From the New York Times:

The American Civil Liberties Union is weighing new standards that would discourage its board members from publicly criticizing the organization's policies and internal administration.

Why would an organization purportedly dedicated to protecting civil liberties seek to deny freedom of speech and expression to its own members? The money:

"Directors should remember that there is always a material prospect that public airing of the disagreement will affect the A.C.L.U. adversely in terms of public support and fund-raising," the proposals state.

Why then does the ACLU not recognize the need for the US government to do similar things in order to preserve the lives of American citizens? Is it because the ACLU is more about maintaining the flow of dollars into its members' pockets than it is about any real concern for individual liberties?

For those who came in late, the US Constitution was doing a magnificent job of protecting individual liberty long before the lawyers of the ACLU came on the scene.

Via Stop the ACLU.

Cross-posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto and Vince Aut Morire.

Posted by: Bluto at 08:42 AM | Comments (18) | Add Comment
Post contains 243 words, total size 2 kb.

(Duncan, Oklahoma) Halliburton executives have been accused of trying to avoid controversy by holding their shareholders' meeting in the city of Duncan. Not so, responded the Houston-based company. Rather, Duncan was chosen since the company was founded there and management wanted to highlight operations that continue there. I confess to not caring one whit.

From KansasCity.com:

Sixteen people protesting Halliburton Co.'s environmental record and its role as a military contractor were arrested on trespassing charges today when they surged toward a building where company shareholders were meeting.

Another man was arrested on a charge of destroying public property for tearing up a plastic fence holding back protesters.

A masked man beat on a large empty jug and protesters chanted, "The whole world is watching," and "Shame on you," while police made the arrests. A designated area had been set up for the protest, and police had told protesters not to leave that area.

Those arrested were frisked, handcuffed and taken to the Stephens County Jail.

From Interested-Participant.

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 05:57 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 247 words, total size 2 kb.

In his second official statement, Representative Patrick Kennedy says that he smashed his car into a security barrier in the wee hours yesterday morning because of prescription drugs.

From the Washington Post:

Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy crashed his car into a security barrier near the Capitol early yesterday, and officers at the scene suspected that he might have been intoxicated, a police union official said.

Kennedy (D-R.I.) issued a statement late last night -- his second in several hours -- saying he had been disoriented after taking prescription drugs: Phenergan for gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines, and Ambien, a sleeping medication.

Embarrassing as this floundering may be, it raises a more serious question. Capital Police officers have said that they were prevented by their superiors from conducting field sobriety tests on Kennedy, who was reportedly driven home by a Capital Police sergeant.

Was Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney onto something when she said that the incident that culminated in her punching a Capital Police officer was precipitated because she is black?

Cross-posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto, Stop the ACLU, and Vince Aut Morire.

Posted by: Bluto at 06:36 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
Post contains 228 words, total size 2 kb.