YAL UW-Madison had the privilege of co-sponsoring columnist Glenn Greenwald in a visit to campus last Wednesday.  For those unfamiliar, Greenwald is a contributor at Salon.com and has gained a nationwide following for his fierce defense of civil liberties.  Greenwald spoke for an hour on the subject of "Civil Liberties in the Age of Obama" and then took an hour for a lively Q&A.  His conclusion?  Our liberties are still as threatened as they were during the Bush Administration...and now even more with Obama's new host of executive powers, including the right to assassinate American citizens.

The speech was stellar with too many good points to touch on in a single blog post.  I would like to point out that in the Q&A at 38:00 Greenwald specifically addresses a possible alliance between progressives and Ron Paul libertarians.  He also mentions Gary Johnson as a unique candidate with possibly the best chance of bringing this coalition together in a 2012 run for president.  The entire speech and Q&A is certainly worth watching.  Read a local media report here.

Individual pictures of some of our members with Glenn: