Palin's Red Menace (Is Palinism the new McCarthyism?)

Washington comPost ^ | 8/18/2009 | Richard Cohen

[SeekAndFind]

Try this on for size: Palinism. What is it? It is an updated version of McCarthyism, which takes its name from the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin liar, demagogue and drunk, and means, according to Wikipedia, "reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, as well as demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries." As far as we know, Sarah Palin is not a drunk.

But she certainly shares McCarthy's other attributes -- and this one as well: the ability to drive the debate. In McCarthy's day, it was anti-communism coupled with national security, and it hardly mattered that he frequently did not have his facts straight. He got huge amounts of attention anyway.

With Palin, the subject is health care, which in many ways is the Red Menace of our day and lends itself to a kind of political pornography. For sheer disregard of the facts, her statement about President Obama's "death panel" has to rank with McCarthy's announcement that "I have here in my hand a list of 205" (or 57 or 72 or whatever) names of communists in the State Department. They were both false -- McCarthy's by commission, Palin's probably by omission. She rarely knows her facts.

The most depressing aspects of McCarthy's career were not just the excesses of the man himself but the refusal of others -- mainly his fellow Republicans -- to either rein him in or defend his victims. Now we are seeing something similar with Palin. Say what you will about any of the health-care proposals, not one of them suggests a "death panel" empowered to withhold medical services from the aged or those with disabilities. To suggest that one exists is reprehensible. To state it outright is either boldly demagogic or just plain loopy.

[Thommas]

In McCarthy's day, ..it hardly mattered that he frequently did not have his facts straight.

Hey Richard Cohen, which "facts" did Senator McCarthy display that were askew? As I recall from the history of this era, all Tailgunner Joe did was question why card carrying communists, already outed as employees of the Federal Government, were still employed by Uncle Sam.

[itsahoot]

More McCarthy paranoia

Never mind that Russian KGB documents proved Joe was right.

[Pagey]

BTTT!

[stephenjohnbanker]

The actor Robert Mitchum defended McCarthy. He said” It’s real hard to defend a bunch of Hollywood writers making 50,000 a year in the 40’s and 50’s sneaking around to Communist meetings. I wanted to punch em in the mouth”

[upcountryhorseman]

This is entirely wrong! First of all, McCarthy was right: have you heard of The Vernona Papers? Papers discovered in the Kremlin after The Soviet Union collapsed, prove him to be right.

[Miss Marple]

For all the talk of Nazis, Stalinism is really what we’re up against. You hit the nail on the head.

[dalereed]

McCarthy was right and a national hero!