Dear Anthony

I received a letter in the mail from Anthony D. Romero, the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

“I’m getting increasingly concerned,” Anthony wrote, “as weeks, and now months, have passed without hearing from you about renewing your ACLU membership.”

I understand your frustration, Anthony, but the fact is that you are wrong.

You have heard from me regarding my membership renewal: the answer was no, which I guess was not to your liking. You, or your minions, sent me a survey, which I diligently took. I explained in the notes section that I wasn’t going to make a donation this fall because it’s not in my budget. I know the POWs at Guantanamo Bay are having a rough time – it’s not easy being a terrorist, I get it – but the thing is, my family needs to spend money on food and gas right now.

It’s probably not cheap to send out these letters. This one went out to a 100,000 people, as mentioned in your letter. Wow. That’s a lot of stamps. No wonder you need help. I wish I could give it to you.

Maybe you missed my note, or ignored it.

Throughout the year, you sent me a lot of mail. You asked me to write to House Representatives – I did. You asked me to sign petitions – I did that too. I wanted to help. I still do.

I was proud of my membership. I still am.

But this holiday season, I’m not writing checks to lawyers. There are plenty of people right here in this little town that could use the money a lot more than you, and they don’t have the stamps to send out a 100,000 letters.

If this means I won’t be an ACLU member in 2010, I think I’ll survive.

Tagged as: ACLU, politics