The New McCarthyists: Fear and Smear

As Americans struggle to make ends meet, affirm basic democratic and constitutional values, and work toward a brighter tomorrow, a small but influential group of reporters and pundits, Republican Congressional leaders and businessmen are turning to fear and smear campaigns to grab attention and subvert a durable equitable recovery.

These New McCarthyists conjure "socialism," "communism," "marxism," and other "shocking labels" to drum up hate-mongering. When you blow away the froth of hate, the claims against actual policies and individuals are trivial.

The fear-mongering obscures our basic shared experience as Americans struggling in hard times. They are also distractions from genuine disagreements which require adult debates.

Here are some of the most influential New McCarthyists today.

However, before presenting the list, it is worth quoting Edward R. Murrow. On March 9, 1954, Murrow summed up the legacy of Senator Joseph McCarthy:

His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind ... We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason.

Our New McCarthyists:

Fox News & Its Friends
As America embraces a message of hope and change in response to financial crisis and massive job losses, Fox News turns to fear and smear. Rush Limbaugh lays out the New McCarthyism on the Sean Hannity Show, saying: "I want [our President] to fail, if his agenda is a far-left collectivism, some people say socialism, as a conservative and heartfelt, why would I want socialism to succeed?" Fox News reporters and their guests take up the cause, smearing anything and anyone who even vaguely embraces a message of hope and change.

Main Fox News New McCarthyists and their Friends:
Glenn Beck
Rush Limbaugh
Ann Coulter
Jon Voight
Lou Dobbs
Sean Hannity

Republican National Committee (RNC):
After a massive failure at the polls, the Republican National Committee turns to hate-mongering and mounts a smear campaign to drum up a new base. Pursuant to RNC Rule 8(b), sixteen ring-leaders associate our president with "socialism," "socialist ideals," the "Soviet Union," and the "evil empire." The RNC responds with little decency, passing: "RNC Resolution Recognizing the Democrats' March Toward Socialism."

Main RNC New-McCarthyists:
Jeff Kent, NCM Washington State
Cathie Adams, NCW TX
Jim Bopp, NCM IN
Donna Cain, NCW OR
De Carlson, NCW NE
Gio Cicione, Chaiman RI
Cindy Costa, NCW SC
Demetra Demonte, NCW IL
Linda Herren, NCW GA
Betti Hill, NCW MT
Ron Kaufman, NCM MA
Peggy Lambert, NCW TN
Willies Lee, Chairman HI
Kim Lehman, NCW IA
Carolyn McLarty, NCW OK
Lilly Nunez, NCW CO
David Norcross, NCM NJ
Randy Pullen, Chairman AZ
Peter Ricketts, NCM NE
Steve Scheffler, NCM IA
Brian Sullivan, NCM MN
Helen Van Etten, NCW KS
Solomon Yue, NCM OR

Balfour Beatty / Laz Parking (VINCI)
The United Kingdom recently named Balfour Beatty and LAZ Parking Company's parent, Vinci, as having funded a secret 15-year long blacklisting operation. A massive database with notes about specific workers such as "Communist party," "a sleeper and should be watched," and "Do not Touch!" was kept by an alum of a major McCarthy Era council. Through ill-conceived privatization contracts, our American public works have been given over to these firms in many states.

New Corporate McCarthyists:
Balfour Beatty
Vinci (LAZ Parking's Senior Controlling Partner)

Projects on New McCarthyist Privatization Watch:
1. The Alameda Corridor (CA)
2. Metro Goldline (CA)
3. Chicago Parking Meters (IL)
4. North Antelope Rochelle Mine (WY)
5. Alfred Cunningham Bridge (NC)
6. Dulles Airport Expansion (VA)
7. Dorchester Tunnel (MA)
8. Highway 130 (TX)
9. City of Norwalk Parking Authority (CT)

Comments

[jdhaskell]

Part Two of Comment:

Nowadays though, the radical right is anti-middl­e-of-the-r­oad liberalism. We are witnessing the rise of hate speach that attempts to dehumanize central party-dems as 'terrorists', claims that dem politicians are plotting to kill your grandparents, that liberals are corrupting your children, that liberal values are destroying your culture, and so on... It seems to me that this is outright fasicistic, and the beginning of a truly scary, but robust segment of the population, that is largely racist, willing to use violence and own weapons, have not travelled much or higher university education, and so on...

It gets even worse, because it seems that the dem politicians are often spineless, or simply too entrenched in a particular culture and set of bureaucratic principles to actually engage - or maybe its just that what is understand among cultural elite is not easily communicated to the population, but I just don't believe that. So what do we do as people who do not want violence, who are often busy in our own lives, but who believe that there is an increasingly clear and present need to fight against this form of hate from the right?

[frankcaprafan]

I share your concern--deeply. to answer your question, my guess is that we continue to do what we did during the 2006 and 2008 elections: get on the phone, and knock on doors, and invest a little cash. Simply put, I think that the answer to how to battle these corrosive forces lies in one word--citizenship.

I would even say that as the level of our citizenship rises, the importance of money (and demagogy) in elections decreases, as they become more about facts and ideas. Pie in the sky perhaps, but I believe this relationship to be there.

[jdhaskell]

Part One of Comment:

It really feels as if we are witnessing the rise of an almost neo-fascistic party. Max Blumenthal just put out a compelling book, Republican Gamorrah, that chronicles the rise of the radical right wing from its origins in the Christian fundamentalist movement in the early 20th century. It's interesting that Prof. Likosky links the radical right to McCarthyism, I didn't make that connection, but it definitely feels like the radical right is fueled by a rhetoric of fear, and is adopting similar tactics - trying to search out, expose and destroy the unseen enemy from within. It would be interesting if anyone could point to some research that draws parallels, and maybe gives ideas / strategies for how to get out of the current direction we are going. Any ideas?

The one thing that feels different to me is that the threat of 'communism' was largely manufactured, but at least there really was a Soviet Union, and there really was an ideology called communism. You might like it or not like it, but full-on communism - at least in theory - was opposed to American-style capitalism. So, while the McCarthyists degraded the moral culture and political capital of America, at least they weren't delusional that there was such a thing as communists, and so on.