McCarthyism in 2009
Republican tactics against our first Black President reminds me of the Republican tactics of the 50’s. Back then it was called McCarthyism. It was then Republican Senator Joe McCarthy who accused many Democrats of being Communists. Today they call President Obama a Nazi and his policy Socialism. McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. Accusations from the Birther movement, that this President was not born on U.S. soil and therefore is not a legitimate President, are subversive to our country, would fall under that description. Not only did they not have evidence, they provided false birth certificates saying he was born in Kenya. Most of the Birthers are far right wing Republicans, but many leaders in the Republican Party took up their banner and cause as for them it seemed like good politics.
The negativity against President Barack Obama spills into every issue. First, Right Wing Republicans started against him for the Bailout of the Banks, even though President Bush started the practice. Then they attacked the bailout of AIG and other Banks. Then they attacked the Stimulus plan and every Republican voted against it. Never mind it was deregulation of the Banking system in late 1999 that allowed Wall Street to invent special derivative instruments to make money. Today there are $209 Trillion dollars in derivative instruments held by the top Banks in the United States. You might remember another name for these derivatives, Toxic Assets!
And this from Wikipedia: One focus of popular McCarthyism concerned the provision of public health services, particularly vaccination, mental health care services and fluoridation, all of which were deemed by some to be communist plots to poison or brainwash the American people. This viewpoint led to major collisions between McCarthyite radicals and supporters of public health programs.
Right-wing intellectuals found the decisiveness of McCarthyism refreshing. William F. Buckley, Jr., the founder of the influential conservative political magazine National Review, wrote a defense of McCarthy, McCarthy and his Enemies, in which he asserted that "McCarthyism ... is a movement around which men of good will and stern morality can close ranks." Does this sound familiar?
So McCarthyism is alive and well and lives in the far Right Wing of the Republican Party, as it was in the 1950’s. All the yelling and screaming in Town Hall meetings, not based on facts, but just to disrupt open dialogue. When you see these antics, remember McCarthyism. It was one of the darkest times in America, as many lives were trashed or changed forever, unnecessarily.
UPDATE: Oct. 2nd 5:55am
Here is a related article just out today and sent to me by a close friend. The title is: The Wizard of Beck. By DAVID BROOKS of the NY Times, a Republican. Click here to read it..
The negativity against President Barack Obama spills into every issue. First, Right Wing Republicans started against him for the Bailout of the Banks, even though President Bush started the practice. Then they attacked the bailout of AIG and other Banks. Then they attacked the Stimulus plan and every Republican voted against it. Never mind it was deregulation of the Banking system in late 1999 that allowed Wall Street to invent special derivative instruments to make money. Today there are $209 Trillion dollars in derivative instruments held by the top Banks in the United States. You might remember another name for these derivatives, Toxic Assets!
And this from Wikipedia: One focus of popular McCarthyism concerned the provision of public health services, particularly vaccination, mental health care services and fluoridation, all of which were deemed by some to be communist plots to poison or brainwash the American people. This viewpoint led to major collisions between McCarthyite radicals and supporters of public health programs.
Right-wing intellectuals found the decisiveness of McCarthyism refreshing. William F. Buckley, Jr., the founder of the influential conservative political magazine National Review, wrote a defense of McCarthy, McCarthy and his Enemies, in which he asserted that "McCarthyism ... is a movement around which men of good will and stern morality can close ranks." Does this sound familiar?
So McCarthyism is alive and well and lives in the far Right Wing of the Republican Party, as it was in the 1950’s. All the yelling and screaming in Town Hall meetings, not based on facts, but just to disrupt open dialogue. When you see these antics, remember McCarthyism. It was one of the darkest times in America, as many lives were trashed or changed forever, unnecessarily.
UPDATE: Oct. 2nd 5:55am
Here is a related article just out today and sent to me by a close friend. The title is: The Wizard of Beck. By DAVID BROOKS of the NY Times, a Republican. Click here to read it..
Labels: Birthers, healthcare, McCarthyism, Right Wing Republicans, Sen. Joe McCarthy
posted by Charles Amico at 5:31 PM
1 Comments:
Yes, Charles, it is frightening. Our co-citizens seem to never learn as history repeats itself. The self-righteousness of the right-wing Christianists is astounding. And their buffers keep them comfortable, so they never see the clear parallels with the Islamists.
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