ACLU May Gag Its Own Members

From the New York Times:

The American Civil Liberties Union is weighing new standards that would discourage its board members from publicly criticizing the organization's policies and internal administration.

Former board members are said to be shocked by the proposals, which may be why they're former board members.

Why would an organization purportedly dedicated to protecting civil liberties seek to deny freedom of speech and expression to its own members? The money:

"Directors should remember that there is always a material prospect that public airing of the disagreement will affect the A.C.L.U. adversely in terms of public support and fund-raising," the proposals state.

So the ACLU recognizes the need to present a unified face to the public in order to maintain their cash flow, and acknowledges that the restriction of some individual liberty is necessary to achieve that goal.

Why then does the ACLU not recognize the need for the US government to do similar things in order to preserve the lives of American citizens? Is it because the ACLU is more about maintaining the flow of dollars into its members' pockets than it is about any real concern for individual liberties?

For those who came in late, the US Constitution was doing a magnificent job of protecting individual liberty long before the lawyers of the ACLU came on the scene.

Via Stop the ACLU.

Cross-posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.