I have a low opinion of the ACLU, that is fairly obvious.  I won’t go into detail why again.

But I am also fair enough that I have always given them credit when they come down on the proper side of an issue, as they did last week.  Even a broken watch is right twice a day.

The scene was the rally at Bellevue Community College (BCC) last week, sponsored by Sen Maria Cantwell (D) and featuring Sen Barack Obama (D).

The rally was published to the school and all students were invited to attend.  Additionally, several teachers canceled classes so students could attend and write a report on the rally’s activities.

5 such students showed up to attend the rally but were denied entry by the Cantwell campaign staff for wearing Mike McGavick tee shirts.  Mike is the Republican candidate for Maria’s Senate seat.  The young men were physically ejected from the line.  BCC attempted to intervene but the staffers refused claiming they had ultimate authority to reject anyone as they had the hall rented.  That point is under dispute, as the whole campus was invited.

One of the young men has his story blogged here, and I cross-blogged it here.  And for a good giggle, check out this video of the events below, from Sound Politics.

The local media has been fairly mum on the initial story, till now.  What has changed is that the ACLU has come down firmly on the side of the students, as you saw in the video.

Read about it here and here.  The full letter that the ACLU wrote to the school is here.

So I applaud the local ACLU for taking the right steps in a clear case of suppression.  I don’t find too many of their cases I agree with so this is a welcome surprise.

One minor thought however.  The campaign staffers made the observation that "They were clearly there to disrupt the event," though the students deny this.

But it occurs to me that in recent months I have read more stories about liberals disrupting campaign events.  Case in point was the Columbia University disruption when the Minutemen were scheduled to speak, here.  Compare the video above, where 5 students were trying quietly and peacefully to reason their way in, to this riot where the liberals took over the stage to suppress the free speech of the Minutemen.

You tell me where the respect for free speech is.  I hate painting with a broad brush, but it just seems like liberals are more likely to push the boundaries of respect a bit more.

It also occurs to me the staffers were indulging in a bit of sociological projection, attributing their own tendancies to the students.  But that is just my idle speculation.

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