McCarthyism with Lipstick
I am old enough to have remembered the Weathermen, and McCarthyism. By the time I was draft age, I lived in Alaska. I knew plenty of people who opposed the war, and did illegal things to resist the war. I had friends in a local war tax resistance movement, and I knew people who helped soldiers desert and go to Canada. There were few privileged and well educated radicals that would join Weatherman, but we did have our own relatively harmless local radicals with delusional dreams of overthrowing the government, including one that later converted to hyper free market views, and became a cabinet member for Governor Hickel.
Everyone in my generation had an opinion on the Vietnam war because of the draft, and there were a lot of crazy things going on. By the time Obama and Palin came of age, the U.S. had pulled out of Vietnam and this era had disappeared.
Everything about Obama suggests a pragmatic reformer, and an ambitious politician. Obama didn't want to overthrow the government, he wanted a future in the government.
Like Obama, Sarah Palin missed the 60s and the Vietnam war controversies. She grew up when there was no draft, and when disco was more important than politics. She is discovering now her abilities to engage in the type of character assaults that one associates with Joe McCarthy -- guilt by association. Like McCarthy, she has no real boundaries or shame.
McCarthy and McCarthyism were distant and discredited by the Vietnam era, but support for both never disappeared entirely. There were always elements in society that wanted to bring this back. But few people with stature had the stomach to do so. Today, with Fox News, talk radio and a right-wing blogsphere, there is an atmosphere and core of support for this type of thing. Sarah Palin seems like the missing link. A high level political figure that has been elevated to a Vice Presidential nomination by one of the two main parties -- McCarthy's old party.
Follow James Love on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jamie_love
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
And this new brand of McCarthyism, too, shall end up on the wrong side of history.
But how many innocent people must be harmed in the meantime?
Thank you for making this important point. Palin, along with Fox, Hannity, Savage, Limbaugh, et al, all use McCarthyite tactics. No one has been attacking them on this. We need to repeat it until it is common wisdom.
The Republicans learned this tactic a long time ago by being successful at it, and the Democrats still don't get it (to their credit). Just call people names, slander them, and throw mud and it will be reported in the news. People read and listen to this garbage, and unfortunately, it resonates with those who don't think or take the time to investigate the facts. The users of this type of McCarthyism tactic you mention in your comment are some of the worst offenders and their sense of decency and respect for other opinions is disgraceful, at best.
Let's join together and turn one of McCain's..
This one is voting for THAT ONE!
http://www
A portion of any proceeds will go to the Obama campaign or the Democratic National Convention
You can put lipstick on a fascist but it won't hide the ugly.
A disturbing yet plausible assessment. I turned 18 a year after the draft was suspended, I remember the war years and the anti-war movement well. We seem to have forgotten that there came a time when a large majority of the country was against that war, and many vehemently so.
Great parallel.
Like McCarthy, Palin is willing to expose the nefarious infiltration of socialism into the fabric of our country;
Like McCarthy, Palin understands that this sort of left-wing collectivism has historically ALWAYS resulted in the demise of liberty;
Like McCarthy, Palin is right; but
Unlike McCarthy, I wouldn't mind seeing Palin in a sheer nightie...
-jjg
DailyScoff
Ann Coulter?
Sounds like you.
And ALSO like McCarthy, and apparently jgravelle, Palin sees socialism where there isn't any!
Wait a minute...d
Oh yea...Char
We should all be troubled with the "guilt by association" tactic. I know I am. The economic crises, and wars do not scare me as much as the thought that our sociial order, liberties and judicial processes will driven by gossip and innuendo. If we allow the mainstream media to legitimize the guilt by association tactic positied by such high profile public officials, we are looking into an abyss. There are right wing extremists who contend that such tactics and behavior is legitimate and not just in politics. Many of these extremists are the same who advocate war and bombing abortion clinics in the name "life". Some of these extremists are the ones who argue that if you don't agree with their views, you are their enemy! Conservatives, Moderates, Independents, Liberals please - pause and think about this guilt by association phenomenon. You realy don't want extremism driving our public discourse and decisions. Act, if you can, to de-legitimize guilt by association, quick!
Excellent post. For a woman who wants her state to secede from the Union, she has scant little ammunition to throw at someone else for their affiliations. Her lack of knowledge and willingness to say anything, force the wedge issues to paint her opponents in a bad light make her a horrible human being and very dangerous. Like McCain, she wants the title, but lacks the skills to do the job.
Let's be fair here. We don't know that Sarah wants Alaska to secede. We do know that her husband, Todd, was until very recently a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, which has as its goal secession of Alaska from the Union. We also know that she spoke at their meeting with very sweeping words, but we do NOT know that she actually agrees with them!
Yes, you are right, but then the same argument can be used against McCain/Palin's attacks about Bill Ayres.
Obama may have served on a board (funded by a republican) with Ayres, but he wasn't sleeping with him and cooking his dinner!
Its just STUPID!
The hypocracy has to stop!
Mr. Love, you're absolutely right. I was born in 1973, so I know exactly what you mean. Thanks for drawing the parallels for me. Now I see that this is nothing new although I am still thoroughly shocked that someone who we should be looking up to, such as someone running for public office, would be that indecent in this day and time. But then, Gen. X did witness the whorey evangelicals, Regan's lies, and premature cynicism thanks to growing up with nuclear anxiety.
Let's call McCarthyism "Palinism" or "McCainism" now. I think its time for a Gen. X upgrade.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
