Accusations of Fascism Against The ACLU
O'Reilly has called the American Civil Liberties Union a "fascist organization," believing they seek to impose a secular-progressive world view on America by "gaming the legal system." As an example, he cites the gay-marriage ruling of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health) :
The ACLU, on the front lines, is extremely aggressive and well funded, as I have stated . That means they are serious people. On my programs, I have called this crew a "fascist organization" because they seek to impose their world view on America — not by the popular vote, which is the way it is supposed to be done in a democracy, but by "gaming" the legal system. Because they know that they will never, ever achieve their goals on Election Day, their strategy is to rely on activist left-wing judges to bring about secular changes in our laws. The most notorious example of this strategy is the gay-marriage ruling in Massachusetts. The ACLU helpfully pointed out to the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth that the state constitution had an apparent loophole: that is, the document failed to define marriage specifically as between one man and one woman. Presto! With the stroke of a pen, the liberal court wiped out more than three hundred years of legal traditional marriage going back to the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The ACLU was in ecstasy. To this culture warrior, gay marriage is not a vital issue. I don't believe the republic will collapse if Larry marries Brendan. However, it is clear that most Americans want heterosexual marriage to maintain its special place in American society. And as long as gays are not penalized in the civil arena, I think the folks should make the call at the ballot box. Traditional marriage is widely seen as a social stabilizer, and I believe that is true. But if you are trying to secularize American society, gay marriage is a good place to start — thus the ACLU's fervor on this issue.
O'Reilly generally asserts that "secular progressives" are misguided individuals who share general political beliefs, such as little or no acknowledgment of God or other higher powers in public; the practice of wealth redistribution or the taking money from the affluent and giving to the less fortunate; opening national borders to create a "unified world"; legalization of drugs; and belief in provision of "prosperity" and entitlements by the government to the populace.
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