TPM
When his detractors talk about Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the one word that seems to come up more than any other is "McCarthyism." The point, of course, is to draw parallels between Cruz's worst habits and those of former Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-Wis.), who led ruthless and baseless witch hunts against his perceived rivals -- while mastering the art of guilt by association -- before being censured by the Senate in 1954, in an effort led by McCarthy's own Republicans colleagues.
Though Cruz is nowhere near McCarthy's level -- give the Texan time, he only joined the Senate last month -- the accusations are not without merit. We saw repeated examples of this during Cruz's campaign against Chuck Hagel's Defense Secretary nomination, which led Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to recently note, "It was really reminiscent of a different time and place, when you said, 'I have here in my pocket a speech you made on such and such a date,' and, of course, nothing was in the pocket. It was reminiscent of some bad times."
It was a trick Cruz leaned on repeatedly to question Hagel's loyalty and patriotism, going so far as to suggest, without evidence, the former Republican senator may have received unreported funds from foreign enemies of the United States.
But Jane Mayer reports today that it wasn't too long ago that Cruz delivered a speech at a Fourth of July weekend political rally, sponsored by the Koch brothers' political group, accusing Harvard Law School of harboring secret Communists on its faculty
Cruz greeted the [2010] audience jovially, but soon launched an impassioned attack on President Obama, whom he described as "the most radical" President "ever to occupy the Oval Office." (I was covering the conference and kept the notes.)
He then went on to assert that Obama, who attended Harvard Law School four years ahead of him, "would have made a perfect president of Harvard Law School." The reason, said Cruz, was that, "There were fewer declared Republicans in the faculty when we were there than Communists! There was one Republican. But there were twelve who would say they were Marxists who believed in the Communists overthrowing the United States government."
A Harvard Law spokesperson told Mayer the school is "puzzled" by Cruz's accusations.
Of course, this shouldn't come as too big a surprise. Most Americans look at McCarthy's record as a stain on our political history; Cruz seems to look at McCarthy's record as a how-to guide.
Postscript: Long-time readers may recall that I've been fascinated for several years with the right's willingness to re-embrace Joe McCarthy and his brand of politics.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has endorsed bringing back the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC); Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has said she supports investigations to determine which members of Congress are "pro-America or anti-America"; and in Texas, right-wing activists rewriting the state's curriculum have recommended telling students that McCarthy was a hero, "vindicated" by history.
If I thought they'd appreciate it, I'd gladly chip in to buy copies of "Good Night, and Good Luck" for Cruz and his allies.
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Cruz is another Ben Shapiro, a Harvard Law Graduate who has decided lying leads to wingnut money.
If Cruz continues to base his attacks on "evidence" from sources like Drudge, Breitbart.com, and Wacko Net Daily, it won't take long before he is viewed as little but a national joke. I suggest that we just let him continue to dig the grave into which what little is left of his credibility will ultimately be deposited.
But rumors are legitimate sources of information....
“The word's out that he [Romney] hasn't paid any taxes for 10 years.”
— Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Aug. 2, 2012
That was wrong too Shooter given the lack of evidence. I don't know about others but I thought Reid and Lawrence Odonnel were wrong to attack Romney like that without evidence.
F*** you Pooper242! Your comments are obnoxious. I am really tired of your cr@p.
Seven Days in May is a movie from the the early 60s which reflected on right wing reactionaries. The theory of its creators was that these reactionaries engaged in sedition because they had lost faith in democratic institutions, feeling they had lost agency. They no longer felt they were in control of their fate, feeling impotent in the face of overpowering forces. Then, they feared nuclear explosions. Today, they fear demographic explosions.
Today's white knights ride in with Vaginal probe lances as a way to assuage their feeling of impotence. We remember McCarthy, but probably not the reference to General Walker. The pattern of activities summarized in the WP article is all too familiar to us observing the present day "very emotional, very illogical lunatic fringe".
Attempting to rig elections, undermine democratic institutions and constitutional protections all the while focusing on the tools of armed conflict... these are the elements of the theme of Sedition. Of course, Cruz like the General planning a coup in the Movie felt himself to be a red white and blue uber patriot.
They always do.
I don't see that the GOP finds its way out of this morass any time soon. They have had a several decades running battle with the lunatic fringe, but today there is no William Buckley to police the fringes of conservatism. Then, Buckley used National Review to excise the Birchers and the Randians from the GOP.
Well, like the monster in the B Horror film, the monster springs back to life in endless sequels.
John Messerly,
That is amazing. I must rent that movie!
Where are they getting the idea that Cruz graduated from Harvard Law School? I don't believe he did.
@SadOld - Blankman is a perfect example of how dumbed down and fearfully illogical the right is. Unwilling & unable to accept facts, reality or the fact that those same "old white men" he keeps supporting have done everything in their power to disempower and crush working Americans in their support for their Oligarchical string pullers.
I try to think of it as a type of mental illness - one which he won't seek the help that he needs. Yes, he's obnoxious, knows nothing, and continues to propagate the right wing clap-trap, but maybe one day he too will see the light....
@Shooter242...without lack of evidence, none of these stories should be taken seriously. (I can't believe I actually agree with you for once).
Note: About your avatar...I thought it was the head of a male anole with a dewlap beneath the chin. Lizard-like qualities to be sure. It was only yesterday I discovered what the avatar depicted and hence, your name. Oh well, I still can't shake the anole association.
I'm surprised that you and your keyboard didn't burst into flames before finishing that hypocritical troll statement.
Donna, not only are you a hypocrite, your also racist.
Awww...reallystupid is trying to say something! How cute! What a mean case of projection that you have! Really cute!
Listen up, reallystupid: you are a troll, and a really bad troll at that. I'm talking blanks style of trolling. You and your opinions are not respected on this site.
So: I will take your stupid, sub-par troll statement as a compliment.
Shooter -- Here's the only thing you need to know about Romney's taxes: the one person who we know saw those tax returns was John McCain, when Willard was being vetted for the V.P. slot fours years ago. And, after reviewing those returns, McCain chose Sarah Palin as his V.P. pick. 'Nuff said.
"But rumors are legitimate sources of information....". Funny that some people can't understand the difference between the two scenarios. With Cruz's comments they are easily disprovable and blatantly wrong. Everything is based on innuendo. Romney and his taxes? We've yet to see mitten's returns and he won't publish to disprove the the statements even though presidential nominees have published them for many years...his father setting the standard. It shows how much illogical thinking, hate, and blind faith resides in a certain segment of the republican base.
All y'all, just checking in with the obvious question:
Why is Rush Limbaugh "ashamed" of America with such stand-up guys in the Senate as Ted Cruz?
OH Em JEE!! Cruz looks EXACTLY like McCarthy!!! are you sure they're not related?? like, mayeb he's a great-nephew or something? YIKES. (I disagree with Jane Mayer's statement that Cruz is a good speaker, though - I think he's creepy.)
and Rachel, please stay TOTALLY obsessed with MI & (self-annointed) King Richard Scott - we NEED you to keep an eye on him . . . I hope MHP also cover this - too outrageous for words. The ReThuglicans don't think HE'S a commie-fascist or something? Jeez. King Scott seems to be doing what they falsely accuse Obama of doing all the time.
thanks
This is hilarious. I've had a comment collapsed because I quoted a senior Democrat.
blanks, your comment was collapsed because you are proud to be a dishonest, ignorant, right wing troll.
So stop with the righteous indignation.
It's bullsh*t. Just like you and your posts are bullsh*t.
Can we send this Gusano moron back to Canada?
Please no. We do not want him! (Newly minted Canadian permanent resident here.)
Born and bred Canuck here telling you that he's your problem now. Enjoy. You don't only get to keep our best actors and comedians. You have to take the good with the bad.
And welcome aboard MsJoanne. I hope you enjoy it up here.
How about using him to colonize Pluto?
Ted Cruz is the reincarnation of PT Barnum - except, Cruz is dangerous because he wishes to gain political wealth - power to control! He's not simply taking economic advantage of his fellow Americans, he's working us into a divide and conquer moment! -Kevo
Ted Cruz is now being held up as the latest saviour of the GOP. LOL
Man, things are really getting desperate when they set the bar so low that a lunatic, lying, ignorant freshman senator of one month is their saviour!
Shades of McCarthy? No, this is worse. This has infested the entire Republican party. This man Cruz is a virus looking for an infection site.
Like the rest of these T-party types, they should be a joke, but they are actually being taken seriously by the GOP. Amazing. This ain't your father's Republican party anymore!
This is the party of hate.
These people are out to destroy Democracy. They want to tear it down and replace it with some new world order that excludes 98% of Americans.
Kevo: I do not usually believe in reincarnation, but Cruz even looks like McCarthy.
My gosh, he does! When did McCarthy die? When was Cruz born? It could be and inquiring minds want to know!
I don't believe in reincarnation, but the answers to your questions: McCarthy died May 2, 1957 and Cruz was born December 22, 1970.
Funny, he reminds me of a once young Senator named Barrack Obama.
Witless attempts at humor are just sad. You're out of your league. Really.
Bob, reallystupid can't even spell, so what do you expect from a blanks style troll?
Becky b1
I don't believe in reincarnation either. I would like, however, to see Boehner's house Republicans come back as shellfish.
My cat could eat them, then.
Joe McCarthy must have been born again, he is now Ted Cruz, any relation to Tom?
different spelling
Don't forget Allen West! "81 members of the Communist Party in Congress." Lovely.
Yes, and like Allen West, Senator Cruz is curiously reticent when it comes to "naming names".
Of course, being a graduate of Harvard LAw, he is well aware of the laws regarding Libel and Slander!
Even McCarthy never named names. One story about ol' Tailgunner Joe I love is that he was looking in 1950 at re-election in 1952, with no record of achievement, and came up with two possible plans of action: the one we know of in history, for which he was advised that if he took that route he must be absolutely certain of his facts and sources. The alternative was to rely on the tradition of Wisconsin liberal Republican populism and campaign for a housing program for the country that would "insure every American has a home fit for an American."
How history might have been different...
It's interesting to watch someone, who is so intellectually deficient that he has nothing of value to add to the conversation, resort to calling his rival names. Shame on you, Mr. Cruz. Keep talking. Remember that, in this modern day, pretty much everything goes on video that will come back to haunt you.
JL, #6
He does not care. He lives in that alternate reality of hate and bigotry. They fear no one but their ultra right-wing base. They say he is their new saviour, but I think they've set that bar way too low.
It's in the ground!
I'd check out that Harvard law degree. Have their standards fallen so low, too?
India . . . Cruz lives in Texas. Oh, sorry. Same thing.
mpguy,
I do not see where they get the idea that this Texass fellow, Cruz, got a Harvard degree. I do not believe that. Harvard must have readjusted its standards.
I hope you're sitting down when you read this, but Cruz has quite an impressive education curriculum vitae. I just looked it up. Princeton B.A. and Harvard J.D., magna cum laude. And he was named Speaker of the Year and Team of the Year (with his debate partner, David Panton) by American Parliamentary Debate Association in 1992.
So what was that name Scott called me recently? Educated idiot? I can't figure out how Cruz has come to believe, with all that education, that Harvard is a hot-bed of communist thinking. I'm shocked.
Good thing I am sitting down. So this must just be plain old Texass bigotry and hatred for Obama. He could be mentally ill as there is, so they say, a fine line between genius and insanity.
Oh................wait.....I've got it: He is being sponsored by Koch Money.
Of course, that explains it. The well funded hate machine at work!
Any questions?
Must be something in the water
India LeCarre "is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life."
Now you need to rent two movies - you will also need a deck of cards.
Why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?
Adam,#6.7
Who said that about me?
What do you mean, two movies?
Bennet Marco, in The Manchurian Candidate
Segue to
Sen. John Yerkes Iselin: [addressing the Senate] There are exactly 57 card-carrying members of the Communist Party in the Department of Defense at this time!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056218/quotes
Segue to Harvard Law School
And this has what to do with me, Adam? LOL
I am no Manchurian Candidate.
What else would you expect from the recipient of the Alfred E Newman scholarship?
Please do not insult one of the greatest satirical publications of all time, MAD Magazine and its iconic mascot, Alfred E Neuman! If any magazine was the antithesis of McCarthyism, it was MAD.
It takes quite an effort to elicit comparisons to McCarthy a mere six weeks into a Senatorial career. I wonder if is possible for a Republican Senator to marginalize himself by going to that extreme, or whether that is what the Right has come to. I am confident we will know the answer soon.
It's what the Right has come to. All of them.
I we can so soon, disregard or forget the lessons of a war in Iraq that was started under false pretenses can we doubt that the scourge of McCarthyism can return?
Who needs facts when you're the Cruz missile ? Cue the clown car.
Those images belong on one of those famous people look-alike slide shows.
M Stanton Evans has been leading a pack of McCarthy truthers for years, and finally got his book out (http://www.amazon.com/Blacklisted-History-Senator-McCarthy-Americas/dp/1400081068), which Ann Coulter called "the greatest book since the Bible." So, not a real surprise that they are bubbling up out of the sewer.
I am amazed at the actual physical resemblance between Cruz and McCarthy. It's most likely not due to common ancestry but to being bullies all their lives.
McCarthy never had to deal with the internet, Cruz does. Can't try that one again, Sen. Cruz!
I was wondering if anyone else had noticed that, JJM! It's eerie. Not to put too fine a line on it, Cruz is nuts, and like his hero, he's poised to do a lot of damage to the country for decades to come. When voters elect disturbed people like Cruz, the same pocket of crazy tends to keep re-electing them (see: Michele Bachmann).
A leaked list of fellows looking like travelers arriving on the same train?
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz
Rev James Warren "Jim" Jones
Marco Antonio Rubio
Paul Davis Ryan
Scott Kevin Walker
Richard Dale "Rick" Snyder
Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford, Jr.
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards
Which does not fit the mould.?
That mold needs to be broken before they rip the country apart in their insanity.
It truly is uncanny.
Seriously. It's striking.
Cruz also looks a bit like Jerry Falwell.
Back in the day, a freshman senator would have been soundly put in his place for doing what Cruz is doing. It would have been done by his Republican peers who have gained seniority through time and service.
Those days are gone.
The Republican party has allowed, indeed augmented, it's own anarchy. They may prefer to call it more representative; more inclusive, but that is fast becoming a cosmetic that is fracturing on a par with the San Andreas Fault.
It could be years before the party regains some form of equalibrium. In the meantime, they will suffer and, by extension, the country itself.
He was put in his place, first by Democratic Senator Nelson and then John McCain.
McCain did upbraid him - but he's only sane like 1 out of every (fill in the number) days.
I suggest that what is wrong with our politics generally and Congress in particular is ideologically driven office seekers and holders and a voting public that buys into it. Ideologues are, by definition, not driven by facts and what they regard as fact is usually warped through some kind of prism.
If you want practical sloutions to anything, one needs pratical people, starting with voters!
Hello! The Soviet Union collapsed 20 years ago. Maybe Senator Cruz uses his vacations to go hunting the brontosaurus.
Don't think that the humanities or language and literacy count for much anymore? Think again.
Cruz isn't engaging in anything that a decent course in rhetoric wouldn't immediately make apparent to a critical viewer/listener. Too bad that the term "rhetoric" itself has been co-opted by political pundits as some kind of pejorative term.
Kookie: hurray for you for standing up for the humanities and language. Back in the 60s and 70s when I was teaching freshman English, a standard book in the second semester was: A Preface to Critical Reading, by Richard Altick. It is still available in the 6th Edition as revised by Andrea A. Lunsford.
My favorite assignment from this book was to take Mark Antony's funeral oration in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and discuss the uses of propaganda. Shakespeare was a master of rhetoric and many of his speeches, especially in his Roman plays, are perfect orations straight out of Aristotle and Quintillian.
Rhetoric by the way is the art of persuasion.
We all know that public schools are in fact communist indoctrination camps. Thus we must turn to such esteemed unaccredited schools like liberty , paul jones and regents
uh-bob jones. Sorry to any paul jones I may have offended.
don't laugh--look at what mccarthyism did for mccarthy. (i think cruz has).
Made hin imfamous? Put his name next to the very communistic principles he pretended to be against? Made him despised by any freedom loving individual?
Sure I can see how someone might emulate such a horrid figure.
Jow McCarthy died a hopless drunken discredited shadow of his former self. I can only wish the same fate for Cruz.
Some people say he resembles McCarthy, but when I see him I see a young "Cousin Eddie" (Randy Quaid) from the Vacation movies, which is apt considering he was a simpleton in the movies and Randy Quaid appears to be batcrap crazy in real life, not unlike Mr. Cruz.
Send him back to Canada. We get enough from Canada with their tar sands oil spills that they can't clean up.
I have a suggestion for Cruz: Look at Allen West's career. He started jabbering about Communists and Plantations and got tossed out.
I guess he didn't verbally abuse gays enough, like Bachmann with her converted husband. Why does MN district vote for the likes of her? She smiles and looks purty while spewing her crap? Some folks just put females into that category. They never hear what's being said while they just stare and ogle. Then again, she is paler than Mr. West. So, there's that.
Image is everything it seems to some, especially the made up images Republicans. Window dressing is important to them.
My mother is one whose main focus is what people look like and if they sound folksy. It doesn't matter what they actually do. I don't think she notices that about herself. But she saw how a politician could smile and show up at the meetings about mobile home rent control, only to see her Councilman later convicted of misappropriating tax money and other crimes.
http://inlandpolitics.com/blog/2012/04/21/dailybulletin-former-rancho-cucamonga-councilman-still-standing-after-prison-time/#more-35016
The writer of this article seems to be more focused on his image, too. The first bit of the article says:
This is the kind of thing that has been distracting. We have people appearing a certain way to voters, but the TeaPubs seem to forego that folksy "image" preferring the angry and accusatory one in its place.
The guy is saying the other guy did something too. Yuck. I hate that. Somehow saying it helps you to be innocent?
It's all so ridiculous, but people fall for it again and again. But what is accomplished and what is going on behind the images?
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-29/why-did-florida-fire-allen-west
What did Allen West do while he was in office? Badmouth the President, call the other person's policies "like slavery", show an opponent as a teenager, treating fellow Americans like enemies-calling them Communists? Not just Allen West. Now it's Cruz, the golden boy. What will he do?
So far, he's implied a false parody as fact. Saying Hagel may be a traitor because of a false story. This is paranoia and extremism. Why do we need that?
I guess it's true that fashion will come and go, but they need to just go and stay gone. What is underneath the surface? People should look. Don't fall for the show and distractions so easily.
He's cruisin for a bruisin.
A lot can be said about Ted Cruz, but in blue collar circles guys that behave like he does earn a title that pretty much covers all of it. A$$h&le
Oddly enough, the first time I saw the Cruz-McCarthy connection in print was a few days ago, on Forbes of all places.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/02/18/ted-cruz-the-reincarnation-of-joe-mccarthy/
Instead of hoping and waiting for Texas to secede, can we just cut to the chase and evict the Lone Star State?
Move the military bases out, consolidate NASA in Florida, and build a (dang) fence between the United States of America and the Republic of Texas.
And remind Texas that they no longer get to have any of that federal money that they've been leaching from the rest of the country.