Why We Need the ACLU

This political commentary interview is pretty special to me. The ACLU is one very interesting, culturally significant organization to me, one that gets a TON of flack of being ultra-liberal, yet at the same time has defended such ultra-conservatives as the KKK and super-religious groups. The ACLU is basically all about one thing: protecting people’s constitutional rights as members of society in the United States. How great is that? To lots of people, it’s great up until they realize that that means they’re about protecting people with opposing beliefs as much as they’re about protecting yours. And that’s where the flack comes in. People get caught up in the fact that the ACLU protects people with different beliefs than their own, and that makes them maaaaaaad. To me, I think the ACLU is a necessary, great organization in American politics that is mind-bogglingly level-headed in their ability to represent both the liberal left and the conservative right — from the countercultural ultra-extremes to everything in between. So I decided to interview them about what they feel is right or wrong. And Chris Hanson does a wonderful job of telling me that right or wrong doesn’t play into their jobs: only protecting people’s rights is the right thing. I really enjoyed this interview and think the ACLU is a great organization. That’s just my political commentary. What do you think?