Cross stricken from Los Angeles seal.

The American Civil Liberties Union has struck again, this time joining forces with left-wing county supervisors to eradicate a tiny cross from the Los Angeles County seal. On June 1, the board of supervisors voted 3-2 to side with the ACLU's demand that the Christian symbol be expunged because it is allegedly unconstitutional and offensive to non-Christians. The radical triumvirate of Zev Yaroslavsky, Yvonne Braithwaite Burke and Gloria Molina also claimed that they felt compelled to vote for the measure because, in a court battle with the ACLU, the city would find itself in a costly legal fight it would be doomed to lose. Implementing the edict could prove to be financially costly as well as politically, socially and religiously divisive. The seal, which appears on county stationery, documents, buildings, monuments, park signs, meeting rooms, vehicles, badges and in textbooks, cannot be immediately expunged by edict.

"I think it's clear there is an unholy alliance between the ACLU and three members of the board to eliminate the cross under the pretext that they are doing this for constitutional reasons," said Richard Thompson, chief counsel of the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center, which is challenging the board's action. "It's clear that this cross would pass constitutional muster, and we intend to do everything we can legally do to ensure the cross stays on the seal. The citizens of Los Angeles County are threatening to go to the ballot box to remove the supervisors who voted for this. There is a tremendous groundswell."

Mr. Thompson is not exaggerating. A Los Angeles Daily News poll found 94 percent of L.A.-area residents opposed to the change. A similar poll by Los Angeles' NBC News affiliate found 96 percent opposed. No issue has ignited such widespread outrage in the city in recent memory. Two thousand people reportedly turned out to picket city hall. On June 13, Supervisor Mike Antonovich attempted to place the measure on the November ballot, giving the voters a chance to decide the issue. But the radical triumvirate voted his proposal down 3-1. (Supervisor Don Knabe, who had sided with Antonovich on the earlier vote, was in Washington, D.C.) Efforts are now underway to recall the three supervisors.

The "offensive" cross on the seal is but one of 10 symbols: a ship, a fish, oil derricks, stars, a cow, a square and compass, the Hollywood Bowl--and the Roman goddess Pomona. Except for the two stars, the cross is the smallest symbol on the seal. The pagan goddess is by far the largest, but the ACLU and the three supervisors have voiced no objection to her presence.

At the Board of Supervisors meeting on June 13, Mr. Yaroslavsky chided the irate audience, saying: "Enough of this conspiracy, cabal talk going on in this room and community." However, conspiracy and cabal are precisely the right words to explain what is going on in Los Angeles. Yaroslavsky, Burke and Molina have been working hand-in-glove with the ACLU revolutionaries for many years.