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Once he got to know the former ACLU icon, he realized that his story was completely lost on my generation, but also increasingly relevant, for reasons that become clear minutes into the film. Nick Gillespieisan editor at largeatReason and host of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie. Perrino is 31. The 1978 case was horrifying on its face. The appropriate response to the disparities in the ability of different groups and individuals to communicate their political views to voters during an election campaign is to expand, not limit, the resources available for political advocacy. That is exactly what happened recently when Sam Wyly, a wealthy supporter of George W. Bush, independently spent his own money to advocate Bush's election. This was the joke of the eighties sitcomFamily Ties, which lampooned American liberalisms assumption that it had a hegemonic grip on bothyouth and cool. No set of limits can possibly limit everything. Mighty Iratraces the reasoning of people like Glasser and ACLU attorneys like David Goldberger, as they connect their decision to defend Nazi leader Frank Collin in Skokie to their years of advocacy in the sixties for black civil rights workers in the South. What monster could agitate, in the courts, to bring about a repeat of such a scene? Nor are we fans of delegating government powers to profit-driven corporations. The third time Joe Biden advocated for some form of Social Security benefit cuts came just five years ago while speaking at a . Ira Glasser is a former director of the American Civil Liberties Union and a lifelong defender of every citizen's right to free speech. Rupert Murdoch owns the New York Postand decides to use his newspaper to campaign for the election of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to the U.S. Senate. Former ACLU Head Ira Glasser on Why You Can't Ban Hate Speech - YouTube 0:00 / 16:52 #1595 Former ACLU Head Ira Glasser on Why You Can't Ban Hate Speech 640,741 views Jan 15, 2021 21K. Mighty Iraspends a lot of time on stories like Glassers unlikely friendship with William F. Buckley, or his tearful meeting years later with Skokie resident Ben Stern, who lost his family in concentration camps and vehemently opposed Glasser in the seventies. He argues that partisanship has diminished the ACLU, dragging it leftward to the point of no longer defending those whose speech doesnt reflect their values.. He believes what he says will convince you. Stern continues to be a principled activist against racism and antisemitism. The Internet has given us the ability to collect and disseminate large collections of data almost instantaneously. It was all Glasser's idea. All qualified candidates, including minor party candidates, could be given an adequate franking privilege during the campaign. As Glasser says inMighty Ira, Anyone in power is going to violate civil liberties sooner or later, which is why we end up suing everybody, including our members.. Contributions by PACs increased from $20.5 million in 1976 to $189 million in 1994. It struck down limits on independent expenditures, ruling that any individual or group unconnected to a candidate could advocate the election or defeat of that candidate without limit. Around that same time, TV news began to push another angle. Glasser is an ardent proponent of freedom of speech, even today despite the proliferation of hate speech on social media. At the core of this reform was the imposition of limits on campaign contributions and expenditures. This is not counted as a campaign expenditure or as a contribution by the taxpayers. Ira Glasser was born on April 18, 1938, at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. Glassers politics were based on the idea that good ideas eventually win out over bad ones, and people will tend to find common ground if they talk enough, preferring to make friends instead of enemies. Ira Glasser in "Mighty Ira" (Photo courtesy of Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) . It was replaced by a marketing campaign that before long saw almost complete reversals on everything from war to deficits to surveillance to financial bailouts leaving America in such a weird place politically that Donald Trump, famous until then solely as a rich pig who fired people for fun, could successfully paint his Democratic challenger as a tool of the wealthy. And while incumbents in the House of Representatives outspent challengers by 1.5 to 1 in 1976, they outspent challengers by 4 to 1 in 1992. The HBO host then targeted what he sees as the problem. Thats the point, he stressed. Thus, the owner of a newspaper could openly campaign for one candidate in the pages of his publication, but a wealthy individual could not provide equivalent support to the other candidate to allow him to respond. You couldnt have one without the other, they argue. He got his start as an examiner in BuckleysFiring Lineshow, and could be heard introducing the premise of a debate between Glasser and Buckley: Resolved: the ACLU is full of baloney. It wasnt an accident that when CNN went looking for someone to play the liberal on its phony debate show, they picked someone with the correct pedigree (Cranbrook, Harvard, Oxford,The Washington Post) instead of a Flatbush type like Glasser. Everybodys in favor of free speech as long as its theirs, Glasser said, agreeing with Maher when he said that the principle doesnt work if theres an exception., Maher told Glasser that he was one of the guests on his Real Time show whom he would most like to hug because his work had affected my life, saying that free speech was the outspoken hosts business.. If you pay attention, you will spot hints of darker issues to come dotted throughout the movie. He describes cheering in the stands next to 35- and 40-year-old black men, an experience white children could not have anywhere else in America at the time. I appreciate the opportunity to set forth my views and the views of the American Civil Liberties Union on the constitutional issues involved in campaign finance laws. Ira Glasser Updated Oct. 05, 2020 11:26PM ET / Published Oct. 04, 2020 5:03AM ET N ot too long ago, I was speaking to an audience at a prominent and highly regarded law school. In addition to establishing an unbiased system of public financing, there is another area in which Congress can improve the existing system of campaign regulation: public disclosure of large gifts. Ira Saul Glasser (born April 18, 1938) served as the fifth executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1978 to 2001. If you grant the village of Skokie the right to ban hate speech, or require insurance bonds, or prevent anyone in a military uniform from marching, the constitutional edifice comes down and every town in the country will soon be making its own rules. With worse syntax and better looks, that seventies version of Bill Buckley could easily be a 2021 MSNBC host, or aNew York Timeseditorialist preaching journalisms return to moral clarity. The Democratic Party and its supporters have undergone so many changes in the last forty years that big parts of its platform sound indistinguishable from what was once called Buckley-esque conservatism. The ACLU receives no funding from the federal government. on Is Traditional Ira Glasser-Style Liberalism Vanishing? Ray McGovern: The Last Chance to Avoid World War III? If you give the government the power to stop the right-wing marching in the street, Glasser says, they will acquire the power to decide who they think is dangerous enough to stop.. The more honest answer to the question of why Glasser chose the path he did isnt so much that its the safest or most effective in preventing violence (although in the long run, I think thats true also), but that democracy is messy, and all the other options are worse. Actually, most of the speech we defended didnt reflect our values. Glasser is best known for his leadership of the ACLU after the organizations much-pilloried decision to represent neo-Nazis who wanted to march in a suburb of Chicago called Skokie, Illinois. The Source of the Problem - and Its Remedy. That's historically and politically true without exception. Ira Glasser (born 1938) was the iconic executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1978 to 2001. The Joe Rogan Experience. The ad was a classic example of political speech protected by the First Amendment. He met Glasser at the funeral of formerVillage Voicecolumnist Nat Hentoff, and didnt know who he was. This is a requirement now for the national ACLU employers, that before they take a case defending someones free speech they have to make sure that the speech doesnt offend or threaten other civil liberties values., In other words, before theyre going to defend your free speech, they want to see what you say, a befuddled-looking Glasser continued. "Skokie passed three new laws," Glasser explained in the podcast. It allows the voters to make up their own minds about what is inappropriate, and it gives them the tools to make that judgment. As ACLU Director Ira Glasser put it, "it's as if you were tested and fired from your job for a drink you had at a party last Saturday night." Source: ACLU Spring 1998 National ACLU Members' Bulletin (Issue 3) - Spotlight: "Why Marijuana Law Reform Should Matter To You," by Ira Glasser. In his retired life, Glasser serves as the president of the board of directors of the Drug Policy Alliance. Standing here, he realizes sadly, has no resonance for me.. We hear Heather Heyers mother make this exact argument, saying, when asked if those white nationalists should have the right to speak again, I do, and thats not a popular opinion. She adds, I think once we take away the right to free speech, we may never get it back. Its provisions did not level the playing field. He was executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1978 to 2001, helping to turn it. Thus, under current law, Perot is able to spend whatever he wants to run for office but if an equally wealthy donor wants to enable Colin Powell to run against Perot, he commits a crime. It doesnt work if there are exceptions, Maher said. The ACLU has always believed that public disclosure of large campaign contributions, with the exceptions noted in Buckley, is the best check on corruption or the appearance of corruption in this area. Privacy Policy | As Frank noted, Democrats held a majority in the House of Representatives from the early 1930s all the way to the mid-1990s, with two short GOP interludes. This is why, in the eighties of our youth, Tip ONeills role as House Speaker felt like a lifetime appointment. shin numbness after acl surgery; first friday phoenix vendor application; benton high school baseball roster; surprise message link for boyfriend Okay, Im guessing the Nazis did not reflect your values., Thats a good guess, Glasser replied, to audience laughter. During a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Ira Glasser, who served as the fifth executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1978 to 2001, laid out the case for why attempting to ban "hate speech" and "false speech" is a bad idea. Oversaw $180 Million Combined Divisions for US Wear/Apparel America in NY, NY and Santiago, Dominican Republic. 10.14.2020 5:39 PM. Glasser, a down-to-earth liberal Jew from Brooklyn, made numerous appearances on Firing Line, the political debate show hosted by the aristocratic conservative intellectual William F. Buckley Jr., and . The former head of the American Civil Liberties Union has ripped the group for no longer defending all free speech claiming it now cherry-picks cases that fit a new "progressive" agenda. FECA did not just limit the expenditures of candidates and political parties, it applied to individual citizens as well, even if their advocacy was independent and unconnected to particular candidates or political parties. They have the ability to get themselves covered on television and in newspapers. His life was the subject of the 2020 documentary Mighty Ira.[1]. We've received your submission. Subscribe to the Real Time YouTube: http://itsh.bo/10r5A1BThe former ACLU Executive Director and subject of the documentary, "Mighty Ira," joins Bill to disc. Suppose Mayor Giuliani's opponent Hillary Clinton wants to respond to the New York Post'selectioneering. Once again, the new law swept far too broadly and necessarily limited speech clearly protected by the First Amendment. I mean, the most famous case, you defended the Nazis being able to march in Skokie, Illinois in 1977, Maher went on. Glasser was obsessed with the Dodgers as a kid, becoming a fan at the age of 9, in 1947, when Jackie Robinson joined the team. Glasser later explained, The ACLU has become, not totally but theyve become more of a political, partisan, what they call progressive organization.. Even if campaign finance laws had achieved these goals, they could not possibly justify the First Amendment violations I have described. Ira is one of America's unsung champions of civil rights and liberties. The result? Glasser, 82, is one of the most important civil-liberties advocates of the past 50 years. Because it ruled that a candidate could not corrupt himself, it permitted a wealthy candidate, like Ross Perot, for example, to spend an unlimited amount on his own candidacy. Mighty Ira: Directed by Chris Maltby, Nico Perrino, Aaron Reese. Main Menu. For these kinds of reasons, the ACLU challenged FECA in Buckley v. Valeoand in 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled partially in our favor. But when Ramsey Clark ran for the U.S. Senate, he voluntarily decided to limit individual contributions to his campaign to $100, and in fact, the average contribution he received was not much more than $20. 02:01:25. The organization held a unique place in American society, Kennedy told him, dedicated to neither right nor left, but to defending the root ideas that held us together. Glasser and Stern met in person for the first time Wednesday. Public financing should be equally available in equal amounts to alllegally qualified candidates. This worsened the inequality of campaign financing. Meanwhile, Michael J. Foxs Alex Keaton character, who worshipped Milton Friedman instead of Salinger and kept a portrait of Nixon where most kids kept the Blue Oyster Cult poster, was the rebel. The ACLU is a nationwide, non-profit organization consisting of nearly 300,000 members dedicated to protecting the principles of freedom and liberty set forth in the Bill of Rights. You dont an entrance exam on civil liberties to work in an organization called the American Civil Liberties Union?, The live audience snickered. Consider this hypothetical. For example, most newspapers and broadcast stations were supporting Ramsey Clark's opponents and their speech was unlimited by the new law while his ability to respond by buying ads was curbed. Glasser, who was born in 1938, currently serves on the advisory board for FIRE, which produced the film. Moreover, when the law forces supporters to be devious and to spend their money directly instead of giving it to the candidate, electoral accountability is severed. Bill Clinton supposedly changed all of this. Or knows about it, Maher added, to audience applause. "[Former Rep.] John Lewis said that without free speech and the right to dissent, the Civil Rights movement would have been a bird without wings. ", https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/chrt.fm/track/35917C/d2h6a3ly6ooodw.cloudfront.net/reasontv_audio_8088607.mp3. What is the ACLU doing saying that?. AsMighty Iragoes to great pains to point out, minorities and the poor tended to have an easier time understanding the ACLUs Skokie decision, because the history of the wealthy using restrictive power against labor, communists, and civil rights activists is so long. The incredibly high cost of television ads, which can consume more than half of a candidate's budget, creates an insatiable demand for money. Once he won in court, the Nazi leader Collin decided not to march in Skokie, and was eventually humiliated first by a giant counter-demonstration in Chicago, then by a child molestation charge that landed him in prison. The movie depicted politics as a palace drama led by a heroic Clinton figure who bombed Libya (but felt bad about it) and dated a lobbyist who burned a flag with her ACLU pals. Michael Douglass Andrew Shepherd stands up for Sydney Ellen Wade in the way Dukakis didnt stand up for Kitty, and declares with manly pride that I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU but the truth was, Clinton Democrats of the type Shepherd was supposed to represent were running full-speed in the opposite direction from the brand of working-class liberalism the ACLU represented. But if an equally wealthy individual wanted to support Perot's opponent, the law made it unlawful to do so. This should not be a result anyone would support. Its yet another switch. But such limits only apply to cash contributions. However, it makes sense as we realize we may soon also miss Glassers brand of liberalism in the same way. He loves it. On 60 Minutes, Ira Glasser, who spent 34 years at the ACLU . t206 walter johnson portrait; family jealous of my success The success of a third political party led credence to the Populist Party and accelerated its growth going into the 1896 Presidential election. The letter made no mention of the election and indeed the ACLU has never supported or opposed any candidate for elective office and is strictly nonpartisan. Maher laughed and said, Hes not talking about that., Glasser then said, more seriously, If youre hiring a lawyer to defend the First Amendment, you want to have a reasonable assumption that he likes the First Amendment. It sought to enjoin them from publishing such ads, and it wrote a letter toThe TimesthreateningThe Timeswith criminal prosecution if it published such an ad again. But the problem is there isnt any other ACLU., And if there isnt somebody whos prepared to defend what you say [Glasser pointed at Maher], and prepared to defend what the Nazis say, Glasser warned, then the government gets to decide who can speak.. June 22, 2022; justin jefferson under armour contract; guardala mouthpiece history; ira glasser political party . Skokie seemed to establish the willingness to take an unpopular stand in defense of a principle as another prerequisite for all liberal thinkers of my generation, especially young ones. While he did not initiate the. Ira comes from the old-school generation of civil libertarians: a generation that saw Jim Crow and the stark ravages of racial discrimination. But in 1998, all congressional general-election candidates combined spent approximately $740 million - roughly $3.69 per eligible voter. The film was produced and co-directed by Nico Perrino, Vice-President of Communications for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a modern speech rights advocacy group. And if there isnt somebody whos prepared to defend what you say Then the government gets to decide who can speak. But if a prospective challenger wants to buy space to respond, he cannot secure a contribution to pay for it. Although dicta in some of the opinions gave hope to both sides, the holdings themselves in Shrink left the law basically where it was before. You dont like that. What happened to the Glasser-style liberalism we grew up with? But in fact, campaign finance laws have not achieved their goals. Ira Glasser, ACLU's longtime-former executive director, still backs that decision, he told Reason in a podcast. Jeff Cohen, who briefly played the left host in a later incarnation of the show, described theCrossfireliberal as someone who couldnt punch back.. This kind of inequality is an unavoidable consequence of the current approach to campaign financing. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Missouri woman cant watch her fathers execution, judge rules, ACLU pushes for court order over abysmal conditions in LA County Jail, The ACLUs latest step to becoming just another progressive scold at civil liberties expense, Arkansas cant ban treatment for transgender kids, appeals court rules. For example, the major stated purpose of campaign finance reform was to avoid corruption by limiting big contributions to candidates. The shorthand outlines of that episode are known on Twitter, but the deeply thought-out reasons for the ACLUs actions back then belong to a pre-Internet era. After moderator Michael Kinsley provides an introduction, Buckley officially proposes the resolution . Moreover, they inevitably lead to curbs on speech that everyone agrees should be protected by the First Amendment. At the time, in 2017, Perrino was a couple of years into working for FIRE, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that defends the civil liberties of students and faculty.