Did you see the latest doin's at the ACLU?
Politics
By Hiring Barr, ACLU Mixes In a Right With Its Left
By Brian Faler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 26, 2002; Page A04
To many, the American Civil Liberties Union epitomizes liberalism, and Rep. Robert L. Barr Jr. (R- Ga.) personifies conservatism. But in one of the more unlikely pairings in politics, the ACLU announced yesterday that it plans to hire Barr, who lost his reelection bid this year, to help push its privacy concerns in the next Congress.
"Bob Barr and the ACLU disagree on many issues, but we have no doubt that a strange-bedfellows collaboration between us will yield great things," said Laura W. Murphy, director of the group's Washington office.
Barr, a conservative firebrand whose opponent in the GOP primary portrayed him as too right-wing, will work for the ACLU as a consultant, focusing on such issues as individual privacy, government surveillance and national security.
It's not the first time the two have collaborated. Barr and the ACLU opposed some of the government's efforts to expand surveillance of U.S. residents in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Their new collaboration, Murphy said, makes ideological and political sense.
"If we're going to affect federal policy, we have to have access [to Republicans]," she said.
The group also has shown interest in hiring House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-Tex.) as a privacy consultant. A spokesman for Armey said the retiring lawmaker is considering his options. |
