Capitol Hill Blue: The Ghost of Joe McCarthy

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Mon, 10 Oct 2005 14:36:28 -0400

CHB: The Ghost of Joe McCarthy

 

 

 

 

Greetings, all!

From Capitol Hill Blue, an Editor's Rant about the fundamentalist at

1600

Pennsylvania Avenue, such as he is...

Dave

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The Ghost of Joe McCarthy

By DOUG THOMPSON

Oct 10, 2005, 06:15

 

 

 

 

A new film by actor/director/political activist George Clooney

resurrects a dark

period of American history - and provides a much needed civics lesson

for today.

 

Goodnight and Good Luck chronicles the historic, and heroic, stand of

CBS

newsman Edward R. Murrow against right-wing demagogue Sen. Joseph

McCarthy and

his Constitution-threatening witch hunt of the 1950s.

 

The film is a warning about what can happen when fear and paranoia rule

our

government. But it is a warning already being ignored by a government

dominated

by the same right-wing extremism that allowed a egomaniacal drunk like

McCarthy

to drive a deep wedge into this country.

 

Sadly, little difference exists between McCarthy and the conservative

fruitcakes

who control our government today. McCarthy used paranoia about

communism to

drive his agenda. George W. Bush and the right-wing cabal that controls

the

House and Senate use paranoia over terrorism for the same purposes.

 

McCarthy shredded the Constitution with his abuse of Congressional

subpoena

power and contempt for individual rights and freedom of speech. The

Bush White

House and the Republican-controlled Congress hold the same contempt for

freedom

of speech and rights supposedly guaranteed by the Constitution.

 

McCarthy claimed his narrow view of the world was the only acceptable

view and

any opposing views were unpatriotic and un-American. Sound familiar? It

should.

We've heard the same claims from the current occupant of the White

House and the

hard-core elements of Congress.

 

Murrow, and legendary producer Fred Friendly, decided McCarthy's threat

to the

American way of life had to be stopped and stood up to their own

network and

threats from McCarthy to expose the Senator for what he was - a vile,

extremist

ideologue who posed a far greater threat to America than the so-called

" Red

Scare. "

 

Unfortunately, we have not learned from the lessons of history and the

same

threat exists today. That threat comes not from an Islam-spouting

religious

extremist with a suicide bomb but from a " God talked to me " extremist

at 1600

Pennsylvania Avenue with a time bomb of right-wing views.

 

George W. Bush and his extremist cronies in the House and Senate pose a

far

greater threat to our freedoms than any madman in a turban. Osama bin

Laden

doesn't have to send any more fanatics to hijack planes as long as Bush

and

Congress are willing to destroy the foundations of this country with

the

rights-robbing USA Patriot Act and fuel fear of terrorism with

over-hyped alerts

and lies-based wars.

 

A fundamentalist Christian President who claims God told him to invade

Iraq - an

act that killed more than 150,000 civilians, mostly women and children

- is not

that much different from a fundamentalist Islamic fanatic who claims it

is the

will of Allah that he send young men to America to crash airliners into

office

buildings and kill 3,000 plus.

 

Both are extremists. Both are fanatics. Both use religion as an excuse

to kill

people. The only real difference is that one has heavy artillery and

can kill a

lot more innocent people with his extremism.

 

Joseph R. McCarthy would have been so proud of George W. Bush.

 

 

© Copyright 2005 by Capitol Hill Blue

 

 

 

 

 

 

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