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Conservative favorites to join ACLU
by Jill Lawrence USA TODAY
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20021125/ts_usatoday/4649649
WASHINGTON -- The elder George Bush won the presidency against Michael Dukakis in 1988 in part by suggesting it was beyond-the-pale liberal to be ''a card-carrying member'' of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites). But now the group is signing on as consultants two of the most flamboyant conservative Republicans in Congress:
* Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, who lost a primary election this year, had called for President Clinton (news - web sites)'s impeachment even before the Monica Lewinsky affair was known. The American Conservative Union, which rates members of Congress on their votes on issues important to conservatives, has given Barr a 100% rating.
* House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, who is retiring, has skirmished with Democrats in often acid terms. In 1994, he told them that ''your president is just not that important for us.'' His ACU rating is 97%.
''I'm sure it's taken many by surprise,'' Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said of the planned signing of the two when they leave office in January. He said they would play ''a visible role'' as well as work with ACLU staff. How much work they'll do and how much they'll be paid are still being worked out.
The ACLU often is in the center of controversy. In 1977 it defended the right of Nazis to march in Skokie, Ill., a heavily Jewish Chicago suburb with many Holocaust survivors. For decades it has defended gay and abortion rights, the rights of criminals and the mentally ill. It also defends civil liberties and the right to privacy, which is where its interests intersect with those of Armey and Barr.
Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU's Washington office, said the group has been working with Barr since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. ''He's been very concerned about the government's willingness to violate people's Fourth Amendment and privacy rights'' and was ''instrumental in preventing a lot of overboard wiretapping laws,'' she said.
Armey started working with the ACLU after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She said Armey was instrumental in making sure the new Homeland Security Act did not include a national ID card or Operation TIPS, a planned Terrorism Information and Prevention System in which people would phone in tips on suspect neighborhood activity. Murphy called it a ''citizen spying corps.''
The prominent additions could soften the ACLU's ultraliberal image. They are also a bow to the fact that Republicans will soon control both the White House and Congress. ''We have to be realistic about what party's in power,'' Murphy said. ''If we're going to affect federal policy . . . we have to have access.''
Armey and Barr may not be the last of the high-profile hires. Murphy said the ACLU has been talking to ''soon-to-be ex-senators'' from both parties. ''Stay tuned for Democrats and Republicans,'' she said.
Conservative favorites to join ACLU
by Jill Lawrence USA TODAY
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20021125/ts_usatoday/4649649
WASHINGTON -- The elder George Bush won the presidency against Michael Dukakis in 1988 in part by suggesting it was beyond-the-pale liberal to be ''a card-carrying member'' of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites). But now the group is signing on as consultants two of the most flamboyant conservative Republicans in Congress:
* Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, who lost a primary election this year, had called for President Clinton (news - web sites)'s impeachment even before the Monica Lewinsky affair was known. The American Conservative Union, which rates members of Congress on their votes on issues important to conservatives, has given Barr a 100% rating.
* House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, who is retiring, has skirmished with Democrats in often acid terms. In 1994, he told them that ''your president is just not that important for us.'' His ACU rating is 97%.
''I'm sure it's taken many by surprise,'' Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said of the planned signing of the two when they leave office in January. He said they would play ''a visible role'' as well as work with ACLU staff. How much work they'll do and how much they'll be paid are still being worked out.
The ACLU often is in the center of controversy. In 1977 it defended the right of Nazis to march in Skokie, Ill., a heavily Jewish Chicago suburb with many Holocaust survivors. For decades it has defended gay and abortion rights, the rights of criminals and the mentally ill. It also defends civil liberties and the right to privacy, which is where its interests intersect with those of Armey and Barr.
Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU's Washington office, said the group has been working with Barr since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. ''He's been very concerned about the government's willingness to violate people's Fourth Amendment and privacy rights'' and was ''instrumental in preventing a lot of overboard wiretapping laws,'' she said.
Armey started working with the ACLU after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She said Armey was instrumental in making sure the new Homeland Security Act did not include a national ID card or Operation TIPS, a planned Terrorism Information and Prevention System in which people would phone in tips on suspect neighborhood activity. Murphy called it a ''citizen spying corps.''
The prominent additions could soften the ACLU's ultraliberal image. They are also a bow to the fact that Republicans will soon control both the White House and Congress. ''We have to be realistic about what party's in power,'' Murphy said. ''If we're going to affect federal policy . . . we have to have access.''
Armey and Barr may not be the last of the high-profile hires. Murphy said the ACLU has been talking to ''soon-to-be ex-senators'' from both parties. ''Stay tuned for Democrats and Republicans,'' she said.
