Even as the Wall Street Journal continues to provide important news reporting, its opinion pieces grow ever snarkier and more deceitful.  In the April 23, 2021 edition, readers will see varying degrees in the representation of the truth contained in two opinion pieces, each referring the American Civil Liberties Union.

             In an opinion authored by the Editorial Board,  the Journal notes that the ACLU, true to its longstanding mission, has joined conservative groups in opposing legislation in California requiring organizations qualifying as charities to disclose the identity of their contributors.  (See https://www.wsj.com/articles/donor-disclosure-arrives-at-the-supreme-court-11619217816).

           In this opinion, one could infer that the Journal authors see the ACLU as fair minded, still willing to take controversial and perhaps counterintuitive sides in litigation.

             In another opinion piece in the same online edition, (see https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-have-more-police-shootings-11619213893?mod=trending_now_opn_1), Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. appears to suggest that any arrested person risks death by resisting, even after police have subdued the arrestee.  Did Mr. Jenkins imply that any degree form of resisting arrest entitle police to punish the arrestee, seemingly with no constraint? 

             Mr. Jenkins also even parts company with his usually like-minded editorial writers at the Journal, at least insofar as his perception of the ACLU.  Unlike the Editorial Board opinion noting the ACLU remains an advocate, even for conservative-championed privacy and First Amendment freedom, Mr. Jenkins characterizes the current ACLU as “lately morphed into a pro-censorship promoter of progressive causes.”

             Has Mr. Jenkins concluded that he should continue to target and vilify the ACLU even when it shares his views?