From my latest at BASED Politics, “On Friday, HBO host and comedian Bill Maher interviewed former American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Executive Director Ira Glasser on his HBO program ‘Real Time.”

Glasser has spoken out in recent years about how much his former organization has drifted away from its roots of fearlessly defending absolute free speech for all. He argues that partisanship has diminished the ACLU, dragging it leftward to the point of no longer defending those whose speech doesn’t reflect their ‘values.’

Glasser wanted viewers to know why he believes the ACLU’s step back from defending free speech is dangerous for the preservation of basic constitutional freedoms in the United States.

‘So you were a head of this organization for 25 years, almost, from 1978 into this century,’ Maher began. ‘It’s changing. It was a stalwart defender of free speech and civil liberties. Is it still that?’

‘Not as much,’ Glasser answered.”

Read the entire story.

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Reason’s Robby Soave writes, “Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who shot and killed two men during the riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer, was acquitted on Friday. Prosecutors had charged him with first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, but the jury was persuaded by Rittenhouse’s argument that he acted in self-defense.

The ACLU thinks that Kyle Rittenhouse’s civil liberties got too much protection https://t.co/9zcJoGz9vQ

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) November 19, 2021

For anyone who had followed the trial closely, this outcome is unsurprising. The prosecution simply did not meet its burden of proof, and Rittenhouse’s defense team presented considerable evidence that he reasonably feared for his life each time he pulled the trigger. A witness testified that Joseph Rosenbaum, the first man shot by Rittenhouse, had threatened Rittenhouse’s life and was attempting to wrest control of Rittenhouse’s AR-15. The second man, Anthony Huber, struck Rittenhouse with a skateboard. And the third man—Gaige Grosskreutz, who survived—admitted on the stand that he had first pointed his own gun at Rittenhouse; Rittenhouse shot him in response to this perceived threat. As former Rep. Justin Amash (L–Mich.) put it: ‘The Rittenhouse case was a clear case of self-defense based on the evidence presented. The initial media narrative was false. Justice prevailed…’

More troubling is the response to the verdict from an organization that should know better: the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In a statement reacting to the verdict, ACLU-Wisconsin Interim Executive Director Shaadie Ali lamented the ‘deep roots of white supremacy’ in Kenosha that prevented Rittenhouse from being ‘held responsible for his actions.”

Read the entire column.

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Where did all the old-fashioned liberals go?

Yes! I miss the old anti war, free speech, question the government liberals. Now we just have angry authoritarian leftists! Cc:@ACLU https://t.co/X6QSA4r5EV

— Kelley Paul (@KelleyAshbyPaul) August 17, 2021

Libertarian hip-hop artist Zuby is right that “the word ‘liberal’ has been completely unmoored from its proper meaning.”

Most on the left today can’t even agree withe basic liberal premise that people with points of views that are the opposite of theirs should be allowed to hold those views.

It’s going to be up to mostly right-leaning people to defend liberalism in the United States, as strange as that might sound on its face.

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