Those of us over 75 remember, personally and painfully, the scourge of McCarthyism. Today's woke-ism with its radical socialist movement brings it all back. Joe McCarthy seems to have returned, and he's smiling. Hopefully, not for long.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S.A. was consumed with the "Red Menace." Russian spies were everywhere: government, schools, media, and entertainment. With convicted communist agents like Alger Hiss, Klaus Fuchs, and the Rosenbergs fresh in public minds, people had to swear "loyalty oaths." HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) was created during World War II to root out subversives. In the 1950s, with "Tail-gunner" Joe McCarthy, U.S. Representative and later Senator from Minnesota, dominated the scene. HUAC investigations were reminiscent of the Salem witch trials of 1692, and more recent show trials in the U.S.S.R.
McCarthyism was characterized by fear mongering, political repression, and persecution of political enemies. Solid evidence, evidence of any kind, was not necessary. Merely being denounced - hearsay evidence - was enough to convict. Thousands of people lost their jobs and became unemployable, labeled as communist agents or at least supporters.
Sounds strikingly similar to the U.S.A. today.
The U.S.A. seems focused on a new "menace:" systemic racism. The media and schools preach woke-ism, socialist ideals, and a rabidly racist ideology called critical race theory (CRT), derived from Marxist class-struggle doctrine. The deaths of George Floyd and Trayvon Martin are touted as proof that all policemen are racist and sparked the "Defund the Police" movement.
McCarthyism has returned as social media censorship and self-styled news outlets convicting and sentencing individuals who oppose Washington narratives and mandates such as teaching CRT
Just as in McCarthy's day, people are now being fired for failing to bow down to Washington: military personnel, teachers, healthcare workers, first responders, and truck drivers (during a supply-chain collapse!) to name a few.
Americans today are once again beset with a campaign of "fear mongering [viz., CoViD-19], political repression, and persecution of political enemies."
Our laws are applied unequally just as with HUAC. The January 6 panel jails people based on innuendo without evidence and denies them habeas corpus. Amendments IV through VI of the Bill of Rights are ignored by our own DOJ. Meanwhile, there are no reports of trials or even FBI investigations into the BLM and Antifa riots of summer 2020. The deaths of Ashli Babbitt and David Dorn go unanswered, while George Floyd and Trayvon Martin killings are front-page news and quickly resolved.
In the McCarthy era, it was government employees, Hollywood celebrities, academics, and leftist politicians who were prosecuted. Yesteryear's persecuted are today's prosecutors. They attack conservatives and anyone who questions official narratives, particularly those who rebel against Washington mandates, such as those who reject mRNA gene therapy or oppose Dr. Fauci's orders to vaccinate our children. .
McCarthyism was eventually defeated by two forces. First, there was an objective, apolitical fourth estate represented by an unafraid, politically incorrect journalist named Edward R. Morrow. Second, there was a non-partisan Supreme Court that restored our civil rights and political freedoms by overturning McCarthy-generated laws and directives.
Today, the objective fourth estate is gone, replaced by partisan media that repeats whatever progressive Democrats say, without verification or objective analysis. McCarthy has returned in the persons of Merrick Garland, Stacy Abrams, and Ilhan Omar; as well as CNN, NPR, NBC news, New York Times, or Washington Post.
Our last resort is the judicial system. However, the DOJ has morphed into a defender of Democrats and destroyer of Republicans. They repeatedly investigate Rudy Giuliani and President Trump while giving a pass to Hunter Biden and then-Vice President Biden's quid pro quo with the Ukraine.
The court system may yet protect us. Twenty-nine state legislatures are considering or have already passed laws banning mandates to teach CRT in public schools. CRT is the antithesis the equality enshrouded in our civil rights laws and perfectly expressed in Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech.
There is a ray of hope, coming from the "deplorables." Average Americans are increasingly asserting their freedom and rejecting progressive Democrat McCarthy-esque authoritarianism with their feet, their dollars, their voices, and their fingers.
Between 2010 and 2019, four million residents have left Democrat-controlled states - California, New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Illinois - moving to freedom-focused, Republican-controlled states such as Florida, Tennessee, and Texas.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
