of RMGO, Brown is famous for bristling at the mere suggestion that his organization is chummy with the likes of the "liberal" National Rifle Association. So what could possibly compel the Gun Owners of America to collaborate with the ACLU?
Simple. A common enemy.
Attorney General John Ashcroft.
For a brief period in the mid- '90s, the two groups worked together to oppose anti-terrorism legislation in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing.
But it was a different time. The Gun Owners fought former Attorney General Janet Reno and the Clinton administration on so many fronts. What was one more?
Now, as the powers of the original Patriot Act are being exploited - the FBI seizing library patrons' records and quizzing cable TV installers about anything "unusual" they see in customers' homes - this unlikely alliance is here to stay.
And as Ashcroft's office quietly circulates the sequel to the Patriot Act among Republicans in Congress, even weirder partnerships are forming with the ACLU.
The Southern Baptists and the American Humanist Association, for example.
No kidding.
In a country that can be counted on to polarize into predictable camps of right and left, the anti-Ashcroft movement is a rare unifying force.
In fact, it has produced some of the strangest political marriages since Mary Matalin crawled into bed next to James Carville.
Among those joining the ACLU coalition are the American Muslim Alliance, Human Rights Watch, Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and more than 100 other groups.
This week they helped pay for full-page ads in The New York Times and The Washington Times slamming "Patriot Act II."
Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU's Washington office, explained why.
The bill, formally known as the "Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003," would allow the government to:
Make secret arrests.
Strip citizenship from Americans who have supported organizations labeled "terrorist" groups, even if they had no knowledge of any alleged links to terrorism.
Provide immunity to federal agents who conduct illegal surveillance.
Expand home searches and wiretaps without a warrant.
And create a national DNA database on "suspected terrorists" (no definition of terrorist required).
"This country has been involved in many wars - in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War - and we've never seen the government seize these kinds of powers before," said Murphy.
"It feels pre-internment. I mean, does anybody really think this government is beyond rounding up all the Iraqi nationals and locking them away someplace?"
The implications are so threatening to cherished rights of privacy, due process, freedom of speech and the foundations of democracy that it's no wonder groups of Americans across the political spectrum have united in opposition.
"We disagree on many things," Brown said of the Gun Owners and ACLU. But he is so opposed to "the government spying on Americans," he's willing to stand alongside the ACLU to fight it.
That says it all.
Diane Carman's column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Yeh, and we weren't even threatened back then. Maybe the American Muslim Alliance, Human Rights Watch, Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and more than 100 other groups didn't think it was "hip" to complain about it then. Now we have a real pro-American Republican in power. That's diff, don't ya know.
Not that it matters. They don't like the American flag, either. They don't even like themselves!
Yes....unless, of course, all the Iraqi nationals violate U.S. law. And that's not likely. After all, we didn't lock up all Afghani nations.....
Pro-American? Are those citizens of countries in North, South or Central America that you're referring to? ;^)
With all due respect, what this country needs is a conservative Republican that's real pro-taxpaying-citizens of the United States of America.
Bush is not.
Bush is hanging the taxpaying citizens of the USA out to dry.
Disgruntled, taxpaying, U.S. citizens might just be the next group designated as potential terrorists by the Bush Justice Dept. and the IRS.
Keep your powder dry. Defend the 2nd Amendment. ;^)
Sorry. I'm not that paranoid. Thanks anyway. Maybe you can try someone else?
Yah got me here............Sounds to me like the real problem is in between the ears!
The question is are you that gullible? ;^)
Not at all. I brushed off your post, didn't I?
Can you be a little more specific about what you mean by this? What specifically is concerning you?
Can you name an instance where Bush has demonstrated fiscal conservatism? That would be the shorter list, if you could even make such a list. ;^)
The attorney general is a zealot and zealots are always dangerous – even if they are supposed to play on your side of the fence.
Since 9-11, Ashcroft has expanded the ability of the U.S. Department of Justice to spy on ordinary Americans, authorizing more wiretaps and surveillance than any attorney general in modern times.
He has authorized the creation of massive databases to track American gun owners, American travel and the day-to-day financial transactions of all Americans. The new databases will allow Uncle Sam to know how much money you have in the bank, how you spend it, where you go on any given day of the week, what guns you own, what cars you drive and when and where you buy gas, groceries or condoms.
“This brings back the old days of Hoover and his personal hit lists,” says retired FBI agent Alan Matthews. “Most of us had hoped those days were long gone.”
Terrorism succeeds when the victims of terrorists change their way of life, when fear dictates policy and hatred replaces reason. Terrorism wins when freedom becomes secondary to the cause.
Welcome to John Ashcroft’s America. It ain’t the America envisioned by the founding fathers in the past but, sadly, it is the America of the future
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.