If you haven’t gotten your fill of Hollywood celebrities hawking left-wing causes, then mark your calendar for March 31, when the likes of Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, and Tom Hanks will gather for a Facebook Live fundraising event for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Yeah, I think I’m busy that night too.
Dubbed “Stand for Rights,” the event organizers say this is not about actors and musicians and comedians coming together “in these tumultuous times” to “speak earnestly about politics.” (That’s probably a good thing since the last time Hollywood celebrities did that at, the 2017 Oscars, their show ended up being the third-least-watched Oscars of the 21st century.)
No, say the organizers, these celebs will be coming together to entertain us, “for a great cause.”
OK. Let’s look at some of the great causes the ACLU is engaged in:
- Just as the ACLU raised millions of dollars painting the Patriot Act as a plot by President George W. Bush in the aftermath of 9/11 to turn “regular citizens into suspects,” it is now using similar tactics to fundraise off President Donald Trump’s executive order placing travel restrictions on countries that pose serious security threats to Americans—calling the order a “Muslim ban” that is merely “hateful, illegal discrimination.”
- The ACLU is happy to “stand for the rights” and religious freedoms of Sikhs to wear their turbans in a courtroom or Quakers who don’t want to register for the draft, but when it comes to defending the right of an individual whose religious beliefs (think photographer or baker) prevents them from participating in a same-sex wedding or an employer from providing certain contraceptives in their health plans, well, not so much.
Apparently, only certain religious beliefs, and most definitely not the ones that uphold traditional sexual ethics, are worth defending.
- Like many activist groups on the left, the ACLU is all about “rights” and “choices,” except for the rights and choices it doesn’t like. For example, the right of a Catholic hospital or health organization to not perform abortions or choices made by parents regarding certain education options for their child.
- Another great cause taken up by the ACLU is suing multiple colleges in one state because they refused to give in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants.
- And let’s not forget its campaign to rebrand sanctuary cities—you know, the ones that flout federal immigration laws and harbor illegal immigrants—as “freedom cities.” Apparently, freedom to break the law and use taxpayer dollars to do so is now a core principle of the ACLU.
Hollywood is far from diverse when it comes to representing the political views of all Americans—whether in their movies or tortured acceptance speeches during awards programs.
So, it shouldn’t be surprising that they would seek to raise money for an organization that believes some Americans have civil liberties and some don’t.
As Forrest Gump, one of Tom Hanks’ own characters, stated well several movies ago, “Stupid is as stupid does.”
Let’s hope the ratings reflect that.
