ACLU Vs. The Minuteman Project

I don’t usually watch CNN simply because I find their bias too much to take most of the time. I have never liked Lou Dobbs but I do have to give him credit for reporting on The Minuteman Project in a fair manner and asking the ACLU the tough questions. On Friday he had a couple of reports about The Minuteman Project and then talked to Bay Buchanan, the chairman of Team America, and Eleanor Eisenberg, director of the Arizona ACLU.

I was unfamiliar with Ms. Buchanan and Team America until recently when they declared their support for The Minuteman Project. Team America is a political action committee with the sole purpose of supporting those candidates who are committed to strengthening our borders and national security. I found her portion of the interview to be intelligent and articulate as she described why her group supports The Minuteman Project.

Next up was Eleanor Eisenberg, the director of the Arizona ACLU. Before I address the contradictory statements that she offered up on behalf of the ACLU I would like to look at two press releases from the ACLU, one from the Arizona ACLU which is quite inflammatory and one from the national ACLU. Check them out below.

First up is the press release from the national ACLU, here is the link to the full release. I especially liked this statement which is offered with no proof what so ever, I guess the premise of innocent until proven guilty is only important to the ACLU when they are on the defending side.

In the past, the Minuteman sponsoring organization is alleged to have engaged in activities that go beyond First Amendment-protected activity and that is intended to intimidate, harass or otherwise interfere with the rights of others. Many immigrant advocacy groups, including the ACLU, have expressed concern that members of white supremacist and other hate organizations will be participating and may trigger violence.

It is my guess that whoever wrote this press release never actually talked to anyone from The Minuteman Project or read the information on their website about the screening process for participants. Believe it or not that statement is mild compared to the press release from the Arizona branch of the ACLU. Again here is the link to the full press release and below are some statements I enjoyed for their creativity.

“The purpose of legal observes is to deter abuses, document the actions of these individuals, and highlight the real tragedies that occur along the border,” said Ira Glasser Racial Justice Fellow Ray Ybarra. “Perhaps someday we will live in a society where no human being will have to face death and hatred in pursuit of work that this country requires, but until that day comes the experiences of undocumented immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico Border needs to be highlighted in order to demonstrate the fact that this is one of the grossest human rights violations in the history of the United States. Hundreds of people die annually in the desert and the American public chooses to turn a blind-eye.”

Wait, it gets better. Take a look at this one.

“The vigilantes are symbolic of the fear and misunderstanding that exists in our society. While overcoming this attitude is the ultimate challenge that we as a society must strive for, we can not sit idly be while those who are motivated by fear and misunderstanding attempt to take out their frustrations on a group of individuals who are simply in search of a better life,” said Ybarra. “These individuals may very well likely come to our state as ‘vigilantes’ and end up leaving as a ‘defendant’.”

In case your wondering who the hell Ray Ybarra is, well he is a punk second year law student from Stanford. I especially like how we are told time and time again how the ACLU and it’s personnel are neutral and impartial observers, yet the demeanor in the previous quotes would suggest that perhaps Mr. Ybarra is letting his Hispanic heritage speak for him rather then his law experience. But what can you expect from a 2^nd year? Since his contact information is listed in his Arizona ACLU profile I attempted to get a clarification of his press release since it seemed to be in direct contradiction with the statements made by Eleanor Eisenberg, the director of the Arizona ACLU. Needless to say that he has yet to call me back and I will not be holding my breath.

Now onto the statements made by Ms. Eisenberg on the Lou Dobbs show on Friday evening. Again I must give credit for Dobbs not lobbing softball questions to Eisenberg, it was funny to watch her react, and she obviously did not expect the real and valid questions that Lou asked. Here is the link to the full transcript, the Minuteman information and the interviews are mingled in with coverage of the Pope’s illness.

DOBBS: Well, if there is ample law enforcement along the border, it will be the first time in literally decades, as you know, Eleanor.

The role of the ACLU, as it was first described, was to monitor the Minutemen, so -- but what you have just described, Eleanor, is quite different. You're going to monitor all parties involved in these -- in the Minuteman Project, the volunteers, the activists who -- open-border activists who have said that they are going to come to Arizona as well, as well as those smuggling illegal aliens and who enter the U.S. illegally.

Is that correct?

EISENBERG: Right. The ACLU would lose its credibility if it could not be objective and neutral at these demonstrations. We have been providing legal observers here in Arizona for many, many years at large gatherings, and our volunteers who engage in activities such as that, I think, are really heroic, because they set aside their own rights of protest, they set aside their own feelings, in order to assure that they will have credibility if they are called upon to provide notes or...

DOBBS: Well, as you know...

EISENBERG: ... documentation that they have accrued during the course of the event.

DOBBS: So let me ask it straightforwardly, you're there to represent the Bill of Rights in a neutral and objective manner, and you're concerned with the civil liberties of the Minutemen themselves, as concerned with their rights as you are with the rights of any party there at the border with Mexico. Is that correct?

EISENBERG: I think that's an accurate statement.

DOBBS: All right.

EISENBERG: I think a lot of ACLU members' sympathies are with migrants and that we agree that...

DOBBS: By migrants, do you mean illegal aliens?

EISENBERG: We mean border crossers, undocumented, illegal. I know there are a lot of terms. And we share the concern that there has to be a humane, consistent immigration policy that is enforced...

DOBBS: Eleanor, may I just point out one thing?

EISENBERG: ... implemented by law enforcement. Sure.

DOBBS: The U.S. Bill of Rights, the Constitution, those very precious rights, those are for the American people, American citizens, and shouldn't they have some primacy in your concern?

EISENBERG: The Bill of Rights does not restrict itself...

DOBBS: It's a simple question, Eleanor. Should they have the primacy in your concern?

EISENBERG: The Bill of Rights does not restrict itself to citizens. In some cases it does. Clearly, when it comes to voting rights and those things, but anybody who is on U.S. soil, I think, can have the expectation that law enforcement that is trained and that is accountable...

DOBBS: Eleanor...

EISENBERG: ... will...

DOBBS: ... I apologize...

EISENBERG: ... enforce the law. DOBBS: I apologize. We're out of time. I am so delighted to hear you say that you are concerned about the rights of all parties to what will transpire.

EISENBERG: Absolutely.

Just for the record, Ybarra is the ACLU point man at the event not Eisenberg. I am sure she is sitting in her office wherever that might be in our great state of Arizona. Remove all emotion or preconceived notions about this issue and read the press releases from both the national ACLU and the Arizona ACLU and then read the statements from the Dobbs show on CNN. Not quite 180 degrees but pretty close. Eisenberg states that the ACLU is there to protect the civil rights of all participants and the statements and press releases seem to indicate that the ACLU is targeting The Minuteman Project. I think its closer to targeting The Minuteman Project members then being there to project their civil rights. Why else would the founder of the Minutemen feel the need to send this letter to the FBI complaining about the ACLU interfering with the group’s right to peacefully assemble for their mission? Maybe the answer lies with the adage of “do as I say and not as I do”.

The most shocking part of the interview is the claim by Eisenberg that the Bill of Rights applies to non-citizens. Even a far-left liberal like Dobbs was astounded at her claim and asked for clarification. I have a feeling that this not the last time we will hear this claim by the ACLU. There it is folks, proof that the ACLU hates Americans and values illegal immigration’s rights over the rights of citizens like you and me. It really is sad how far left the ACLU has drifted thanks to their corruption by the far lefties of the Democratic Party. Once upon a time the ACLU did very good things for all Americans, but it seems those days are past. As for those ACLU supporters that point to this blog and my online free speech as a result of the ACLU, I say you are so helplessly ignorant. First of all the rights afforded us in the Bill of Rights are God-given rights for everyone on this planet, they are affirmed in that document as a legal contact between the government and it’s citizens. The ACLU has absolutely nothing to do with myself or any other citizen being granted these rights, in fact in the name of it’s unholy mission the ACLU regularly ignores some while trumpeting others. Enjoy the links and have a great Monday everyone.

P.S. One last note, Jay from Stop the ACLU has asked me to join as a contributor over at his site. I have gladly accepted, so come on by and check out what we are doing to work for reform of the ACLU.