Red Scare

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!

Trump-Putin Summit Clear Indication Of Treason, And Danger To Pursuit Of The Entire Truth Of The 2016 Presidential Election

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Watching the Trump-Putin Summit Press Conference in Helsinki, Finland, brings confirmation that the 45th President of the United States has committed, and continues to commit treason, favoring the Russian Federation over the national security interests of the United States.

Putin won just by the fact that Trump agreed to meet him, with Russia having a weak economy and suffering from economic sanctions put upon his nation by the international community after the invasion of the Crimean area of Ukraine in 2014.

Putin leads a country which has a very small Gross National Product, and has nuclear weapons that are a fraction of what the United States has, and yet Trump makes “friends” and “trusts” Putin, while denouncing Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, and Justin Trudeau.

Trump calls the European Union our “foe”, and has set out to destroy the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and continues to denounce the Robert Mueller investigation of Russian collusion in the Presidential Election of 2016.

Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and even Red Scare demagogue Senator Joseph McCarthy are rolling over in their graves.

If any member of the Trump Administration cares more for his nation than his job, he or she should resign enmasse now, or be seen as complicit in “high crimes and misdemeanors”, specifically treason.

Vice President Mike Pence should confer with the Cabinet Officers, and invoke the 25th Amendment Section 4 immediately, or be also declared a traitor to America, with the only way to save his reputation being showing leadership in this greatest moment of threat to our Republic since the Civil War.

For Trump to decide to trust Putin over the national security, diplomatic, and intelligence community is a total outrage. Putin and his team are rejoicing how they have managed to compromise and manipulate a man who should never have been President in the first place, and only won due to Russian collusion.

Putin is responsible for downing of passenger jets; murdering journalists; poisoning and assassinating people in their homes on foreign soil; killing with radiation and military grade nerve agents; and sponsoring far right white supremacist groups on two continents.

It is time for mass marches all over the nation every weekend demanding the resignation, or arrest of the traitor in the White House, no better than Benedict Arnold in the American Revolution, as he has undermined our nation’s defenses against future manipulation of our democracy by Russia, which is sure to happen again.

And the Mueller investigation MUST continue unimpeded, or else the Constitution and Bill of Rights are in shreds! Thirty five indictments, six guilty pleas (including the National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and the Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort), and one conviction are just the tip of the iceberg!

If the American people do not come out in droves and kick the Republicans out of control of Congress, then the American people will deserve what they get, a move toward a Fascist, totalitarian government manipulated by Vladimir Putin!

The President of the United States is supposed to make sure that the laws are faithfully executed, and promote the rule of law. Donald Trump has totally failed at this responsibility in favor of being a “friend” of a Russian oligarch. He needs to be brought to justice, and sentenced to life in prison for his crimes—-Russian collusion, obstruction of justice, abuse of power, violation of the Emoluments Clause, and crimes by his cabinet officers, the most egregious of any President in American history!

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.

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.

The Republican Party, Donald Trump, And Russia: Ronald Reagan Is Turning Over In His Grave!

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The Republican Party is now faced with an incoming President who is cozy with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and whose National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson, are also too close to the Russian dictator.

To have much of the Republican Party willing to accept this without complaint is an outrage, and a danger to national security.

Thank goodness for such Republicans as John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Marco Rubio for making clear they plan to put the feet of Rex Tillerson to the fire, and somehow, Michael Flynn, who also believes in conspiracy theories, but does not require Senate confirmation, must be prevented from serving Donald Trump in the White House, where his deleterious impact could be of great harm, outweighing that of Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Ronald Reagan would be turning over in his grave, as Barack Obama said, if he knew what has happened, and so would Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and other dead Republicans, who made their careers on anti Soviet stands in the Cold War, including 1964 Republican Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater.

Yes, the Cold War is supposedly over, and Communism is gone, but is this true? Putin, after all, was part of the Soviet KGB Secret Police, and has blood on his hands, and has gained possibly the largest personal fortune of any human being on earth

We must deal with Russia, but to be naive about it, and give in to flattery, as Donald Trump has done and is doing, is alarming and dangerous to the national security of this nation.

Imagine the infamous Joseph McCarthy, the Red Scare villain of the 1950s, and how he would react to the craziness and lunacy of American foreign policy under a reckless, dangerous, unhinged Donald Trump!

What Would Joseph McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan Say About Donald Trump And Russia?

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Joseph McCarthy, the infamous “witch hunter” of Communism and the Red Scare of the 1950s, saw Russia as the enemy and had no tolerance for anyone who showed anything other than antagonism toward the Soviet Union.

But Donald Trump acts as if Russia under Vladimir Putin, formerly in the Soviet Secret Police, the KGB, is somehow just a strong man who is “popular” in his country, and seems to admire him.

Even one who is a harsh critic of McCarthy and his demagoguery, including this blogger, somehow knows that the Wisconsin Senator would be leading the charge against Donald Trump if he were alive today.

But the same could be said of Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, both who dealt with the Soviet Union and Communism, but had no illusions about the Russian leadership.

It is astounding how many Republicans, of a party that made Communism and Russia the biggest villain for decades, now sit back and accept Donald Trump’s “bromance’ with Putin.

It is not that America should not deal with Putin, but rather that America’s leadership understand his tactics and purposes, and not be living in an illusion as to the history and culture surrounding Russia and its leader.

Such illusions could lead to total disaster in international affairs!

Donald Trump’s Connection To Senator Joseph McCarthy, Roy Cohn, And The Red Scare Of The 1950s

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Donald Trump has a connection to Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, the horrific Red Scare demagogue of the early 1950s.

McCarthy made his career on assaulting the reputation of anyone who dared criticize him his witch hunt for Communists, in the government, and outside the government.

McCarthy had no common decency, no sense of propriety, and yet drew millions of supporters to his hateful rhetoric and actions.

And McCarthy had, as his chief henchman, a young, totally unprincipled lawyer named Roy Cohn, who was a total hypocrite in everything he did and said.

He was Jewish and promoted anti semitism with his attacks on Jews who were leftist in their beliefs, but not engaged in espionage.

Cohn was also gay, but would never admit it, even when he was dying of AIDS, and ruined many people’s lives with promotion of accusations against the character of critics, some of whom were gay.

Cohn was also an adviser to Trump, as he built up his real estate empire, and helped to groom him to be the egotistical demagogue that he has become.

Trump is following Cohn in spirit, by his attacks on Mexicans and Muslims, and his demonizing of all critics, including the parents of a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq in 2004.

Trump has no scruples, ethics, or morals, just like Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn.

Wisconsin Political History: Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde!

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The state of Wisconsin, the cheese and dairy state, has had a distinguished history in many respects.

It was the base of the great Mr. Progressive, Governor and Senator Robert La Follette, Sr, who also was the Progressive Party nominee for President in 1924, and had the third best percentage of the vote of any third party nominee in history, with one out of every six voters backing him.

It was the state of his son, Senator Robert La Follette, Jr, and also of his second son, Governor Philip La Follette, both leading Progressives in the 1930s.

It was the state of Senator Gaylord Nelson,  Senator Herb Kohl, Senator William Proxmire, and Senator Russ Feingold, the latter now seeking to regain his Senate seat that he lost to Ron Johnson in 2010, with these two men running against each other again in 2016.  It was also the state of Governor Patrick Lucey and Gaylord Nelson, before the latter became a Senator.

It is the state of Senator Tammy Baldwin, the first lesbian US Senator.

However, it was also the state of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the infamous Red Scare leader in the 1950s.

It is also the state of the disgraceful Governor Scott Walker; Senator Ron Johnson; and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, all very willing to work against the interests of the middle class and the poor.

How a state with a progressive tradition can often “go off the rails” is hard to understand.

But the progressive-liberal tradition remains a significant part of the Wisconsin historical story!

Now it is becoming the center of attention again, after Scott Walker endorsed Ted Cruz in the Republican primary to be held next week, with Cruz leading Donald Trump in polls; and Bernie Sanders leading Hillary Clinton in polls for the Democrats.

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!

Huey Long, Joseph McCarthy, George Wallace, Donald Trump—The Art Of Demagoguery!

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It is now clear that we have in our midst a true demagogue—a person who appeals to the insecurity and disillusionment of many Americans about the direction of their nation in domestic and foreign policy.

We have had this before, and it always ends in disaster and loss of reputation, without accomplishing anything beneficial in the short run or the long run.

We had Senator Huey Long of Louisiana in the early 1930s, who gained a following of millions, talked about “Every Man A King” in the midst of the Great Depression. He ended up being assassinated in 1935 while seeking the Presidency. This is covered in Chapter 7 of my forthcoming book, “Assassinations, Threats, and the American Presidency: From Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama”, from Rowman Littlefield, to be published and available on August 15.

We had Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin in the early 1950s, when there was the ongoing Cold War with the Soviet Union, exploited as an issue, causing the destruction of the lives and reputations of millions of Americans without any justification. It ended up with the collapse and repudiation of the Red Scare, and the early death of McCarthy from alcoholism.

We had Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who divided the nation over racial integration and civil rights, and won five states in the Electoral College in the Presidential Election of 1968, and then was shot and paralyzed for life during the Presidential Election campaign of 1972. This tragedy, ironically, led to a reformed Wallace who changed his view on civil rights as a result of his own handicapped condition as a result of the assassination attempt. I cover this in Chapter 11 of my forthcoming book on August 15, which I have listed the title and publisher two paragraphs above this one.

Now we have Donald Trump, who is promoting racism and nativism, and since he is super wealthy, his ability to influence the public view is, in many ways, more dangerous than any of the above demagogues.

Just as with the others, Trump will fail in the long run, but will be very dangerous in the short run. Let us hope that his demise will not be brought about in the fashion that occurred for Huey Long and George Wallace! We wish him good health and long life, but want him out of the political fray, because he has nothing positive to offer America, just negativism and division!