Once upon a time, when it still pretended to have the principles it advertised, the American Civil Liberties Union would defend free speech, due process and other such important principles, even if the man involved in the particulars was personally repellent. It was understood the principle at issue mattered far more than the incidental person because principles apply to every person.

If one person can be denied due process, then every person's due process rights are threatened. If one person's right to speak freely is punished then no one's right to speak freely is sacrosanct.

The Left – as embodied by the ACLU – never had those principles, as evidenced by the fact they have been abandoned now that they are no longer useful.

This is key to understanding the Left, whose only unwavering principle is the acquisition of power by any means. Once having acquired it, the principles used as pretexts to obtain it can be discarded, along with the "useful idiots" – Lenin's term – who were idiotic enough to take the Left at its word.