The New Communists
Listening to NPR last week, they were discussing the upcoming inauguration, discussions with various players about the way the people who don't believe in the emperor's clothes are being kept away from the action. One guy - the head of the Republican Inauguration Committee or something - said, and from memory, I think this is a direct quote, "Groups like ANSWER and Code Pink have aligned themselves with the terrorists and Saddam Hussein. They have no business at the inauguration."
Beginning in 1950 and going for the next 40 years the Republicans discovered a broad base of support, fueled by the end of the world war, and tapping into people's fears. The name they put on it was Communism. Joe McCarthy in the Senate conducted hearings to root out suspected Communists. By rumor and innuendo he ruthlessly ruined people's lives and careers for his own political advancement. Eventually McCarthy's bluff was called and the "Red Scare" came to an end. But the damage was done. In the public mind "Communism" was equated with "atom bomb." In the days before focus groups Republicans knew they could get a lot of milage out of labeling someone a Communist.
The Soviet Union came apart in 1990, and he term "Communist" lost its cachet. It no longer inspired fear - Communists were losers. We elected Bill Clinton and entered a decade of peace and prosperity. The Republicans had lost their biggest weapon, and searched madly for a new one. And on September 11, 2001, providence provided it.
Terrorism was no longer something that happened elsewhere. It could happen right here in your neighborhood. The Republicans wasted no time. They labeled everything and everyone who disagreed with their aims and methods a terrorist, and they continue to do so today.
They motivate people by fear and use the idea of terrorism to further political ends. And in that respect they are, by definition, terrorists.
Read about Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare here. It's very brief, and worth it just to reacquaint yourself with this era. Try substituting the word "terrorist" for "communist" as you read.
12:22:56 AM 
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