There is one action in politics that remains a standard: fear and hate. Even though this morning didn’t start off with the intent to write anything on tactics, I made the mistake of reading the Substack feeds I subscribe to. Probably because I have, unlike almost all of you, lived through it once before, one paragraph from one commentary stood up and slapped me across the face. It’s McCarthyism.
In the 1950s, post-World War II, Senator Joe McCarthy championed the Communist Scare. If you weren’t a Republican, you were a Communist. McCarthy ruined, again, RUINED, the lives of so many good people with hate talk at the time. We were raw from a war, Russia was a threat, and idiots like McCarthy used that threat as a sounding board to push his own agenda.
This is a part of history that should be both forgotten and never forgotten, as the lessons to be learned are invaluable.
Has Trump run out of cards? We know he isn’t playing with a full deck. I think, and this is my opinion, he is losing, and the writing is on the wall. And what has always been the Trump playbook: look down, don’t look up. Whatever is wrong is someone else’s fault, and only he can fix it. That’s looking a little weak these days, so, as usual, he’s throwing stuff out to see what sticks to the wall.
“The other side is the enemy, and now that side has morphed into evil Commies, since you no longer believe it’s the immigrants, or whatever I last told you was at fault. And whatever you do, don’t look at me. What, me? Not me.” That’s how I hear it.
I could go on, but if you’ve been paying attention at all, there’s no need. Just don’t get distracted into a resurgence of McCarthyism. No matter how you spell it, it always boils down to diversion, distraction, fear, and hate — Trump’s aces, all up his sleeve.
The other side is the enemy, and now that side has morphed into evil Commies. It’s McCarthyism again.
There is one action in politics that remains a standard: fear and hate. Even though this morning didn’t start off with the intent to write anything on tactics, I made the mistake of reading the Substack feeds I subscribe to. Probably because I have, unlike almost all of you, lived through it once before, one paragraph from one commentary stood up and slapped me across the face. It’s McCarthyism.
In the 1950s, post-World War II, Senator Joe McCarthy championed the Communist Scare. If you weren’t a Republican, you were a Communist. McCarthy ruined, again, RUINED, the lives of so many good people with hate talk at the time. We were raw from a war, Russia was a threat, and idiots like McCarthy used that threat as a sounding board to push his own agenda.
This is a part of history that should be both forgotten and never forgotten, as the lessons to be learned are invaluable.
The paragraph that sparked my tapping fingers came from someone else who lived through the same era, Robert Reich, in his piece “Why Is He Using the Communist Trump Card?”
Has Trump run out of cards? We know he isn’t playing with a full deck. I think, and this is my opinion, he is losing, and the writing is on the wall. And what has always been the Trump playbook: look down, don’t look up. Whatever is wrong is someone else’s fault, and only he can fix it. That’s looking a little weak these days, so, as usual, he’s throwing stuff out to see what sticks to the wall.
“The other side is the enemy, and now that side has morphed into evil Commies, since you no longer believe it’s the immigrants, or whatever I last told you was at fault. And whatever you do, don’t look at me. What, me? Not me.” That’s how I hear it.
I could go on, but if you’ve been paying attention at all, there’s no need. Just don’t get distracted into a resurgence of McCarthyism. No matter how you spell it, it always boils down to diversion, distraction, fear, and hate — Trump’s aces, all up his sleeve.
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