"Mighty Ira," a documentary about legendary former ACLU chief Ira Glasser, is simultaneously inspiring and unnerving. Not only were liberals over-educated dolts who loosed child killers on the world, they were wimps. The locals awaiting the arrival of white nationalists in 2017 make exactly the same declarations the Skokie residents made, about how were not going to have it here.. Actually, most of the speech we defended didnt reflect our values. Ira is one of America's unsung champions of civil rights and liberties. We've received your submission. The phrase was values contrary to. 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. They also illustrate how the most fundamental rights of free speech have been unintentionally violated by well-meaning campaign finance reforms. Ira comes from the old-school generation of civil libertarians: a generation that saw Jim Crow and the stark ravages of racial discrimination. As his . Ira Glasser, who served as executive director of the ACLU from 1978 to 2001, said the organization that has defended free speech by unsavory groups like Neo-Nazis has turned into a 'partisan . This does not advance the goal of equality. 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 . It feels like an odd way to open a film about one of the more controversial figures of 20th century America. even people who are political enemies or have political opinions that are opposite to . *Negotiated with the acquisition of . The Supreme Court ultimately and properly struck down that aspect of the law in Buckley v. Valeo. Glasser points out that use of all drugs has gone down in countries such as Portugal and Holland where usage is decriminalized. The episode ended up looking like a powerful affirmation of constitutional principle, helping explain why Robert Kennedy as Glasser notes, hardly a man of the left a guy who had worked for Joe McCarthy and wiretapped people had urged Glasser to join the ACLU in the first place. Ultimately, the ACLU argued that Skokie was a Tower-of-Babel moment for American law. As his generation retires from the barricades, Ira reminisces on his life at the forefront of defending the rights of all Americans. In 1978, Glasser wanted viewers to know why he believes the ACLUs step back from defending free speech is dangerous for the preservation of basic constitutional freedoms in the United States. Youve gotta make a distinction between speech, including symbolic speech, and conduct, he says, coming alive. 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. Like this article? But in 1998, all congressional general-election candidates combined spent approximately $740 million - roughly $3.69 per eligible voter. That optimism is vanishing, though, and just like Ebbets Field, a generation may grow up now never knowing it was there. Glassers amiability, sense of humor, and sincere dedication to principle end up impressing even his political opponents, who may not change their minds, but at least become convinced that people who disagree may become friends. Town Square with Ernie Manouse airs at 3 p.m. CT. Those insurance bond requirements had been a classic mechanism by which white Southern towns used to ban civil rights demonstrations, Glasser said. 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.. Glasser retired in 2001; he was succeeded as executive director of the ACLU by Anthony D. Romero. Glasser, 82, is one of the most important civil-liberties advocates of the past 50 years. In 2017, he led a protest against a white supremacist rally in Berkeley, and has since taken part in protests of Trump administration policies on refugees (in particular, the separation of families). 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. Thats the ACLU? What monster could agitate, in the courts, to bring about a repeat of such a scene? Maher noted how Glasser famously defended the right for a group of neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois, in 1977, asking his guest, Im guessing the Nazis did not reflect your values?. Moreover, there has been an increase, rather than a decrease, in inequality. The ACLU receives no funding from the federal government. Earl Warren, with the help of Ira Glassers ACLU, siccedFreddy Kruegeron your kids! 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. However, it makes sense as we realize we may soon also miss Glassers brand of liberalism in the same way. The following year, Ira Glasser would become the organization's executive director, a position he would hold for the next 23 years while leading the charge against government regulation of. Soon after, the ACLU itself sought to purchase space in The Timesin order to publish an open letter to President Nixon, criticizing him for his position on school desegregation. They shared French fries and a few political opinions. And he was deeply concerned about the growth of hate speech in American life. The 99-minute documentary honors Glassers lifelong commitment to strengthening the legal support system for free expression, even when that expression may run counter to majority views. 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. (Its full name is the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.). That was a time when many Jews elected to just pull the shades down as Nazis marched past, in the hopes that they would eventually go away. It is this demand that is driving the need for the supply of money. Ira Saul Glasser (born April 18, 1938) served as the fifth executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1978 to 2001. Accessibility | because they bear a strong resemblance to the provisions regulating issue advocacy that have appeared in some recent versions of legislative proposals. 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. Bush denounces Dukakis as a card-carrying member of the ACLU, but the way the press roasted the Duke as a prototypical liberal weenie foretold bad things. Maher asked Glasser, Would you like to address him directly?, Glasser sarcastically replied, Well, that might be true for hiring people to work in the Xerox room., Maher laughed and said, Hes not talking about that. There was nothing particularly left or liberal about Kinsley, but he had the characteristics Hollywood and Madison Avenue associated with liberals: Jewish, nerdy, vacillating, and analytical. The ACLU therefore supports public financing to provide a floorfor campaign expenditures in an amount sufficient to insure a fair public debate, rather than caps on contributions and expenditures, which only enhance inequality and curb speech. Retired since 2001, Glasser tells Nick Gillespie that in an age of cancel culture and wokeness, he's worried not just about the future of free expression but the future of the ACLU, too. Such financing should be available in equal amounts to all legally qualified candidates for office. 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. 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. Mighty Iragoes shows scenes from Charlottesville and the death of Heather Heyer, which serves as the obvious bookend tale to Skokie. Some of the report . The documentary includes 99-year-old Berkeley resident Ben Stern, a Holocaust survivor who, in the late 1970s, tirelessly contested the ACLUs position on the Skokie case. Now Glasser is the subject of a new documentary, Mighty Ira, that celebrates his time at the ACLU and his legacy of protecting free speech. As the leader of the American Civil Liberties Union for 23 years, he transformed the organization from a small, "mom-and-pop" operation on the verge of bankruptcy into a civil liberties juggernaut with offices in every state and a $30 million endowment. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. 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. Instead of chafing at the constraints imposed by the business elite (the two-party "choice") and the liberal elite (never Bernie), he falls back to Bush the younger's "with us or against us" horseshit. Glasser later explained, The ACLU has become, not totally but theyve become more of a political, partisan, what they call progressive organization.. At a time of deep political polarization, Mighty Ira also shows that our ideological differences do not have to make us enemies of one another. We should insist that required campaign finance reports be filed in a uniform format on tape or disk so that they can be posted on the Internet and available to all interested individuals at once. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Human rights were non-negotiable for true liberals: Clinton gave Most Favored Nation trading status to China. And if there isnt somebody whos prepared to defend what you say Then the government gets to decide who can speak. He loves it. What is the ACLU doing saying that?. While he defended the right for an organization to change, he warned, But the problem is, there isnt any other ACLU.. 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. From his work with the American Civil Rights movement and later on with the American Civil Liberties Union he perceived, quite rightly in my view, that liberation movements cannot effectively operate without freedom of speech. Inequalities are thus created in the name of equality, unfair advantages are institutionalized in the name of fairness and some forms of political speech are protected while other forms are criminalized. He sees a commemorative sign, but its not real. When a little girl walks by, she has no idea there was ever anything but a block of apartments there. 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. Requiring that marchers post a $350,000 liability insurance bond, when no private insurer would grant it, was equally a violation. I am very aware always have been that Ive been able to really enjoy free speech especially here on HBO, and at ABC before they fired me, he quipped. "[3] At the end of Glasser's directorship the ACLU maintained staffed offices in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico; when he became director in 1978, only about half of the states had staffed offices. The central goal in talking and working with people who you dont agree with, notes Glasser, is to persuade them that there is a common interest between us.. But it all depends on who has the gas, and how the political winds blow." . Mighty Ira: Directed by Chris Maltby, Nico Perrino, Aaron Reese. The Skokie case cemented the image of the ACLU as a principled, absolute defender of free speech. Its imperative for us to know the history that led Ira and his colleagues to take their positions and stake out their values, he adds. 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. Instead ofNorma Rae, Silkwood,andThe China Syndrome, Hollywoods idea of liberalism wasThe American President, made by the Meathead himself, in conjunction with the monstrous aristocratic bore, Aaron Sorkin. It is time for a new approach. 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. The truth is that campaign finance laws have no demonstrable effect on the amount of campaign spending. In fact, he explained how defending this group of "maybe 15 or 20 crazies" helped the Civil Rights movement. "[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. The runaway inflation ravaging Americans wallets is going to Jack Hunter is a freelance writer, the co-author of Sen. Rand Pauls 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington and the editor of the libertarian news site Liberty Tree, published by Sen. Pauls campaign. In interviews for the film, Glasser was forthcoming, engaging and compelling in his account of those times, Perrino says. Credit Solution Experts Incorporated offers quality business credit building services, which includes an easy step-by-step system designed for helping clients build their business credit effortlessly. Podcast:The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie, 2022 Reason Foundation | We need to get off that road now. As a young person helping to read off test questions as my single mother prepared for the LSATs, I had a vague idea of it as a school of thought that believed strongly in the law and due process, and was concerned with protecting the rights of people without means or clout. The ACLU thought this sort of expenditure limitation was a clear violation of the First Amendment, and had no relationship to the legitimate purpose of reducing corruption. Glasser raised the ACLU's annual income from $4 million in 1978 to $45 million in 1999. The thread that ran through that movie, and through hits likeDie Hard, Lethal Weapon,and even shows likeThe A-Team,was that democracy doesnt work, and the insistence on due process and rights just inhibits justice and enables bad guys. These cases were early examples of the way in which well-intentioned campaign finance reforms led to government restrictions on precisely the sort of speech the First Amendment was designed to protect. 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. How the ACLU got woke, became political, and changed its mission. He also had the right look and sensibility for TV, helping makeCrossfirea hit by serving as a toothsome, uncomplaining punching bag for Buchanan. Ira Glasser is well-known (indeed, fabled) in civil liberties circles as the long-time (1978-2001) Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) during the period of its biggest growth spurt and most potent influence on the protection of freedom of speech and other civil . Actually, most of the speech we defended didnt reflect our values. It was all Glasser's idea. Or direct subsidies could be provided. ", The 82-year-old Glasser fears that in becoming more political and less absolutist when it comes to defending speech, the ACLU is shrugging off a hard-earned legacy. But contribution limits make that difficult, if not impossible. 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. Ira Glasser is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. shin numbness after acl surgery; first friday phoenix vendor application; benton high school baseball roster; surprise message link for boyfriend But in fact, campaign finance laws have not achieved their goals. If ever there was a moment when speech could be harm, rubbing salt in the wounds of camp survivors, whod spent decades convincing themselves that this leafy suburb in the American midwest was a safe haven, had to qualify. Stern continues to be a principled activist against racism and antisemitism. Laura Paull is J. Jeff Cohen, who briefly played the left host in a later incarnation of the show, described theCrossfireliberal as someone who couldnt punch back.. 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. But the Court upheld the law's limits on the size of direct contributions to candidates. This is bad First Amendment law, it has little to do with curbing corruption, it doesn't level the playing field and it is the opposite of true campaign finance reform. If those provisions were to become law today, they, like the statute that led to ACLU v. Jennings, would restrict the rights of citizens to criticize elected officials within 60 days of an election. This could be done in a variety of ways. 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. Suppose, however, that she has a very wealthy individual supporter who doesn't own a newspaper, but who is willing to give her the money to run a full-page ad on behalf of her candidacy. Responding against the resolution are Ira Glasser, ACLU executive director; Nadine Strossen, ACLU president; Leon Botstein, president of Bard College; and Barry Lynn, executive director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The discussion ended up being an exercise in mutual puzzlement. The need for civilized restraints has met with encouragement for people who want to parade in Skokie with their Nazi banners The ostensible aims of the ACLU are admirable it is a national pity that it has now become, to use Sunday suited ramblings, a bunch of baloney.. Speaking in Maine returns to Camden and the Mid-Coast Forum on Foreign Relations, for an address by Ira Glasser, longtime Director of the ACLU and now President of the Drug Policy Alliance. Once the law's expenditure limit was reached, he could not spend another dime on leaflets or letters or radio ads, even if thousands of his supporters contributed $5 each to allow him to do so. From 1978 until he retired in 2001, Ira Glasser served as the public face of liberal tolerance, in the process giving civil libertarianism a distinctively Jewish appearance, as the film makes clear. As friend David Sirota points out in his terrific and funny bookBack To Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live In Now, two of the three top-grossing movies in 1975 were the anti-puritanical romp,The Rocky Horror Picture Show,andOne Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, an anti-authoritarian drama written by beat novelist Ken Kesey. Theres a scene at the beginning ofMighty Ira,an elegant and thought-provoking documentary about longtime ACLU director Ira Glasser, where the movies eponymous hero walks along the grounds of Ebbets Field Apartments, home of the old Brooklyn Dodgers. Tags: Ira Glasser, documentary, ACLU, neo-Nazis, free speech, Ben Stern. Directors Nico Perrino, Chris Maltby, Aaron Reese Starring [2] He earned a graduate degree in mathematics from Ohio State University. The Election of 1896. He is the subject of the 2020 documentary "Mighty Ira". jessamine county busted mugshots; are sycamore trees toxic to dogs; ira glasser political party. By Ira Glasser, Guest Writer Guest Writer Apr 5, 2010, 05:12 AM EDT | Updated May 25, 2011 Since the Court ruled in Buckley v. Valeothat candidates cannot corrupt themselves, a wealthy candidate can spend millions on his own campaign. 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. Thats why we created Mighty Ira to tell the story of one man and a fading generation.. That he supports the First Amendment.. 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. Contributions by PACs increased from $20.5 million in 1976 to $189 million in 1994. Ira Glasser in "Mighty Ira" (Photo courtesy of Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) . You dont an entrance exam on civil liberties to work in an organization called the American Civil Liberties Union?, The live audience snickered. How can it be that if you buy a newspaper, you get to provide unlimited support for the candidate of your choice but if you buy a billboard to do the same thing, you commit a crime? More: Joe Biden. I mean, the most famous case, you defended the Nazis being able to march in Skokie, Illinois in 1977, Maher went on. ), but this WWE-style format always had the conservative on the attack while the liberal was always retreating and apologizing.