Mencius Moldbug presents an intriguing theory: The ACLU's past commitment to free speech was a ploy to allow communists to function in the open. Sure, the ACLU defended neo-Nazis at Skokie, but such tiny, irrelevant groups presented no threat. The real prize was establishing strong precedents that protected communists from persecution.

Now that far-leftists have seized every institution and are the ones able to do the persecuting, freedom of speech is not only no longer needed, but an impediment. Suddenly the ACLU is discovering that there should be limits.