McCarthyism

The Republican Party Has Largely Gone Pro Russian, Complete Reversal Of History Since Joseph McCarthy!

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In the Cold War years from 1945-1991, the Republican Party stood out for being anti Soviet Union, and for good reason, as that nation represented a threat to American national security and the stability of Europe, and a threat through their association with Fidel Castro’s Cuba.

The Republican Party also was captive to McCarthyism—the Red Scare of the 1950s under Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin—labeling liberals and progressives as if they were Communists allied with the Soviet Union. In that regard, they were reprehensible!

But who could imagine that Republicans who were once anti Communist, and also McCarthyites who ruined people’s lives with accusations that were unfounded, would over the 75 years since World War II, suddenly in large numbers become apologists for the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin?

Who would think they would sit back and allow Donald Trump to flirt with Putin, including helping him win a false election through Russian interference in 2016?

Who would think Fox News Channel and its anchors, including Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, and others, would give support to Putin and Russia as they threaten Ukraine and the stability of Europe in the present international crisis, which can be regarded as the greatest threat to world peace since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962?

Kevin McCarthy Demonstrates Why He Should Be Removed From Congress!

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From Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s to Kevin McCarthy in the 2020s!

The Republican Party has gone from the destructive “McCarthyism” of seventy years ago to the destructive Trumpism of the 2020s, and in both cases, a McCarthy is the villain!

They are not related in any way, other than being despicable power grabbers who have no principles other than self aggrandizement!

McCarthy wants desperately to be Speaker of the House, and everything must be done to prevent that from happening in the midterm 2022 elections!

McCarthy should be summarily removed from House Republican leadership, and should be removed from Congress for his treason and sedition on January 6, and his sycophancy toward Donald Trump, when he knows that Trump is evil and a danger to American democracy!

McCarthy has condemned himself in history, and will be seen as a promoter of Fascist tyranny in history!

He should never have a restful sleep ever again for the damage he has done, and absolutely no conscience or common decency!

Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson Emerges As Unapologetically Racist, A Variation Of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy Sixty Years Ago!

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Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson defeated the superb Senator Russ Feingold for his Senate seat in 2010 and 2016, a shocking state of affairs!

Johnson has embarrassed himself and his state with his outrageous racist and moronic utterances over the past ten years, but now he has gone beyond the pale in trying to claim that the January 6 Capitol Insurrection was really not so, even though five people died, and many Capitol Police were badly injured, in the process of the destruction and desecration in that building, the first time since the War of 1812!

And Johnson defends the white supremacists and racists who stormed the building, and says he would be more worried if Black Lives Matter demonstrators and Antifa, both promoting social justice and opposing Trump Fascism, had been involved in the attack.

Hopefully, Johnson will not run for reelection, but if he does, the motivation must be to remove from the Senate, as he is a total disgrace.

It reminds one of the similar tragedy of anti Communist “witch hunter” Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin defeating the great progressive Republican Senator Robert La Follette Jr, for his Senate seat in 1946, and then unleashing the disgraceful Red Scare, known as McCarthyism from 1950-1954.

And McCarthy’s chief aide, the infamous Roy Cohn, ended up later as an advisor to businessman Donald Trump, so the curse of Roy Cohn stretched from Joseph McCarthy, a true demagogic Fascist, to Donald Trump, another true demagogic Fascist!

19 Months In The Presidency: Don McGahn And John Dean; Roy Cohn, Joseph McCarthy And Trump Charges Of “McCarthyism”–History Revived!

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Today marks 19 months in the Presidency of Donald Trump.

We are hearing about comparisons between Don McGahn and John Dean of Watergate fame.

We are also hearing Donald Trump compare the Robert Mueller investigation to Joseph McCarthy, forgetting that his own Mentor in behavior was the despicable, corrupt attorney Roy Cohn, who collaborated with McCarthy in the true “witch hunt” of the 1950s, which only ended after five years, and the destruction of the reputation of many decent people who worked for the government and in Hollywood and the news media.

Trump demonstrates his total ignorance of history, and the irony of comparing McCarthyism with Mueller, when Mueller has been totally silent, and has avoided any demagoguery utilized by both McCarthy more than sixty years ago, and by Donald Trump now.

The revelation of the Don McGahn interviews with Robert Mueller brings us closer to the time when Donald Trump will finally be held accountable for his crimes and illegalities.

The clock is ticking, and Karma is on its way!

The Odyssey Of Donald Trump: From Roy Cohn To Michael Cohen, 1973-2018

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Donald Trump first became a public figure in 1973 when he defended his father’s discrimination against African American tenants in his real estate projects in Queens County, New York. He utilized infamous attorney Roy Cohn, who had been the major figure assisting the despicable Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy in his tirade against those in government and academia, who he labeled as being Communists, “Reds”, a danger to the American people, all part of his “Red Scare”, also known as “McCarthyism”.

Cohn well knew the falsehoods of Joseph McCarthy, but he played “hardball”, while living a very corrupt life long after McCarthy had fallen from power, and died in 1957.

Cohn connected with Organized Crime interests and led a lascivious lifestyle, including being openly gay, while denying and condemning gays and lesbians, a true hypocrite, and at the end, he died of the effects of AIDS.

But he became after 1973 an adviser to young Trump, and Trump has said that Cohn was a shaping force in his life.

And now, Donald Trump has been very close to his attorney, Michael Cohen, who has done all kinds of “good deeds” for him, including dealing with Trump’s love life scandals, and after the raid on his home, hotel room and offices, apparently was enmeshed in scandalous activities that may help to bring Donald Trump down, and cause Cohen to face prison time.

So Donald Trump’s odyssey has been to go from the disgraced Roy Cohn to the newly disgraced Michael Cohen over 45 years. The present situation may lead to the removal of Donald Trump from office, and even with potential pardons in the offing, Trump and Cohen and others, in regards to their business and love life dealings, may still be prosecuted in New York State, and would not be covered by the pardon power of the Presidency.

Harry Truman And Gerald Ford Share Death Date Of December 26 in 1972 And 2006

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The day after Christmas is a day shared by two Presidents in death.

The 33rd President, Harry Truman, died on this day in 1972.

The 38th President, Gerald Ford. died on this day in 2006.

These two Presidents, the first a Democrat, the second a Republican, shared many common traits.

Both were from the Midwest–Truman from Missouri, and Ford from Hichigan.

Both faced challenging times and issues–Truman with the end of World War II; the Atomic Bomb issue; the Berlin Blockade and Airlift; the Korean War;-McCarthyism;–and Ford with the pardoning of Richard Nixon; the final end of the Vietnam War; the Mayaguez Affair with Cambodia; the two assassination attempts 17 days apart in September 1975; and the challenge of Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Both faced public opinion polls that made their governing difficult, with Truman surprising everyone with his upset victory over Thomas E. Dewey in 1948; and Ford almost winning a full term in 1976, and only losing because of close vote returns in Ohio and Hawaii.

Both had no desire to be President, and had not sought it, with both succeeding to the Presidency when Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945, and Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.

Both died at advanced ages, with Truman seven and a half months past the age of 88; and Ford five and a half months past 93, and the longest lived President until George H. W. Bush passed his age on November 25, a month ago, and also to be surpassed by Jimmy Carter on March 16, 2018.

Both Presidents have gained in stature in death and in retrospect, although Truman is in the top ten Presidents of all time, usually around number five or six in most scholarly polls, while Ford is in the mid to high 20s as an average President.

But both came along, unexpectedly, and performed their responsibilities in an admirable way, and have gained respect that both might not have imagined in their lifetimes.

152nd Anniversary Of “The Nation” Magazine, The Oldest Weekly Publication In America!

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Yesterday, July 6th, was the 152nd Anniversary of “The Nation” Magazine, the oldest weekly publication in America!

Started right after the Civil War’s end in 1865, “The Nation” has always been hard hitting, principled and honest!

It has held to liberal values more than any similar publication, never diverting from it in any fashion.

It has often been attacked and vilified but has always stood proud for its beliefs in equality, justice, freedom, and against right wing extremism from wherever it has emerged.

Many brilliant scholars and authors have penned essays for “The Nation”, and has helped to make it one of the great examples of literary excellence over a century and a half of American history.

It has never had a great amount of financial support, but has somehow survived through difficult times, including the Red Scare in 1919-1920 under Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer (Woodrow Wilson), and the Second Red Scare of the late 1940s and early 1950s, generally known as McCarthyism, but much more than just one Wisconsin Republican Senator who was allowed to go berserk from 1950-1954.

“The Nation” is leading the charge against Donald Trump, and is part of the great journalistic tradition of challenging government authority, when it aims to take away our civil liberties and civil rights.

Censorship Beginning In Trump Era: Promotion Of Mistrust Of News Media, College Professors, Entertainment Industry As The New McCarthyism!

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It is becoming clear that Donald Trump intends to declare war on the news media, calling them dishonest and out to promote propaganda, while it is precisely Trump and his “Alt Right” White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor Stephen Bannon, formerly of Breitbart News, which is working to establish mistrust among the American people toward their own media that dares to challenge and investigate the many shortcomings of Donald Trump and his cabinet appointees, and his future policies in domestic and foreign affairs.

Additionally, a plan to list college professors who are felt to promote a leftist agenda, a reminder of McCarthyism in the 1950s, has been started by a group termed “Turning Point USA” under the name “Professor Watch List”, to intimidate professors from having freedom of speech in their classrooms. So academic “witch hunts” are back, in order to advocate a right wing educational system.

And the usual attack on liberals in Hollywood and the broad field of entertainment, is also clearly beginning, as censorship and attacks on civil liberties and civil rights groups are being encouraged, to attempt a total crackdown on dissent.

The ultimate goal is to sow distrust and doubt in the fields of journalism, education including universities and colleges, and the entertainment industry, including criticism of the humor of “Saturday Night Live” and other programs on cable, television, and radio, as well as film.

All this is advocated as part of the “fake news” which helped to undermine the Hillary Clinton campaign for President in 2016.

With an authoritarian oriented President coming to office, many elements of our basic freedoms of speech and press, and even assembly, are clearly under attack.

February 9, 1950 And Now: The Ugly “Red Scare” Revived!

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On this day in 1950, Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph R. McCarthy came to notice when he accused the Truman Administration of being “soft on Communism”.    This  began a nearly five year rampage of accusations against government officials, college professors, journalists, actors, and many ordinary citizens, that they were either “pinkos” or were actually Communists who had undermined the nation in favor of the interests of the Soviet Union and Communism.

Many politicians and others joined the crowd of attacks, and many others in and out of government were terrified, and kept silent, as people’s lives were ruined.  This had begun even before McCarthy became infamous, and the film TRUMBO well portrays what happened to Hollywood writers in the later 1940s, and the role of actor John Wayne, actor Ronald Reagan, and Congressman Richard Nixon, among others, in that “witch hunt”.

This is a day to recall, because it is clear that we are witnessing the beginning of attacks on Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a democratic Socialist, who just became a member of the Democratic Party this past year, and is now, contending for the Democratic Presidential nomination seriously. Bernie Sanders is no danger in any sense, but he is now facing vicious attacks beginning, and they will not stop as long as he has a serious chance to be the Democratic Presidential nominee in 2016.

Donald Trump has called Sanders a “Communist”, and if Sanders becomes more of a serious contender beyond his expected win in New Hampshire, then we will see a slew of such attacks by Republicans and the right wing, making Sanders out to be Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Ho Chi Minh, and Fidel Castro, all wrapped in a 74 years old Senator, who is the longest serving Independent in all of American history!

This is very disturbing, and all good people MUST, whether they support or oppose Bernie Sanders, fight against a new “McCarthyism”, as to have a new period of a Red Scare is simply intolerable, and it must be exposed for the evil that it is!

“Sixth Year” Syndrome Of The Presidency From Truman To Obama

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Presidents who have won a second term in the White House typically have what could be called the “Sixth Year” Syndrome, meaning it is a downturn in their fortunes, just one year after winning reelection.

Such was Harry Truman, facing the Korean War and the rise of McCarthyism in his sixth year in office.

Such was the case with Dwight D. Eisenhower, who saw a recession undermine his popularity in 1958 in his sixth year.

Such was the case with Richard Nixon, who was facing impeachment in his sixth year in office, due to the Watergate scandal, and ended up resigning in his sixth year in office.

Such was the case with Ronald Reagan, who was facing the Iran Contra scandal revelations in his sixth year.

Such was the case with Bill Clinton, who had to deal with the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the move toward impeachment in his sixth year in office.

Such was George W. Bush, facing two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that were not going well in his sixth year, and coming off the disaster of Hurricane Katrina.

So the fact that Barack Obama is perceived as “in the doldrums” in his sixth year in the Presidency is not at all surprising, and in many ways, despite the hype of the news media, he is in better shape than his predecessors were, if one looks at the situation objectively!