Obama Ranks Third in ACLU Grades for Presidential Candidates

The ACLU grades the presidential candidates in seven categories: "humane immigration policy," "closing Guantanamo Bay and indefinite detention," "gays and lesbians serving openly in the military," "ending torture," "ending a surveillance state," "freedom to marry for gay couples," and "reproductive choice." Gary Johnson finishes first over all, followed by Ron Paul, Barack Obama, and Jon Huntsman. Tied for last: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Michele Bachmann. A few overlooked issues that might have changed the rankings a bit, pushing Obama down relative to the others: religious freedom, freedom of speech, gun rights, assassination, property rights, federalism, drug policy. 

Clarification: While all those issues would have lowered Obama's overall score, adding drug policy or assassination would not have changed his ranking, since Paul and Johnson are the only Republican candidates who are better in those areas.

Comments

[ryback's cook]

A few overlooked issues that might have changed the rankings a bit, pushing Obama down relative to the others: religious freedom, freedom of speech, gun rights, assassination, property rights, federalism, drug policy and being a fatuous, self-satisfied ass.

[Sevo]

“being a fatuous, self-satisfied ass….

…liar.”
You left that out.

[Typical Liberal]

It’s pretty obvious, by the fact that both Johnson and Paul has eclipsed Obama in civil liberties, that the ACLU is an organization of ultra right-wing, racist, tea bagger militia sympathizers.

There is no other explanation.

[Hazel Meade]

I hear they read books like One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and 1984. Obvious tea-bagger militia sympathies there.

[silent v]

I get most of them, but why religious freedom?

[protefeed]

I get most of them, but why religious freedom?

Because having a state mandated religion, with jail time for being insufficiently publicly pious, sucks balls.

Religious freedom includes the right to not practice religion.

Oh, wait are you saying Obama is good about religious freedom? Seriously?

[david]

Obama causing there to be jail time for being insufficiently publicly pious? citation needed…

[shrike]

On gun rights Obama gets a couple of torches for expanding carry into national parks and onto Amtrak cargo holds.

Drug policy Obama gets zero torches for his miserable medical MJ position.

Federalism? ACLU doesn’t give a shit. Religious freedom? Are you kidding? He is an atheist Muslim secularist Jew-loving black Christian separatist. How can he miss?

[juris imprudent]

I might give him one torch for the national park thing (big fuckin’ whoopee) – but he loses that and goes negative for F&F and the plan to use that as justification for more of those “reasonable regulations” [ptui] and his judicial picks.

[shrike]

You believe Obama hatched gunwalking for anti-gun publicity? You’re a nutcase then. The programs started in 2008.

You probably think the Federal Reserve is owned by the Rothschild family too. And you believe in that pink money with IRS surveillance strips Ron Paul talks about too?

[Mr. FIFY]

He didn’t hatch it, but by [insert term of choice] he didn’t STOP it, either.

And damn well, he and his kind saw it as an anti-gun agit-prop tool

[RoboCain]

F&F was his administration.

And was Obama for expanding carry into national parks and onto Amtrak cargo holds??

[Tulpa]

On gun rights Obama gets a couple of torches for expanding carry into national parks and onto Amtrak cargo holds.

Um, why? Both of those were accomplished in 2006 and he voted against them.

[Tulpa]

Technically they were blocked by a federal judge until Congress re-passed it with different language attached to the “credit card reform” bill, but it’s not like BO was pushing for it.

[shrike]

Look, if he had done nothing he deserves a torch. The NRA freaks had their donors convinced Obama would have yanked their sawed-off shotguns by now.

Subtract for the medical MJ crap. He deserves that.

[Sevo]

shrike|1.2.12 @ 10:53PM|#
“Look, if he had done nothing he deserves a torch.”

Sorta like the Peace Prize?

[Matt]

Actually I’ll semi-agree with this. Doing nothing on gun laws would be just fine in my book, even though there are so many retarded laws just begging to get repealed like 18 USC 922(r).

I was never really worried about him passing laws like the AWB. The thing I was worried about as he took office was changing the way the ATF operates to make gun owner’s lives miserable. He wouldn’t need to go through congress for that and he could probably do just as much damage as any law short of a nationwide confiscation. Luckily it seems he hasn’t done that, at least not yet.

[LarryA]

The NRA freaks had their donors convinced Obama would have yanked their sawed-off shotguns by now.

Gun rights folks did indeed miscall that one. However, so did the other side. With a Democratic president and supermajorities in both houses, the Brady Campaign, VPC, and MAIG made the same prediction, as did the mainstream media. It was Nancy Pelosi who noticed that the new Democrats who provided the majority were pro-gun, and wouldn’t put up with gun control nonsense.

[RyanXXX]

You mean Jew-hating, just like that other Muslim-loving Nazi, Ron Paul

[SIV]

Every President does one thing I like.
Clinton ended selective availability on GPS (years after it was supposed to end.)

Bush did…uh..something Vetoed that Farm Bill and SCHIP program…I know there was something else.

Obama signed the bill restoring legal horse slaughter.

[Mr. FIFY]

I’d like to try that. What’s the best cut of horse?

[drug veteran]

Before the rat poison is added.

[question]

Why does RP get only 3 torches for torture when the report card essentially says he is against all forms of torture as illegal?

[SIV]

Ron Paul’s ideological policies torture public sector workers, women and minorities.

[Old Mexican]

Re: SIV,

Ron Paul’s ideological policies torture public sector workers, women and minorities.

In the mind of the ACLU, I fancy.

[Old Mexican]

Re: question,

Why does RP get only 3 torches for torture when the report card essentially says he is against all forms of torture as illegal?

Because Paul is not not Bernie Sanders. It’s the ACLU we’re talking about…

[Mr. FIFY]

Thankfully, there’s only one Bernie Sanders… and the world would be better off with zero Bernie Sanders.

[EMp]

Well – if Obama does not allow for freedom to do meth, have orgies, or cockfighting in La Casa Blanca… then he’s not really for freedom at all…. 😉

[SIV]

There probably used to be a cock pit at the White House back in teh good ol’ days.

[EMp]

An jus’ when was them?

[Gelidus V]

And a place to make roosters fight each other, too, I bet!

[juris imprudent]

You can bet TR approved of cockfighting – just another form of manly recreation.

[The Ghost of TR]

Bully!

[SIV]

Washington, Jefferson and I assume Andrew Jackson sure did. Maybe even Lincoln! *spit*

The Sport of Kings is a fine American tradition.

[Jesus Christ]

GO GARY JOHNSON.

You libertarians must admit…As me a progressive must admit, Gary Johnson is the BEST COMPROMISE for BOTH!!!

[Jesus Christ]

Agreed. Go Gary Johnson!

[Brandon]

Yeah, but 17 of his 19 supporters are H&R regulars, so supporting him won’t have the biggest impact.

[SIV]

Yeah, but 17 of his 19 supporters are H&R regulars

That’s less than 5 real people, and at least 2 of them are confirmed principled non-voters.

[Jeffersonian]

If Johnson goes LP, it’ll be the easiest vote I cast in ’12.

[mad libertarian guy]

He already did go LP. Where you been?

But I agree. If Paul doesn’t win the Team RED nomination, Johnson is a no-brainer vote.

[yonemoto]

what if paul wins the Americans Elect nom?

[mad libertarian guy]

I would prefer Johnson to Paul if neither were with Team RED. But if one were with Team RED, that person gets the vote because they would have the best chance of getting elected (yes, I know that statistically speaking my individual vote means dick). Though that’s not to say that I somehow dislike Paul. Ultimately I’d be very pleased to see either become president. It would be a major shift

There’s just something about having a president who has climbed Everest and who is sufficiently for personal liberty in most ways.

[Alice Bowie]

Keep Dope Alive

[Mr Yuck]

ACLU Campaign Report Card: GOP Split on Constitution

Should be: ACLU Campaign Report Card: Most Candidates Shit on Constitution

[Lewis H]

But I was told here that Mitt=Obama.
Guess he’s not as bad afterall.

[Sevo]

I’m sure you think you have a point. Unfortunately your ability to communicate it is lacking.

[Lewis H]

You Republicans want to beat Obama.
Only Mitt can beat Obama.
Yet you’re not supporting Mitt.

[Sevo]

Lewis H|1.2.12 @ 10:14PM|#
“You Republicans..”

Fail, dipshit.

[Mr. FIFY]

The only Romney I respect is George, Mitt’s old man… and only because he ran American Motors pretty damned well in the Fifties.

[Tulpa]

So Mitt’s successful capital management startups and privately-funded rescue of the Olympics gets no love?

[Hugh Akston]

Can’t say about the capital firms, but saving the Olympics is like rushing into a burning building to rescue Hitler.

[Mr. FIFY]

Not much of a Mitt fan, me.

[SIV]

Hugh FTW!

Best comment of 2012.

[Sevo]

“saving the Olympics is like rushing into a burning building to rescue Hitler.”

And then wondering why anyone cheers you for it.

[FTFY]

Only Mitt Anyone can beat Obama.

High unemployment. HCRA. POed young voters w/o jobs. POed riding-in-the-hammock-blacks who thought they would be the beneficiaries of massive racially-based spoils. Incoherent and inconsistent foreign policy. Continuation of crony capitalism in a big way. No longer “historic”. Endlessly calling for more “stimulus” bills when public wants spending reined in. Continuing efforts to strangle U.S. energy supplies. Solyndra scandle. GM debacle. Chevy Volt sub-debacle. Endless images of BHO on golf courses. Constant expensive family vacations on tax payer dime. Ugly gorilla wife trying to dictate the diet of the public while eating the good stuff herself. Lavish, celebrity-filled WH parties. Gays in the military (popular with H&R posters, but extremely inflaming to some anti-Obama voters). The saga(s) of Eric Holder. Various gaffy statements (“We Americans have gotten lazy”). Very insulting attitude toward a very large, broad-based political movement, the Tea Party.

Lots of disillusionment and disappoint with BHO from his natural supporters, but high unemployment and the HCRA are the two biggy concerns for most voters.

[shrike]

I’m getting my pre-Iowa Fox News brainwashing.

Jeez, do they hate Ron Paul. Almost more than Obama and science combined.

[Sevo]

Gotta be spoof. No “christ-fag”.

[Mr. FIFY]

I’m suspicious, as well. The real shrike would be watching Chris Matthews.

[SIV]

There’s more than one shrike.

[Sevo]

Yes, there is. I’ve met several of them.

[accolyte]

Worship the shrike. Rub his balls for luck (with 40 grit sandpaper).

[Nah,]

Shrike is a man of many moods. The consistent part is his hatred for establishment GOP.

[Tulpa]

religious freedom, freedom of speech, gun rights, assassination, property rights, federalism, drug policy.

aka things that the ACLU doesn’t apparently care about.

[J_L_B]

Old joke about the ACLU and ignoring the 2nd Amendment:

“Q: How does an ACLU lawyer count to ten?
A: 1… 3,4,5,6”

[Tulpa]

LOL, Santorum is now saying that he is conceding the NH primary because Romney’s been spending so much time there.

Unless Mitt has a time machine, this would imply he’s spending little time in Iowa, and still will at worst lose to Santorum by a thin margin. And unlike Bachmann, Paul, and Perry, he doesn’t have a job to use an excuse.

“Santorum Drops Out”

[Hugh Akston]

“Santorum washes out”

[Banjos]

“After surging from behind, Santorum washes out”

[heller]

After going up and down on the poll, Santorum washes out

[A fan]

Santorum comes out….of the closet.

Santorum Squeezes Past Stiff Competition

[Mensan]

A fan, I think you’re missing the joke.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Santorum is a creepy pedo-necrophile.

“To some who don’t recognize the dignity of all human life, who see it as a blob of tissue that should be discarded and disposed of, this is somehow weird. Recognizing the humanity of your son is somehow weird, somehow odd, and should be subject to ridicule,” Santorum said.

Um, no. The dignity of human life includes not bringing the corpse of your son home for your children to gawk at.

Jus’ sayin’.

[Apatheist]

It is weird and creepy but mostly it’s the fact that he told it to public. Now he’s whining about how people are using personal family matters against him when he was the one who brought it into public discourse in a weird attempt to pander to pro-lifers.

Fuck him.

[Wholly Holy Cow]

Wait, what? How is it Santorum told the story to the public? The CNN piece says no such thing. It seems as if Alan Colmes blurted out the info back in ’96 without Santorum’s consent. But why let facts spoil your fantasies?

Heroic Mulatto: You’re probably an asshole off the internet,too, huh? How does any of that make Santorum a fucking pedophile?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Heroic Mulatto: You’re probably an asshole off the internet,too, huh? How does any of that make Santorum a fucking pedophile?

Now, I realize that as a semi-high-function autistic, you have problems with non-literal uses of language, such as metaphor and simile. Therefore, I shall patiently explain to you that I was using the rhetorical trope of hyperbole, that is the use of exaggeration to invoke a strong feeling or reaction in the reader/listener.

Based on your sanctimonious hyperventilation, I see that I have succeeded.

[Wholly Holy Cow]

Gosh, Ron Paul is dreamily against abortion. Yummmers!

Eeew! Rick Santorum’s anti-abortion stance is gross! As if!

[Heroic Mulatto]

So in order to be pro-life you have to fetishize infant corpses?

[rather]

It is their choice to live their son’s death. She was a ICU infant nurse and wrote about the experience in her book, and Combs has since apologized.

Are you only for freedom when it is yours?

[Redland Jack]

You can be in favor of freedom and still think that what people do with that freedom is extremely creepy.
That being said, I don’t really know anything about this particular story.

[rather]

His “fetishize infant corpses” is a criticism of their conduct

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

“fetishize infant corpses” sounds like a System of a Down lyric.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I almost wish Santorum would win, just to piss you folks off.

Already, his opponents have basically confirmed his comparison between sodomy and bestiality by using his name to remind people of sodomy’s disgusting byproducts. Nice work, guys, you’ve certainly convinced me!

Then they get more outraged about how they chose to respect their dead child than about people who actually kill their own children in the womb. Which is creepier – honoring the body of your child in a nonconventional way, or turning a living child into a corpse?

[Banjos]

All the punks are gonna scream yippee
Cause it’s the thing that only eats hippies

[deathportal]

This is from the ACLU Liberty Watch Page: “ACLU Liberty Watch 2012 is the voice for the Constitution in the 2012 presidential election. We’re watching the issues, the candidates and the media to hold them accountable to the Constitution and our civil liberties. Because words matter. Because our rights matter. Because freedom can’t protect itself.”

Does that last line rub anyone else the wrong way?

[mad libertarian guy]

I want to know how the fuck Obama gets any credit at all for “Indefinite Detention” when he just signed a fucking bill which codifies in to US law that anyone, including US citizens on US soil, can be detained indefinitely without charge, trial, or counsel?

What. The. Fuck.

[barry ohhh]

signing statements! I promise!

[triclops]

but he did so reluctantly!

i wonder if i can pour molten lead through the bleached chompers of biden, but then get away with it because i said that i did it reluctantly?

[FreeLibertine]

Obama is way worse than the ACLU is letting on. The government now has the power to make people disappear.

[Frank Diamond]

Dude is totally rockign it man, I mean like seriously.

http://www.Privacy-Stuff.tk

[Beezard]

Hasn’t the president kind of sorta specifically thwarted each of the ACLU’s own criterea?

[ACLU]

We ain’t give a fuuuuuuuuck.

[Hazel Meade]

Where is the ACLU on the right to free shit? Er I mean, the human right to health care.

[sweeterjan]

a bit, pushing Obama down http://www.lunettesporto.com/l…..-3_20.html relative to the others: religious freedom, freedom of speech, gun rights, assassination, property rights, federalism, drug policy and being a fatuous, self-satisfied ass.