For decades conservative Republicans have railed against the "liberal" American Civil Liberties Union and its state affiliates for defending unpopular causes-from the rights of "criminals" to flag burning, pornography, and Nazi marches down Main Street. So what possessed the Indiana CLU to put a card-carrying Republican at its helm? How could anyone who supported George Bush be a civil libertarian?
In this fascinating firsthand account, Sheila S. Kennedy explains her amazement at stalwart conservatives who seem to think that being a Republican is utterly incompatible with a firm devotion to civil liberties. In perceptive, humorous, and easy-to-understand anecdotes, Kennedy, a self-described Goldwater Republican, skewers the rampant misrepresentations about civil libertarians, the ACLU, and those who have abandoned the libertarian heart of the GOP. With robust enthusiasm and a fervent conviction that the nation needs a "Liberty's Lawyer," Kennedy offers her thoughts on "The Great Prayer Wars," "The Criminal's Lobby versus Tax and Spend Conservatives," "The Gay Nineties and Family Values," "Purveyors of Filth at the Local Library," "A Day at the Legislature, or Can These People Really Be Representative?" and more.
SHEILA SUESS KENNEDY (Indianapolis, IN), executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, and a one-time candidate for Congress, she is a veteran public speaker, a newspaper columnist, and publisher of Common Ground, a forum for civil liberties issues.
ISBN 1-57392-143-2 Paper