Oka, boys and girls. In case it's been too long since you've last watched Sesame
Street, we're going to play a fun game of "One of These Things is Not Like the
Others." Ready?
I've just renewed my membership to the Aircraft
Owners and Pilots Association, the Smithsonian, Planned Parenthood, the Southern
Poverty Law Center, and the ACLU. Which one of these things is not like the
others?
Did you guess Smithsonian? Right! It's the only one of the
organizations above that is not up to its ears in fighting the policies of the
Bush-Ashcroft administration. (Technically that should probably be the Bush-Cheney
administration, but who knows where Cheney's hiding?) Yes, even the AOPA is
fighting for freedom, since apparently having a couple of 747's hijacked means
that the defense of liberty requires restrictions on the tiniest little Cessna
152, leading to more restricted areas higher insurances, and unpredictable new
laws. It's true that the government has not been encouraging the KKK and other
white-supremacist groups, a main focus of the SPLC, but they fight against all
types of hate crimes, and I think it's fair to class support for an amendment
reducing some citizens to second-class status as not exactly "teaching tolerance".
Planned Parenthood and the ACLU are, of course, self-explanatory and I found it
particularly satisfying to write those checks today.
(Of course the
ACLU helps defend some epellent people and groups. They took an oath (the same one
our civil servants are supposed to be executing), to protect and defend the
Constitution. If you phrase the right of free speech as "free speech for everyone
we agree with", it sort of loses some of its punch.)