[Sen. Joseph] McCarthy experienced a meteoric rise in national profile on February 9, 1950, when he gave a Lincoln Day speech to the Republican Women's Club of Wheeling, West Virginia. His words in the speech are a matter of some debate, as no audio recording was saved. However, it is generally agreed that he produced a piece of paper that he claimed contained a list of known Communists working for the State Department. McCarthy is usually quoted to have said: "The State Department is infested with communists. I have here in my hand a list of 205 -- a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department."
Some people trace the birth of the modern right back to Barry Goldwater's loss in 1964. But I put it here, in Wheeling, West Virginia, 1950. Demagogic, fearmongering, and authoritarian, Joe McCarthy was the template for the modern conservative. Goldwater just came along later and filled in the details.
So it shouldn't surprise us to learn that McCarthy's politics rise from his grave from time to time. McCarthyism has become the fallback position for many Republicans. We saw it in Sarah Palin, with her accusations of terrorism aimed at Barack Obama. We saw it in Michele Bachmann, who once called for a media investigation of liberals' "anti-American views." We saw it after 9/11, when then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer warned "all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do" -- because Bill Maher told a joke the White House didn't like.
And now we have this:
The Hill:Republican members of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus said the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) have tried to plant "spies" within key national-security committees in order to shape legislative policy.
Reps. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.), John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), citing the book Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that's Conspiring to Islamize America, called for the House sergeant at arms to investigate whether CAIR had been successful in placing interns on key panels. The lawmakers are specifically focused on the House Homeland Security Committee, Intelligence Committee and Judiciary Committee.
"If an organization is connected to or supports terrorists [and] is running influence operations or planting spies in key national security-related offices, I think this needs to be made known," said Broun, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee. "So I join my colleagues here today in calling for action."...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]
