That Crazy Story About Making 'Hate Speech' A Crime? Yeah, That's Satire
from the it-sucks-you-in dept
Yesterday morning I came across an article on a site called "ThoughtCatalog" (which I'll admit I'd never heard of) after I saw some people I know discussing it on Twitter. The title is Here Is Why It's Time To Get Tough On Hate Speech In America by someone named "Tanya Cohen." It was ridiculous from the very start -- a poorly thought out attack on free speech, and inside our internal "writer's room" chat, I asked around to see if anyone wanted to write about it, including a few key quotes. But the more I read, the more I realized that it's satire. It has to be satire. Not only that, but it's damn good satire, because it's just stupid enough at the beginning to drag you in and make you believe it, and then, slowly but surely, over the course of a very long writeup, it starts tossing out ever more ridiculous ideas -- drip... drip... drip -- that just, gently, turn up the outrage-o-meter, such that many people don't even realize that it's satire. In fact, we ended up having a long internal debate on it (and others are doing the same on Twitter), with Tim Cushing writing up a Techdirt post ripping it apart as if it were serious. However, I've spiked that version and am inserting my own (because I'm the boss and can do that sort of thing) -- because this absolutely is satire, and it does a brilliant job absolutely mocking those who are attacking free speech at every turn.Again, it starts out subtly, with garden-variety stupidity around free speech:
The recent controversy at the University of Iowa – in which an “artist” (supposedly an “anti-racist” one) put up an “art exhibit” which resembles a KKK member covered in newspaper clippings about racial violence – is a perfect example of why we need to implement real legislation against hate speech in the United States. The year is 2015 and all other countries have laws against hate speech along with laws against other forms of speech which violate basic human rights. As a matter of fact, international human rights law MANDATES laws against hate speech. Protecting vulnerable minorities from hate speech is one of the most basic and fundamental of human rights obligations, and all human rights organizations worldwide have emphasized this. But the United States refuses to protect even the most basic of human rights, firmly establishing itself as a pariah state that falls far behind the rest of the world in terms of protecting fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms.Hate speech laws are almost always a slippery slope to censorship, but I can see why some people find them emotionally appealing. But the idea that the US is a pariah state that falls behind the world on this issue seems a bit nutty and ill-informed. There's the usual quoting and misunderstanding of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. That's to be expected.
Then we get the expected (again, misguided) attack on the First Amendment. All pretty standard stuff for the playbook of those looking to chip away at the First Amendment:
Even in countries with weak hate speech laws – countries where people freely spread lies and defamation about minorities – you still cannot legally advocate or justify violence against minority groups, and absolutely nobody believes that you should ever be allowed to. But, in the US, you can. The US allows people to advocate violence, murder, terrorism, and genocide – even against minorities – all in the name of “freedom”. How is genocide “freedom”? Where in the First Amendment does it say that genocide is acceptable? How can a supposedly civilized and democratic society possibly justify allowing people to freely incite violence and murder against vulnerable minorities? As an example, there have been several cases of US preachers saying that LGBT people should receive the death penalty. In a civilized country with democracy and human rights, anyone who said something like this would receive at least ten years in prison for inciting hatred, violence, murder, and genocide against a protected minority group. But, in the US, this is allowed in the name of “freedom”. Well, guess what? Homophobes inciting the genocide of LGBT people is most definitely not “freedom” for the highly vulnerable LGBT people who already live their lives in constant fear of homophobic violence. How can the US possibly justify – from any kind of logical standpoint – allowing this sort of thing in the name of “freedom”?Of course, "true threats" are not, in fact, protected under the First Amendment, so this is already misleading. Notice how the piece shifts easily from people saying absolutely loathsome stuff, to automatically assuming that this is incitement. That's a neat trick, and one that's used frequently. But in this paragraph is the first real hint that this is clearly satire: In a civilized country with democracy and human rights, anyone who said something like this would receive at least ten years in prison for inciting hatred, violence, murder, and genocide against a protected minority group.
That brings in the idea of criminally charging and putting people in jail for 10 years for saying bad stuff. That's nutty, but not so entirely crazy that it must be satire. But the piece is, as I mentioned, subtle. Whoever wrote it is playing the long game. You need to keep reading.
Next up is another popular trope of folks who like to smash the First Amendment: the "I"m a big supporter of free speech, but..." clause. Here's how "Cohen" does it:
Like any sensible person, I am a strong believer in the unalienable right to freedom of speech and I understand that defending freedom of speech is the most important when it’s speech that many people do not want to hear (like, for example, pro-LGBT speech in Russia). Freedom of speech is the core of any democratic society, and it’s important that freedom of speech be strongly respected and upheld. Censorship in all of its forms is something that must always be fiercely opposed. But we must never confuse hate speech with freedom of speech. Speech that offends, insults, demeans, threatens, disrespects, incites hatred or violence, and/or violates basic human rights and freedoms has absolutely no place in even the freest society. In fact, it has no place in any free society, as bigotry is fundamentally anti-freedom by its very nature. The human right to freedom of speech must always be balanced against the human rights to dignity, respect, honor, non-discrimination, and freedom from hatred.Speech that "offends" has no place? Well, yes, there are attempts to create and pass laws that say just that, but people who understand the First Amendment and recognize the true meaning of free speech don't support that.
Okay, now we get the next "drip" of "this has to be satire" -- claiming that offensive speech is on par with murder, and just to push it over the top, a claim that, when it comes to such speech, we should suspend due process and switch the burden of proof to guilty unless proven innocent:
Civilized countries consider hate speech to be among the most serious crimes around, with many countries even placing it on par with murder. In some countries, people are automatically declared guilty of hate speech and other hate crimes unless they can absolutely prove their innocence beyond any reasonable doubt. The principle of guilty until proven innocent may seem a bit harsh to some, but it makes sense when you consider how severe the crime of hate speech is – it is a crime that simply cannot be tolerated in a democracy. Hate speech is not merely speech, but is, in fact, a form of violence and the international community has established hate speech to be a form of violence many times. Hate speech doesn’t merely CAUSE violence. Hate speech IS violence.No serious person could claim this with a straight face and be in support of free speech. The drips here become too much. The satire has taken over.
Oh, then just for fun, the article goes political, by declaring a bunch of things fascist -- and claiming that political parties that she disagrees with are undemocratic.
But, in the US, fascist political parties like the Republican Party, the Constitution Party, and the Libertarian Party are allowed to freely exist and to spread their hateful ideology, even though these parties oppose fundamental human rights and thus have absolutely no place in a democratic society. What kind of democracy allows the free existence of un-democratic parties? No society that genuinely values democracy and human rights would allow people to oppose democracy and human rights. That simply isn’t how these things work.At this point, if you haven't been keeping track, the drip-drip-dripping of satire is just so thick that I find it impossible to ignore, but others still aren't convinced. Still, I can't see how anyone could directly claim that a bunch of political parties, including mainstream ones, shouldn't be allowed to exist and that allowing such political parties is somehow an affront to democracy. There's no way a person could think that legitimately.
There's a lot more of this, including falsely pretending that the Innocence of Muslims video was responsible for middle east violence, which somehow transitions into support for banning Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, which she calls "Islamophobic." I mean, now it's just into laughable satire territory. Figuring out a way to come out in support of Islamic fundamentalism book banning in a piece that supposedly celebrates free speech and democracy is a real trick. Only some brilliant satire can pull it off as capably as this one does.
The article then lists out "a way forward," asking for human rights legislation, with a list of types of speech that should be banned. Again, like the great satire that it is, it mixes in a bunch of ideas that some people might have sympathy for along with some absolutely batshit crazy ideas. Okay, inciting violence against people is one thing, but the proposed law here would outlaw anything that "disrespects" someone's "hair color" or "height." Also, "spreading misinformation, including climate change denial" is a punishable offense. Against immigration? Get thrown in jail. Jokes that "disrespect" the "dignity of people" are out as well. Any speech promoting "unacceptable ideas." I mean, that's straight out of authoritarian censorship handbooks.
And my favorite: "anyone saying that hate speech shouldn’t be against the law would be prosecuted, since hate speech is universally recognized as an injustice and a human rights violation."
Prosecuted how? With very long jail terms -- and the final kicker -- re-education camps:
Anyone guilty of hate speech – which should carry criminal penalties of 25 years to life – should be sent to special prisons designed to re-educate them and to instill values of tolerance, freedom, democracy, and human rights in them.I mean, at this point, if you had any shred of belief that the article was still real, the use of re-education camps and the history they conjure should finally and totally tip the scales. But just in case you weren't convinced, one more "drip" along the way:
This new human rights law will set up state surveillance of intolerant citizens, including those who voice anti-feminist views and those who voice overt approval of a totalitarian ideology.I love it. The sentence eats itself. Proposing a totalitarian state surveillance system, claiming to track those who approve of totalitarianism.
There are a bunch of other bits and pieces that just add some icing on the satire cake. Here are a few:
The truthfulness or factual nature of statements should not matter.And, of course, it ends in a full Godwin:
These laws would not apply to members of vulnerable minority groups.
... anger against police is something that can certainly be justified, while inciting hatred or violence against LGBT people is something that can never be justified in any way and has absolutely no place in a free and civilized democracy.
Every single man, woman, and child outside of the US strongly supports laws against hate speech.
America’s Orwellian notion of “freedom of speech"....
Otherwise, we are truly no better than Nazi Germany was.There are many other clues. The "author" of the piece, "Tanya Cohen," didn't exist online until the new year. Her Twitter feed is more of the same. And she also has a single post, from January 1st on Daily Kos, attacking Reddit for being "a home for numerous racists, misogynists, homophobes, transphobes, and other bigots." Thought Catalog, meanwhile, is a site that claims, proudly, that it enjoys publishing offensive content. Which would make it an odd place to go to publish a piece saying that publishing offensive content should net you 25 years in jail and re-education camps.
I recognize that some people -- including plenty I know and respect -- still aren't convinced that it's satire. But reading through the whole thing, looking for clues has to leave you convinced that it is, without a doubt, a satirical take, from a free speech supporter trying to mock all of the tropes of the "I'm all for free speech, but..." camp, while slowly dropping more and more hints that it's satire, by making it more and more ridiculous and extreme, and including increasingly insane ideas. In the classic tradition of satire, this one sucks you in. It starts with a stupid premise, but one that is plausible because we've seen it being argued. But then it keeps twisting deeper and deeper into the crazy, such that if you're not paying attention, you might actually believe it. If you don't take a second to step back, you might miss just how brilliant a satire it is.
Or, maybe it's all real and someone really is that screwed up. But you'll have to send me to prison and a re-education camp to convince me that anyone could really think such thoughts seriously.
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Filed Under: first amendment, free speech, hate speech, offensive speech, reeducation camps, satire, tanya cohen
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Clearly ...
The general public is certainly less likely to spot the satire than this group of subject-matter educated writers. Therefore the article, spreading via its own controversy, is likely to breed more converts to the destruction of free speech than "ah-hahs" at its cleverness. The potential damage to freedoms is incalculable.
Clearly, it's satire that should be banned.
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Re: Clearly ...
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Re: Re: Clearly ...
If nothing is a problem then nothing should also be banned!
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Only in Canada, eh?
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/27/hate-speech-no-longer-part-of-canadas-human-rights-ac t/
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Re: Only in Canada, eh?
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New LAW
Will be charged FIRST for spewing "Hate Speech" against the First Amendment and all the people that support it by Proxy. Complete with all the penalties as prescribed in their own articles!
I so wish one of our lame congress critters would get up there and say that!
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Damn
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Re: Damn
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Re: Re: Damn
I was expecting to see it the morning of Apr. 1.
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Re: Damn
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Re: Re: Damn
On the serious side, Sneeje had a good idea. It would be cool to see 2 Techdirt writers with different points of view on the same material, in the same story. Especially something controversial. Just a thought.
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Re: Re: Re: Damn
I agree!! This would be fantastic. "Duelling columns" are always fun. I don't think it even has to be about something controversial. Just something interesting that the two authors have very different, heartfelt takes on.
This would be even better if both author wrote their essays, then read the other's essay and included a brief response to be added as an afterward to it.
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Re: Re: Re: Damn
I am wholeheartedly in favor of this. Tim vs. Timothy. Winner takes all....the internetz....
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Damn
You better not be opposed, because that would be hate speech punishable by jailtime...
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Damn
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Re: Only in Canada, eh?
The provision abolished was a section of the federal Human Rights Act.
This was the most odious, but far from the only ban on hate speech in Canada.
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Re: Re: Only in Canada, eh?
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Eddie Aggro gets time to think
If you've ever been trapped on a subway with an Aggroprop Master, you'll smile in delight at this one's fate.
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Satire
All the arguments in support of hate speech censorship have been voiced by legal academics like Mari J. Matsuda, Richard Delgado and Kenneth Lasson.
And the claim that hate speech is punishable with ten years imprisonment may be somewhat of the mark but not much -- in Germany Gary Lauck was handed a four year prison sentence for several nazi related offenses.
If you repeat the offense twice you can easily accumulate ten years as a repeat offender.
This is the penalty range that you get for rape, violence in Europe, and it's even more severe than the punishment for copyright infringement.
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Re: Satire
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Re: Satire
I'm going to need some convincing before I believe this was written with serious intent: "This new human rights law will set up state surveillance of intolerant citizens, including those who voice anti-feminist views and those who voice overt approval of a totalitarian ideology."
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Re: Re: Satire
The group responsible for the very proposal referenced in that quote includes a former President of Poland and a former Prime Minister of Spain. I have a feeling they didn't come up with those suggestions for shits and giggles.
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4036/eu-intolerant-citizens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_C ouncil_on_Tolerance_and_Reconciliation
You can't use the "this shit is too stupid to be true" standard to conclude this is satire because, as the actions of various governments, including those in Canada, Australia and most of Europe, have proved, too many people in positions of power don't believe this fascist shit is too outlandish. It's silly to mock something as "this will never happen" nonsense, something a few commenters are doing, when this shit is, in fact, happening. It's like mocking the assertion that the Earth is round right after someone has shown you a picture of the Earth taken from space.
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Re: Re: Re: Satire
So, I'll just say come and take me away. Guilty as charged. I proudly admit I'm "anti-feminist." I'm sure they'll care not one whit that I'm strongly pro-women's equal rights. I'm also convinced the LGBTs are sick, or twisted, though harmless and I have no trouble dealing with them in most ways.
I'm also anti-religious, so I'm oppressing Xtians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, & etc, though I similarly have no trouble dealing with most of them in any way. I'm anti-nationalist, so that makes me anti-Zionist and anti-Israel just to start.
I could go on admitting my many facets of intolerance, but I'm sure this is enough to lock me away forever.
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Re:
(I know, to you Dutch we all look alike...)
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Re:
> fox, newsmax or the onion.
What makes you think this is something Fox would go for? They pretty much come out against any kind of hate speech or hate crime laws whenever they are proposed.
If anything, Fox's mirror image over at MSNBC would be the ones who would cheerlead for the sort of things this article suggests.
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Re:
These comments are going to be a minefield with people trying out the subtlest possible satire... but just in case, you know The Onion is satire?
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While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
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Re: While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
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Re: Re: While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
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Re: Re: Re: While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
Sam: "Could this be a Hate Crime?"
Gene Hunt: "As opposed to one of those "I really like you" murders? "
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Re: Re: Re: While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
Sorry, but that is foolish thinking. Without understanding the motive, one cannot determine if the termination of life was justified. Otherwise, we should be locking up all the military personnel, the police forces and other such groups as well as ensuring that everyone should be ready to just die instead of defending themselves from any attacks.
If someone tries to attack my wife, my children, my grandchildren, neighbours, etc, I think I will be doing something about it, kiddo.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
*bingo*
IF we had actual principles and morals, we *should*, we won't...
let's try a little thought experiment...
okay, i'm going to start HATING on you REALLY *hard* now, eye see ewe, ready, here it goes:
(pretend those are 'hate' sounds)
oh yeah, i'm really HATING on you now, buddy ! ! !
yeah! you feeling that, sucker ?
that really is hurting you, ain't it ?
bwa ha ha ha ha haaaaa
i'm so eee-vil, i should be jailed for that 'hate'...
*snicker*
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Re: Re: Re: Re: While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
What he's saying is that killing someone because he's black is no worse than killing someone because he slept with your girlfriend or because you want his wallet. Morally it's all unjustified killing, and deserves equal treatment. Justified killings are a completely different category.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
Life has turned cold for a couple of wet days.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
I would say that supports my interpretation. He removed all limitations in the third sentence, but I stand by my interpretation of that random stranger's words until he says otherwise. :-)
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
Eye waz goana calya ahh maurone, butt eye saw eet waz ann akchewleigh phunknee reespons, sew eye say tada ann hav agoodlarf eensted.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: While we are at it, can we ditch hate crimes as well?
Yes, congratulations on confusing someone by using an ambiguous statement. I hope you feel proud.
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You know what Tom Lehrer said?
Yes, this piece most definitely is a piece of self-damning hogwash jumbling together various populist themes with total disregard for their internal inconsistency.
It's a dead ringer for satire.
Unfortunately this is true for the majority of today's politics as well.
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Seems like "A Modest Proposal"
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Re:
Although that's a truly frightening thought...Tanya Cohen Leads The Charge Against Hate Speech. I can see (and shudder at) the headlines now.
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> held point of view. Are you suggesting that there
> is a sizable group of people who are not aware
> of this?
*Now* people are aware of it.
Monkey King was asserting that the Italian elites at the time Machiavelli wrote it didn't realize it was satire.
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Anagram possibility
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Re: Anagram possibility
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This reads like
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Re: This reads like
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Re: Re: This reads like
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Re: Re: Re: This reads like
Dear lord...
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Re: This reads like
LOL! Not hardly.
Republicans aren't exactly known for their love of hate crime/hate speech laws.
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Anagram?
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Re: Anagram?
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Re: Anagram?
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Sadly...
Satire is dead. Irony is alive and kicking however.
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Re: Sadly...
AS IF they have ANY brief to actually be for real free speech, they censor for simply voicing valid plaints in opposition to their agenda...
obama and obamacare, for instance...
they are odious dem'rat authoritarians who care not ONE WHIT for free expression...
*blaaaap*
i fart in their general direction...
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Colbert
If delivered in the right tone of voice, this might work...
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must not know a lot of people
Sadly, far too many people DO think exactly that. I have encountered them personally. I have known quite a few people who would get behind every one of these proposals all while touting their own tolerance. It's quite frightening.
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Where does it say I have to LIKE anyone to begin with?
As far as I'm concerned, hate crime laws are thought control bullshit...
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Hate speech, spate heech
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Satire Or Not?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PoesLaw
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free show
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List of minorities that live by hate speech
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http://www.thefire.org/author/adamk/
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"This new human rights law will set up state surveillance of intolerant citizens, including those who voice anti-feminist views and those who voice overt approval of a totalitarian ideology."
This is taken almost word for word from a proposal put forth by an organization called "The European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation". If you don't believe me, spend five seconds on Google. The group not only proposes the outlawing of anti-feminist speech, it also wants constant surveillance of supposed intolerant groups. Its leader has used the classic censor's statement in defense of this project, "We shouldn't tolerate intolerance".
Another quote you put forth as evidence of satire is, again, the exact opposite. I am referring to this:
"In some countries, people are automatically declared guilty of hate speech and other hate crimes unless they can absolutely prove their innocence beyond any reasonable doubt. The principle of guilty until proven innocent may seem a bit harsh to some, but it makes sense when you consider how severe the crime of hate speech is – it is a crime that simply cannot be tolerated in a democracy."
The Gillard administration in Australia, yes, Australia, proposed just such a presumption-of-guilt standard. The same administration also proposed making it a crime if ANY religious ceremony, performed in public, offended anyone, at all. Ms. Cohen proposes just such a law in her supposedly satirical piece. Again, these facts can be readily checked on Google.
As for her claims concerning "Innocence of Muslims", the Wikipedia entry on that film STILL heavily implies it was responsible for the Benghazi riots. This is evidence that such a belief is more widespread than the authors at this site seem to believe.
Here is another quote from the piece you provide as evidence of satire:
"The truthfulness or factual nature of statements should not matter."
I hate to break it to you, but the Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that the truth is not a defense against defamation. Once again, this stuff may like out-and-out bullshit to those used to the First Amendment, but I can assure you, it is happening in other countries.
I was initially convinced that her piece was satire as well. I even sent Tanya Cohen a tweet congratulating her for her brilliant Alan Sokal-esque gag. But the responses she has written me, including the aforementioned citations from peer-reviewed academic journals, now make me believe otherwise. The fact is, there is not a single law being proposed in that piece that has not already been proposed or enacted somewhere in the world. In the United Kingdom, the UNITED FUCKING KINGDOM, a guy was sentenced to 56 days in jail for a fucking tweet. A tweet. This very site ran a piece about the monitoring of social media by the Scottish police. That alone should prove to you that none of the fascist bullshit Tanya Cohen proposes is too silly to be believed.
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Re:
1. http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4036/eu-intolerant-citizens
2. http://www.ipa.org.au/portal/uploads/submission_to_the_public_consultation_on_amendments_to_the_raci al_discrimination_act_1975.pdf
Here is a quote from taken from source #2: "Furthermore the Bill proposed that individuals accused of unlawful behaviour were to be declared guilty unless they could prove their innocence, that individuals accused under the legislation would not have an automatic right to legal representation, and that the accused would be required to pay all the costs of their defence even if they were found to be innocent."
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Re: Re:
It's not quite as bad as that: " Clause 124(1)
provides that once the complainant adduces evidence from which the court could decide, in the absence of any other explanation, that the respondent acted unlawfully, it will be presumed to be so unless the contrary is proved. The purpose of this clause is simply to require the person who is best able to explain the reason for their decision or behaviour – the respondent – to do so. The burden to do
so will only arise once the complainant has established a prima facie case."
So it's not presumed guilt after just an accusation. I don't know enough about law to understand what is necessary to establish a prima facie case though.
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I simply don't understand why you believe this to be the case. As much of this stuff she proposes is already law(or under consideration by various legislatures) in many supposedly liberal democracies, it is quite obvious that people do, in fact "think that legitimately".
I find it hard to hold on to my initial impression that the piece is a parody for the reason that "no normal person could possibly think that way" being tested by the reality that, in Europe (and elsewhere), a whole hell of a lot of people do "think that way".
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Re:
They are nothing more than children pretending to be adults, fragile little wastes of air who would do well to remember the piece of advice 'It is better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt'.
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Wait, I think Dean Swift got there first.
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Given all the "I believe in free speech, but..." statements I have seen in response to the Charlie Hebdo massacre, it is pretty obvious some people do believe hate speech might just justify murder.
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It's painfully clear you've never read TC
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Followup article
http://thoughtcatalog.com/tanya-cohen/2015/01/why-do-americans-reject-human-rights-when-the-whol e-world-embraces-them/
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Re: Followup article
Reading the various parts of her response, she is more than happy to imprison anyone who disagrees with her and that anyone who has an opposing view is to be considered as sub or non-human and hence be discriminated against.
Hence in her espousal of her views, she becomes a bigot and espouses hate speech. What a difficult razors edge line to walk and she fails comprehensively. However, she is entitled to her views and when they come back and bite in the posterior regions, she may change her opinions. Then again maybe not.
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Re: Re: Followup article
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Attack on Free Speech
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Definately Satire
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That's the clincher
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She's just a nut job.
Look how many articles she’s written about this:
http://thoughtcatalog.com/tanya-cohen/
Plus she’s got a similar rant in the Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/.....-in-the-US
Hard to believe the Daily Kos knowingly published this as a satire piece, since the nut jobs at the Daily Kos probably accept most, if not all, of this sputtering drivel.
According to the bio on the Daily Kos:
“Tanya Cohen is an Australian-born human rights activist and writer who has worked for Amnesty International, the Human Rights Law Centre, the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, the Human Rights Working Group of the Greens NSW, and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties”
Doesn’t seem like satire at this point.
She's full on loony toons.
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