OPINION:
Now that Donald Trump has been sworn in as America’s 45th president, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has hit the panic button.
Pledging “resistance” to President Trump, the ACLU is in a veritable tantrum over the results of the November election. Their poster boy ought to be that sad anti-Trump protester who set himself on fire (and is recovering) last Tuesday outside Mr. Trump’s new D.C. hotel.
As part of its promotion of Saturday’s post-inaugural Women’s March for Abortion (okay, they didn’t call it that, but it’s the reality), the ACLU featured a downloadable poster of the Statue of Liberty — with a clenched fist.
Site visitors can sign “the People’s Oath,” which pledges signers to uphold the Constitution “to ensure that I’m the only one who gets to decide what to do with my body” or that “my daughter doesn’t ever have to feel the pain of discrimination” or that “my Muslim-American brothers are guaranteed the same rights as I am.”
Or you can make up your own oath and include a snapshot. A friend of mine thought about donning a costume and submitting a photo as a concerned Walrus-American, but I talked her out of it.
To counter what the ACLU calls Mr. Trump’s “sustained assault on the constitutional rights of all Americans,” the site features four essays, “Waking Up in Trump’s America.”
The first piece is by DeShawn Taylor, an abortion clinic owner in Phoenix. She describes Desert Star as “a home base for women’s wellness; a safe space for LGBT people and teens; a warm, supportive environment where, on any given day, my staff and I may be called on to provide cancer screenings or abortion care .”
Note the attachment of the word “care” to “abortion.” It’s like an “I love Mother” tattoo on a street thug. Makes everything so much warmer and fuzzier. But not so warm or supportive if you’re an unborn child.
Dr. Taylor goes on to describe Arizona’s “slew of harmful regulations” such as requiring an ultrasound, handing out medical information about pregnancy, and a 24-hour waiting period before putting the baby to the knife. One might get the impression that Arizona’s lawmakers actually think there is another human life involved and so a decision of this magnitude should not be rushed.
Dr. Taylor finishes with an unflattering view of her adopted state, saying, “There are no easy solutions when it comes to bigotry or misogyny, as too many Arizonans know already.”
The second essay is the most well-reasoned and remarkably free of rancor. Jason Hernandez, a non-violent drug offender who was among the nearly 1,200 that President Obama pardoned, makes the case for clemency for aging prisoners with long sentences for non-violent drug offenses. Other than misgivings about incoming Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his “law and order” stances, Mr. Hernandez makes a heartfelt case for second chances.
In the third essay, Sharefa Daw, a Muslim immigrant from Burma, “discusses her fear that the Trump administration will limit the number of refugees the U.S. resettles while creating a suffocating atmosphere of hate and fear.”
Shown in a photo without a hijab, Ms. Daw notes that for her family, “It took more than two years of interviews and background checks, but we learned we were accepted to the U.S.”
Most Americans who are concerned about unchecked immigration, especially from terror-prone countries, have not thought a lot about Burma, and few would take issue with a thorough vetting. Ms. Daw, who comes across as a model citizen, nonetheless indulges in the kind of rhetoric typical of the ACLU’s website:
“Our new president’s hateful speech has helped create a more hateful country.”
Finally, there’s an essay by Deirdre Grimm, who “explains the anxieties of being the parent of a transgender teenager as anti-trans animus and legislation revs up nationally after the election of Donald Trump.”
Ms. Grimm’s child was born female, but now goes by Gavin. The ACLU sued a Virginia school district to allow Gavin in boys’ restrooms and locker rooms.
“Everyone deserves to live their life as their most authentic self,” she said of her biological daughter who now thinks she’s a boy.
Speaking of “authentic” selves, the ACLU is also celebrating Mr. Obama’s commutation of the traitor Chelsea Manning’s 35-year sentence for leaking 750,000 national security documents to WikiLeaks. He did it when he was an Army intelligence analyst known as Bradley Manning and was convicted of espionage and other offenses.
Last September, the ACLU won an agreement from the Army for taxpayers to pay for Manning’s sex change surgery, which her early release may void. Manning had already been undergoing hormone therapy.
Chelsea wrote to Mr. Obama, “I am merely asking for a first chance to live my life as the person I was born to be.”
The ACLU’s war on Mr. Trump and reality, coming to a town near you.
• Robert Knight is a senior fellow for the American Civil Rights Union.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.