© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

One of the great myths of the 20th – and now 21st – century is the belief that the American Civil Liberties Union was an organization that had a noble beginning, but somehow strayed off course.

That myth is untrue. The ACLU set a course to destroy America – her freedom and her values – right from the start.

From its very beginning, the ACLU had strong socialist and communist ties. As early as 1931, the U.S. Congress was alarmed by the ACLU's devotion to communism. A report by the Special House Committee to Investigate Communist Activities stated

The American Civil Liberties Union is closely affiliated with the communist movement in the United States, and fully 90 percent of its efforts are on behalf of communists who have come into conflict with the law. It claims to stand for free speech, free press and free assembly, but it is quite apparent that the main function of the ACLU is an attempt to protect the communists.

Roger Baldwin and Crystal Eastman founded the ACLU in 1920 along with three other organizations dedicated to the most leftist of causes. The histories of these two individuals belie their claims of patriotism and respect for the Constitution.

Baldwin openly sought the utter destruction of American society. Fifteen years after the founding of the ACLU, Baldwin wrote:

I am for Socialism, disarmament and ultimately, for the abolishing of the State itself ... I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.

Earl Browder, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the United States, admitted that the ACLU served as a "transmission belt" for the party. Baldwin agreed, claiming, "I don't regret being a part of the communist tactic which increased the effectiveness of a good cause."

Baldwin was a devoted follower of the anarchist Emma Goldman (or "Red Emma" as she was called), who was eventually deported to the Soviet Union in 1919 for her communist activities. Goldman was a consistent promoter of anarchism, radical education, "free love" and birth control. According to an online exhibit of Goldman's papers, her career "served as inspiration for Roger Baldwin, a future founder of the American Civil Liberties Union."

Eastman was a zealous feminist, an anti-war activist, and a great admirer of the Soviet revolution. Of her many leftist friends and associates, Eastman held the highest regard for Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. According to Eastman, "We [feminists] must all be followers of Margaret Sanger."

Of course, Sanger was a passionate advocate of eugenics – the attempt to improve the human race through selective breeding. Abortion was a primary means to this "improvement," leading Sanger to write, "The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it."

Baldwin also was a great admirer of the Planned Parenthood founder. He heaped praise on Sanger: "She was a frail, beautiful, unassuming woman ... She always had a quiet insistence on the rightness of what she was doing."

This adoration of Sanger set the tone for the tragic history of the ACLU concerning the issue of abortion. To this day, the group fights for the most extreme of pro-abortion positions, including support for partial-birth abortion and opposition to parental consent for minors.

But the radical agenda hardly ends there. In his wedding vows, Baldwin called marriage as between one man and one woman "a grim mockery of essential freedom." He added, "The highest relationship between a man and a woman is that which welcomes and understands each other's loves."

The result is that today the ACLU is a leading advocate of same-sex "marriage," and has expressed support for polygamy and polyamory ("open" marriage) as well. The ACLU Policy Guide reads:

The ACLU believes that criminal and civil laws prohibiting or penalizing the practice of plural marriage [polygamy or polyamory] violate constitutional protections of freedom of expression and association, freedom of religion, and privacy for personal relationships among consenting adults.