James Kirchick on 'The Disintegration of the ACLU'

Quillette Podcast

Quillette

Society & Culture, Politics, News, Science, News Commentary

4.6 • 917 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Quillette's Jonathan Kay talks to author James Kirchick about his recent Tablet article documenting how the American Civil Liberties Union abandoned its core mission in favor of doctrinaire progressive politics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Colette Podcast. My name is Claire Lehman and I am editor and chief of Colette.
0:08.0	Colette is where free thought lives. We are an independent grassroots platform for heterodox ideas and fearless commentary.
0:14.8	Our podcast is a team effort and is jointly hosted by myself, associate editor Toby Young and
0:20.6	Canadian editor Jonathan K.
0:22.8	You can support our podcast by visiting Patreon.com
0:25.8	forward slash Quilett and becoming a monthly patron.
0:29.1	By becoming a monthly patron you'll also receive our weekly newsletter.
0:35.0	My top priority, when I first got to the National ACLU, I thought, was going to be racial justice.
0:44.0	Mr. Ira Glasser, head of the American Civil Liberties Union, what years?
0:49.0	78 to 2001.
0:52.0	Throughout its existence, the American Civil Liberties Union has defended unpopular causes.
0:57.0	Actually, my top priority turned out to be organizational survival.
1:02.0	American Nazi Party leader Frank Colin has been trying to hold a march through the streets of Skokie, Illinois.
1:08.0	The Aceso is opposed to defend free speech of Nazis.
1:12.0	The reaction under the Holocaust survivors was very understanding.
1:17.3	You would defend it again today if you had to.
1:19.8	Yes. The First Amendment is what permits people to organize for social justice.
1:27.0	Welcome to the Quillett podcast. I'm Jonathan Kay.
1:30.0	What we've just heard is an excerpt from Mighty IRA, a newly released documentary about
1:35.4	Ira Glasser, who led the American Civil Liberties Union beginning in the late 1970s
1:40.1	and on through its principled heyday for a period of 23 years.
1:44.0	As the directors say, Glasser, quote,
	...

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