The trail from McCarthyism to post-9/11 hysteria -- and liberal complicity

Most Americans have either forgotten or never learned that McCarthyism was an equal-opportunity political crime wave. The Wisconsin senator made a big -- and utterly unexpected -- media splash with his Wheeling, West Virginia speech (“I hold in my hand the names of …”) and commentators soon slapped his name on anticommunist witchhunting for convenience’s sake. But both parties tangoed; there was, indeed, both a Republican and Democratic McCarthyism at work. In fact, some historians believe that the Truman administration was more culpable in launching “McCarthyism” than McCarthy. (I don’t happen to subscribe to that argument, but I concede a partial validity.)

Although it’s true that McCarthy, especially, used anticommunism as a partisan weapon against domestic liberalism (read him and you’ll see Tail-Gunner Joe gunning for Democrats more than homegrown commies, whom he knew were as scarce as Alabama Buddhists), anticommunism’s political appeal and hysterical grip were too strong a force for most liberal politicians to publicly reject or denounce. To their discredit, they either played along or remained silent, hoping the madness would simply die a quick and quiet death. Consequently the madness lasted much longer than most political life-expectancies, and liberal complicity gave oxygen to needless suffering.

We face a similar and as great a danger today. Too many liberal pols are playing along, hoping for a better day, a more enlightened electorate, a more opportune time to strike.

And as in the 1950s, the reasonable person of today must ask -- If not now, when? Because here’s a little more eye-opening history that connects the then and now: The lunacy of today’s right still swings from the politico-genealogical tree of Republican McCarthyism and its eponymous practitioner.

McCarthy’s anti-liberal goonism reemerged in the 1960s through brash Goldwaterism -- Barry himself being a classic cold warrior who admired Joe and who added McCarthy’s “morality politics” to his presidential campaign portfolio. When Goldwater was crushed in ’64, liberals assumed that right-wing politics, if not the Republican Party, was as dead as the cirrhosis-eaten Senator McCarthy.

The Old Left relaxed and basked in its permanent victory and celebrated its own anticommunist credentials in the form of Vietnam, while the New Right picked up the strains of take-no-prisoners McCarthyism-Goldwaterism in the 1970s. New Righters carried on the crusade against godless liberals, who in turn ignored the New Right by and large and assumed it would go away soon enough.

It didn’t. Because then came Reaganism, kindly fed and funded by the New Right. He too was a passing fad, thought old and new liberals, who could afford to play along while the public figured out the scam of Reaganomics. Meanwhile the right wing demagogued its case and boom -- those quirky, temporary Reagan Democrats transmogrified into solid Republicans who were soon voting in Gingrichism.

So what did liberals do when George W. Bush then stole office? What did they do with the Bushism they were handed, which came from Gingrichism, which descended from Reaganism, which was birthed by New Rightism, which dropped from the clouds of Goldwaterism, which sprouted from McCarthyism?

They played along. They gave Bush his tax cuts. They gave him his illegal war. And they gave him the post-9/11 free rein that Karl Rove demanded of them -- for post-9/11 hysteria was psychological blood kin to anticommunist hysteria.

Besides, the only liberals winning elections were the triangulating appeasers. Right? And while liberals cowered in exiled self-denial, the right continued striking through think-tank “studies,” grassroots organizing, direct-mail financing, carefully developed media outlets and rock-solid, people-metered demagoguery.

Naturally, what and who did the public hear throughout all this? Well, they heard the message of the ones who were screaming a message.

The political accommodations that degraded to postwar McCarthyism have survived in odd ways and brought us to the crossroads we stand at today. Democrats can either feed more accommodation or they can fight the right’s growing ideological hegemony and jackbooted tactics that have sponsored a criminal war abroad and homebred autocratic overtones, which always, always grow uglier.

Senate Democrats seem poised, finally, to fight. But salvation also starts around the office water cooler.

So don’t be shy. Tell a wayward friend it’s time to shut down McCarthyism for good.

Comments

[Enzo Titolo]

Now I see why Ann Coulter, aka 'Crazy Bitch,' was pictured paying homage to Joe McCarthy at his grave.

http://www.townhall.com/acimgs/webimages/grave_bg.jpg

[Alan Cabal]

Actually, the Goldwater strain of Conservativism leads directly to the Paleo-Con movement spearheaded by Pat Buchanan, the only credible opposition to the "I$rael-First" movement inspired by Leo Strauss and his Neo-Con traitors. The Left in this country is morally and spiritually bankrupt, as evidenced by their unwavering support for Clinton, based entirely on his support for abortion on demand. When I saw the head of the National Organization for Women come out in support of a serial rapist BushCo sock puppet, I knew the Left was truly dead.

The Left's continued support for open borders is the clearest contemporary example of their elitism and unwillingness to engage with working-class blacks and whites in working toward some realistic solution to the widening gap between the rich and the poor in this country. Their unwillingness to support a viable third party candidate (Nader) in 2004 in favor of a BushCo clone (Kerry) sealed the fate of the Left in America.

McCarthy is old news, and his name is invoked most frequently in the service of the same interests which seek to keep us focused on the Nazi aberration. McCarthy was distracting us from the real "enemy within": Zionism. He was owned, lock, stock, and smoking barrel, by the Zionist Entity. His morphine habit and his homosexuality laid him open to their classic blackmail technique. Had he been a free agent, he would certainly have directed our attention to the murder of our first Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal.

By way of clarification, not all Jews are Zionists, and not all Zionists are Jews. Zionism is simply the latest incarnation of racial Fascism.

[Alan Cabal]

Signor Titolo, "Ann Coulter" is a MAN. I believe he/she was cloned from Janet Reno.

[Roddy McCorley]

When Goldwater was crushed in '64, liberals assumed that right-wing politics, if not the Republican Party, was as dead as the cirrhosis-eaten Senator McCarthy.

I recommend to everyone Before the Storm by Rick Perlstein. Its subtitle: "Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus." It is, as you might expect, about the 1964 campaign. But it's also about the origins of the modern -- make that "current" -- Republican party.

What normal, rational people perceived as a crushing defeat was in fact an overwhelming success for the radical rightists and devout anti-New Dealers who set their sights on gaining control of a major political party just about 50 years ago. (They considered Eisenhower -- Eisenhower! -- a communist stooge.) Step One was to get their guy on the ticket. He didn't have to win -- he just had to get on the ticket. So in 1964, it was Mission Accomplished, and on to Step Two -- actually winning.

Now, here's where it gets kind of interesting. Y'see, they went looking for a candidate to get behind, a man to plug into their program. Which was sort of the wrong way around in politics at the time. Goldwater wasn't quite as good a fit as they thought, as we discovered in later years when he demonstrated a fair amount of integrity. But that's okay, because winning wasn't the main objective.

The word for what they did is "casting" -- which becomes much more appropriate with Ronald Reagan, the next person to be cast. There is, of course, an easily-drawn line from 1964 to 1980, but it's not usually put in these terms. Think of 1964 as the pilot, and 1980 as the series pickup.

The next person cast was George W. Bush. Plug the man into the program -- the program is what matters, not the man. Sorta like swapping out Darrins on Bewitched. This explains what I found to be the puzzling level of vitriol directed at McCain in 2000? Why on earth would you destroy a candidate whose appeal crosses party lines??? Answer: Bad Casting. McCain was (note: "was") the kind of guy who thinks too much, who asks questions, who would put the nation ahead of the program -- a no-no of the first order -- if only occasionally.

George Bush is thus the Dick Sargeant of American politics. And all this time, you thought he was just a dick...

This is why I think all speculation of Jeb Bush or Rudy Giuliani in 2008 is off the mark. Just because we distrust them as much as we distrust L'il Georgie does not mean they are interchangeable with him. My fingers cramp as I right this, but both of them have too much integrity to be plugged into the program. And yeah, I know how much integrity they have...

So who will be cast in 2008? Who will be the new Darrin? Beats the hell out of me. I will say that Frist is doing his very best to convince the sponsors that he can be plugged right into the program. But I don't know if that's enough. They want a method actor -- someone who truly believes the dialogue, not someone who merely recites it.

The auditions are going on know. The callbacks will be when Cheney steps down for reasons of health...

[Kid Charlemagne]

I wonder what spectral class of star does Mr. Cabal's home planet orbit?

[Alan Cabal]

I won't answer that, but I will say that Mr. McCorley's comments are well-put and thought-provoking.

[RS Janes]

It may also be worth noting what finally brought McCarthy down, at least on television: Joseph Welch shaming him publicly. For McCarthy, it was all over but the shouting (mostly his).

British MP George Galloway has shown how the neocon Republicans should be handled: firmly and truthfully; talk straight and don't take any guff or let them get away with their usual spin.

Now if only more of the Dems would take the hint.