Can you imagine, under *ANY* circumstances, the ACLU giving a pass like the below to President Bush if we had decided to collect “fishy” information and emails from Iraq war opponents?

The ACLU said in a statement to FOXNews.com that the White House blog is a “bad idea that could send a troublesome message.”

But the organization added, “While it is unclear at this point what the government is doing with the information it is collecting, critics of the administration’s health care proposal should not fear that their names will end up in some government database that could be used to chill their right to free speech.”

Heads would have been exploding at ACLU headquarters had we taken this Orwellian step. Instead, when it comes to Obama, they essentially say “Eh, bad idea, but people shouldn’t get their knickers in a twist about it.” Or, put another way, “we don’t really know what Team Obama plans to do with this information, but we’ll set aside our stated desire to protect civil liberties (for the time being, please forget it is the aCLu) because we’ll have Obama’s back no matter what he does.” Unbelievable.

(blogged while enjoying a beer on the deck of the Anacortes to Orcas Island ferry.)

UPDATE: I don’t receive a great many comments on this blog. When I do, they are generally from family, friends or are spam (though a new filter has pretty much eliminated that problem). Most of the feedback I receive comes to me through my Facebook and Twitter accounts. Because of the spam issue, I have my blog set so I can approve or disapprove comments.

I received a comment on this post that I was planning to approve, until I noticed something “fishy.” The commenter disagreed with my criticism of the Obama approach on gathering emails from citizens who are opposed to the Obamacare plan. The commenter said that Obama did the same thing in the campaign to combat rumors that he was a Muslim or was born in Kenya. This person thought this was much the same and it was no big deal. I disagree. The government has different responsibilities than a campaign. But, that’s not why I’m posting this update.

I’m posting this update because of the irony of the way this person commented. This person chose to post their comment anonymously, meaning they didn’t want to leave their name. Amusing, isn’t it? The commeter didn’t want to be known when they have complete control over their effort to comment in a public forum, but they have no problem with the idea that someone could forward their neighbor’s private “fishy” email to the White House where it could live on a list. In fairness, the White House says there will be no list compiled. However, emails are archived according to the Presidential Records Act requirements, so the fishy ones will live there forever.

As I read this person’s comment, I wondered if they were an ACLU supporter or staffer. Then, I read the email address they left on the form – “flag@whitehouse.gov” – the address where the White House wants all the smelly stuff to be sent. So, was the commenter trying to be cute or do they work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and is this part of their effort to actively seek out the purveyors of fishy info?!

Some seafood for thought…