The most infamous organization in American, the so-called American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), is fighting against American veterans yet again in the United States Supreme Court. As reporter Audrey Hudson writes in today's Memorial Day edition of "The Washington Times," in an article entitled: "ACLU 'dead wrong' on cross," a 7 foot cross standing for 75 years in a California desert to memorialize war veterans is being threatened with removal by, you guessed it, the ACLU.
It is reported that the cross was first erected in the federally protected Mojave Desert Preserve by a group of veterans whose doctors told them that desert heat would help them recover from shell shock. In his column today in "The Washington Times," Glen Gardner, a Vietnam War veteran, and the national commander of the 2.2 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. wrote that the United States Supreme Court will determine whether that gesture of respect violates the U.S. Constitution's separation of church and state.
As Mr. Gardner says: "The real issue behind Salazar v. Buono is whether the use of religious symbolism in veterans memorials on public property violates the Establishment Clause. If the High Court rules in favor of the plaintiff, every such memorial across the land will be in jeopardy of being torn down -- and the ultimate loser will be America. That's because veteran memorials help our nation remember what came before."
He goes on to say: "Veterans memorials deserve protection because without them, the story that is our nation cannot be told properly. And if that story is not told, the service and sacrifice of more than 1 million Americans who have died in uniform will be forgotten."
Incidentally, judges appointed by Democrat presidents are the ones who overwhelmingly decide in favor the ACLU in cases such as this. That is why who Barack Obama appoints to the United States Supreme Court and the federal circuit court of appeals is of utmost importance.
As evidence of this, the equally infamous 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, with a preponderance of judges appointed by liberal Democrat presidents over the years -- and incidentally, the appeals court most overturned by the United States Supreme Court, by a wide margin -- ruled that the memorial cross in the Mojave Desert violated the First Amendment clause forbidding an establishment of religion and ordered its removal. While the case is being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, these left-wing radical judges actually covered up the cross with plywood.
Mr. Gardner concludes his column by saying: "The essence of Memorial Day is to remember our fallen from all wars. That is what those World War I veterans meant so long ago in the middle of the desert, and that is what I hope the High Court will consider when it hears the case this fall, because public land also means 'our' land."
"The Washington Times" reported today that according to the National Clergy Council, which plans to file an amicus brief on behalf of the veterans, as many as 140,000 memorials marked by the cross could be affected nationwide. It is way past time for the federal judiciary, and the ACLU, to respect religious freedom in America and to give up on attacking American values.