"Romero's Performance Extraordinary"

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Below is the full text of a letter from Peter T. Wilderotter to New York Magazine. An edited version was printed in the March 5, 2007 edition of the magazine.

February 15, 2007

To the editors:

By any objective measure, the performance of Anthony Romero as President of the ACLU has been extraordinary (David France article, 2/19/2007).

Building a program, adding an attorney in every affiliate office; well that is one surge that I can get behind. The article proves that any self appointed band of zealots who purport to speak for the whole, are as dangerous in the ACLU as they are in the White House. And they will cheat, lie and manipulate to meet their greedy ends.

Mr. France, like our celebrity culture, seems obsessed with what people eat, Mr. Romero's fashion tastes and the details of his relationship. Thank goodness that Mr. Romero knows what the right to privacy means and didn't take the bait, much to the writer's chagrin.

The struggle for civil liberties in this country is a relay race for justice. I admired Ira Glasser when he held the baton and he ran with it swiftly and with great success. But it is complete hubris to suggest that he "created" Mr. Romero and that claim speaks volumes about his performance after he voluntarily resigned from the job. Anthony Romero, an admitted imperfect man, has handled the job almost perfectly and I am proud to have a leader of his calibre at the helm. I trust when the moment comes for him to hand the baton to another, he will do so with the dignity and wisdom he failed to receive from his predecessor.

Sincerely,

Peter T. Wilderotter
ACLU Member
New York, NY  

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