ACLU Lays Off a Tenth of Staff, Enemies of America Hardest Hit

It's from the HuffPost, so don't click if you're repulsed by them.

Here's the heartbreaking news.

The American Civil Liberties Union, impacted by the unfolding economic crisis, laid off ten percent of its national workforce this week. Thirty-six staffers lost their jobs, including five in the Washington, D.C. legislative office, a source familiar with the firings told the Huffington Post.

A source in the ACLU's Washington office confirmed that there had been layoffs, but couldn't confirm the details. The ACLU has two separate Washington offices: a local branch that works on District of Columbia issues and an arm of the national ACLU, which works on legislative issues. The layoffs impacted the legislative office -- though the District office is not necessarily immune to a budget shortfall.

Even more delicious: Two groups that fund thia anti-American outfit were wiped out in the Bernie Madoff swindle, as we noted here last month.

Sources familiar with the ACLU's situation say that the two major foundations were the JEHT and Picower Foundations, which were wiped out by Madoff. Another major ACLU donor, Peter Lewis, has also been pounded by the economic crisis. Lewis' centrality to the funding of progressive organizations is hard to overstate. The name of the ACLU's Washington office is "The Peter B Lewis Center for Civil Liberties."