Former Patriot editor Bill Flanigen had an Op-Ed published in the New York Post today about the ACLU's odd stance of both condemning the use of Federal watchlists but at the same time complying with federal regulations of screening their own employees against the lists: here.
Big congrats to Bill.
Tomorrow's the Day
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8 comments:
Great piece. However, the comments so far are great. My favorite line: "I assume you were Ivy League educated by your radical anti-America stance."
So he gets an OP Ed in what is basically a right wing yellow journalism tabloid, and it is of course bashing the ALCU, an organization which has been responsible for far more good then bad since it was founded. Just looking through the comments on his article here, I'm not surprised they are mostly offensive such as
"The ACLU is a worthless sack of hack lawyers and all of them should be brought up on charges of aiding and abetting terrorism. They are a vile group and undermine American values"
Great job Bill, next time write a piece for a legitimate paper
Anonymous: Bill used to work for the ACLU.
Great job commenter, next time read the entire article (including the 2 line author bio, which I know must be taxing on your already strained intellect) before you come to make baseless accusations about bias.
Oh, and let me know when you have a piece in a major publication. Tell you what, I'll even let you count Mother Jones or The Nation, or whatever little rag would be desperate enough for bile to allow you to vomit all over their pages, as you have this comment section.
Go ahead, I'm waiting. But I won't hold my breath.
"Great job commenter, next time read the entire article (including the 2 line author bio, which I know must be taxing on your already strained intellect) before you come to make baseless accusations about bias"
I did read it as a matter of fact, all of it, and people's opinions can always change but its quite obvious who the NY Post is aimed towards and I'll tell you, it's not supporters of the ACLU. Complying with federal regulations doesn't mean you have to like them. The ACLU isn't compromising their ideals as Bill suggests nor are they "selling out" obviously that headline was probably written by the POST as they are the ones who come up with sensationalist headlines to sell newspapers.
As someone who has worked for the ACLU I would expect that Bill would understand their side in all of this, why they follow the regulations even though they hate them. If they didn't follow them they would face problems that would distract from the noble work they do much of the time.
And Logan, these accusations weren't baseless, they were based on the fact that he is in a way selling out the organization he used to work for and I hope they put 2 and 2 together and respond to this garbage
"So he gets an OP Ed in what is basically a right wing yellow journalism tabloid, and it is of course bashing the ALCU, an organization which has been responsible for far more good then bad since it was founded"
Sorry, I've never heard of the ALCU before. I mean, I've heard of (and written about) the ACLU. I also worked for the ACLU. I love the ACLU--which is why I feel the need to criticize the ACLU when it strays from its good work and betrays its principles--but I really know nothing about the ALCU.
Perhaps you can enlighten me, anonymous commenter. What does the ALCU believe? What do they do? Maybe you can point me to a few of your columns on the subject in the legitimate paper for which you write.
I'm curious.
(Oh, and I apologize for the tone of the comments posted to my article. Because, you know, authors are always responsible for the unhinged wingnuts who comment on their work. Shame on me.)
"Perhaps you can enlighten me, anonymous commenter. What does the ALCU believe? What do they do? Maybe you can point me to a few of your columns on the subject in the legitimate paper for which you write"
The ACLU also known as the American Civil Liberties Union believes that all Americans are entitled to basic, civil rights as guaranteed by the United States Constitution the Bill of Rights and other documents that give us our freedoms. They also believe that the church should not dictate any of our laws and that people have a right to privacy as well as to be free of harassment by our government and by public and private institutions They are responsible for representing people, and organizations when they believe that their rights are being infringed upon, as well as defending those who favor a separation of church and state and those who have been harassed in one way or another by the government or by schools or other public or private organizations, as well as those who have been discriminated against on the basis of their sex, race, gender identity, religion etc... etc..
With regards to education and schools in general they have represented clients that have fought against religious teachings in public schools, random drug testing and strip searches without parental consent or notification. They have also represented students who have been discriminated against on the basis of one or more of those aforementioned categories.
While the cases regarding schools have been their most notable the ACLU has gone after the gov't for wiretapping, spying and violating privacy. They even defended Rush Limbaugh in I think it was 04 or 05 by saying that his drug abuse should have been kept private. Limbaugh has, not surprisingly continued to bash them relentlessly.
Now, turning my attention to the second half of your comments, I don't write for any paper nor do I have any intention to but I do consider the NY Post to be nothing but a tabloid. They have frequently been accused of printing sensationalist stories that stretch the truth and they border on yellow journalism. That said I am disappointed by someone who claims to love the ACLU would write an article that just leads to comment after comment bashing them even worse then you did, and you look tame compared to some of the comments currently posted about your article on the NY Post website.
I don't need to be a journalist to criticize your work Mr. Flanagan and I don't care whether or not you think my comments or opinions or legitimate. I wanted to just make certain you knew that there was at least one person out there who thought your article was an attack, and an undeserved one at that on an organization that you should never have had the privilege of working for if you truly think they are sellouts
Anonymous,
Piss off, learn how to spell, learn the difference between constructive criticism and hit-jobs, and then get back to me.
Thanks,
Bill
I'm looking forward to more of what Bill has to say, no matter which publication he writes for.
One thing I would love to see more of is arguably Bill's greatest strength: his wit.
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