ACLU Claims they are the Most Conservative Orginization in America

Crossposted from The Conservative Right


The ACLU took out a full page advertisement in the Washington Post today. Here is what they had to say:

Today, George Bush is expected to sign into law one of the most radical rollbacks of civil liberties in American history. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 eliminates the right of Habeas Corpus for detainees who could be held for years without charge, and guts enforcement of the Geneva Conventions. The law allows detainees to be sentenced to death based on testimony literally beaten out of witnesses. And, it grants officials in the Bush Administration a retroactive “get out of jail free” card for war crimes.

The American Civil Liberties Union, meeting in convention in Washington today, stands in strong opposition to this law. Since its founding, the ACLU has led the fight to conserve our most precious liberties. We have been in the forefront of those seeking to conserve the system of checks and balances designed to prevent the very abuses of presidential power we are witnessing today. When it comes to defending the Bill of Rights, no organization in America is more conservative.

Let's gloss over the fact that the ACLU is attempting to portray itself as a conservative organization for a moment, so we can focus on the real issue. The blatant attack on Bush, and gross misrepresentation of the Military Commission Act. The ACLU argues that this Act 'guts enforcement of the Geneva Conventions'. No it does not! If we were to go to war with North Korea, the Military Commission Act would not apply, therefore any prisoners captured in that war would be subject to the Geneva Conventions. What this Act does is overturn a ruling by the Supreme Court which wrongfully states that the Taliban and Al Qaeda are subject to the Geneva Conventions. A close look at the Geneva Convention Treaties will show this was incorrect:

Art. 4. A. Prisoners of war, in the sense of the present Convention, are persons belonging to one of the following categories, who have fallen into the power of the enemy:
(1) Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict, as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.

(2) Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, fulfill the following conditions:[ (a) that of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; (b) that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance; (c) that of carrying arms openly; (d) that of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.

(3) Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power.

(4) Persons who accompany the armed forces without actually being members thereof, such as civilian members of military aircraft crews, war correspondents, supply contractors, members of labour units or of services responsible for the welfare of the armed forces, provided that they have received authorization, from the armed forces which they accompany, who shall provide them for that purpose with an identity card similar to the annexed model.

(5) Members of crews, including masters, pilots and apprentices, of the merchant marine and the crews of civil aircraft of the Parties to the conflict, who do not benefit by more favorable treatment under any other provisions of international law.

(6) Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units, provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.

I find the last sentence here the most useful 'provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war'. Suicide bombers do not carry their arms openly nor do they respect the laws and customs of war when they kill innocent people along with themselves.

The ACLU charges that the Military Commission Act 'grants officials in the Bush Administration a retroactive “get out of jail free” card for war crimes'. No it does not! The bill states:

(a) Jurisdiction- A military commission under this chapter shall have jurisdiction to try any offense made punishable by this chapter or the law of war when committed by an alien unlawful enemy combatant before, on, or after September 11, 2001.

What this clause does is allow the US government to treat certain prisoners, going back to Sept 11, 2001 as unlawful enemy combatants, see My Previous Article for more information on this.

I have been talking about misrepresentations in the media in regards to the Military Commission Act for the past month, and I am starting to wonder if any of these organizations have actually taken the time to read it, or if they are basing their judgment solely on propaganda released by other media outlets.

Now let's take a look at the laughable statement maid by the ACLU where they claim to be the most conservative organization in America. If you take a look in the upper left hand corner of my website, I have a definition of the word 'conservative' as taken from Webster’s. Notice the term 'Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change'.

So if the ACLU were truly a conservative organization as they claim to be, they would favor traditional views, such as marriage being defined as man and woman. They would not have fought to change the Pledge of Allegiance to remove the term 'Under God'. They would not be fighting the Boy Scouts of America for their policy of dis-allowing homosexual men from being scout leaders (Homosexual men taking 12 year old boys on camping trips would not be considered a traditional value). They would not be fighting the partial birth abortion ban. ( for those unaware of what makes it a 'partial birth abortion', it refers to a last term abortion in which the doctor pulls the baby out feet first while stabbing it in the back of the skull in order to kill it). I don’t believe the taking of innocent life’s would be considered a traditional view either.

I could go on and on about how far to the left the ACLU actually is, but let's face it, any American who follows this organization already knows it.

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