Like many of his liberal counterparts, Mr. Anthony Romero may have grudgingly conceded to President Bush’s victory last Wednesday — but not without a subversive plan. As executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Mr. Romero is heading a national campaign to mobilize Americans against government-sanctioned infringements on civil liberty.

Last week in The New York Times, the ACLU called on civil libertarians to intensify their efforts to oppose the Bush administration’s “unrelenting assault” on citizens’ rights. Among the claims listed were that President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft have destabilized checks and balances by labeling American citizens and others as “enemy combatants,” and furthermore, have imposed government-funded religion by subsidizing faith-based programs with taxpayer money.

Mr. Romero issued a statement shortly afterward addressing the administration’s purported deception of American citizens.  “The Bush administration has cynically used the American people’s genuine concern for safety to limit and erode fundamental rights most Americans don’t know they’ve lost,” Mr. Romero said. “Even republicans like Bob Barr agree with the ACLU that this administration has gone too far, too fast, in eroding our freedoms in the name of national security.”

Within a single day, the advertisement yielded more than $65,000 from unsolicited donors — and perhaps, helped to establish groundwork for the next four years of liberal activism.