When Marx famously said that history repeats itself, first as tragedy and then as farce, he might have been anticipating the Democrats’ farcical reprise of McCarthyism as they grilled judicial nominees about the nature and degree of their associations with such allegedly subversive organizations as the Federalist Society, an eminently respectable organization of primarily conservative lawyers, and the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a short-lived group that objected to lowering admissions standards to produce what would later be called “diversity,” and to including women while excluding ROTC at Princeton. (Do you think the senior senator from Massachusetts really meant to argue that opposition to co-education is proof of hostility to equality? If so I would expect him, at the very least, to move forthwith to take away the tax exemptions Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke, and Smith Colleges in his state enjoy as educational institutions.)
The farcical examples from the recent hearings are too numerous to cite, but here’s an example:
Both Biden and Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla., an anti-Alito witness before the committee, compared Alito’s membership in CAP with membership in the Ku Klux Klan, which lynched blacks in the South. “I take him at his word that he didn’t know what the group stood for,” Biden told Today Show host Katie Couric. “But I’m sure required to ask him, just like me asking you, `Katie, were you ever a member of the Ku Klux Klan?'”
Like the more sophisticated of the original McCarthyites, the more sophisticated of our recent judicial inquisitors do not limit their concern to card-carrying membership in subversive or otherwise suspect organizations; they are equally interested in what McCarthyites I called “sympathetic associations.” Thus, regarding Judge (now Chief Justice) Roberts:
“What matters is whether he hung out with them [the Federalist Society] and not whether he signed the form or wrote the dues check,” said David Garrow, a law professor at Emory University. “What’s important is the intellectual immersion.”
Indeed, Alito hearings often made me feel as though I were watching “The Army-McCarthy Hearings: The Sequel,” this time with the blustering, red-faced, heavy-handed Sen. Kennedy playing the role of the former senator from Wisconsin. His threatening to keep demanding an examination of the of some CAP papers (in hopes of finding some trace of Judge Alito in them) “again and again and again” until the chairman agreed was simply the new, modern version of McCarthy’s famous “Point of order, point of order, Mr. Chairman!”
And when Mrs. Alito left the room crying, there was Sen. Lindsey Graham clearly repeating the sentiment and the thought (though not the exact words, which he should have used), of that iconic Boston lawyer, Joseph Welch, who almost single-handedly brought down Sen. McCarthy by asking,
Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
The occasion for that question, for those of you who haven’t seen “Point of Order!” lately (I’m assuming none of you is old enough to remember) was Sen. McCarthy’s gratuitously bringing up the past association of one of Mr. Welch’s young associates with the National Lawyers Guild, an organization of liberal and radical lawyers that today’s inquisitors see as an analog of the Federalist Society and, heaven help them, of CAP.
Well, no, McCarthy didn’t. And many recent viewers will have reached a similar conclusion about some of the actors in the recent poorly performed, farcical sequel.
“Do you think the senior senator from Massachusetts really meant to argue that opposition to co-education is proof of hostility to equality? If so I would expect him, at the very least, to move forthwith to take away the tax exemptions Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke, and Smith Colleges in his state enjoy as educational institutions.”
How about male quotas. And is there no differene between a single sex school today and an all male ivy in the 70’s?
I guess if Harriet Miers’ feelings were hurt, she must appreciate all the kind words from the Democrats. She probably didn’t know they loved her so much. She probably didn’t know they even knew who she was prior to her being put forth as a possible SC justice.
That Biden quote is just bizarre. Even though he believes Alito when A. says he didn’t know CAP stood for lynching black people, or whatever, he is still OBLIGATED to ask if he had joined it. What sense does that make?
What did Katie say when he asked her, as he was required to do, whether she had been a member of the KKK? He did ask her, right?
Well, yes and no.
The truth is that the left in the 40s and 50s did sell out to the Kremlin, often directly on the payroll of the KGB. McCarthy, of course, was an oaf who didn’t bother to do his research. His clumsiness, in some ways, forestalled a real investigation into the Stalinist left in the U.S. The results would not have been pretty.
Since I live in Woodstock, NY, I assure you that there is much greater credence to the accusation that the left is a fifth column of subversives determined to destroy American democracy than that the right is determined to revive the Klan. The left in Woodstock (and Manhattan) continues to flirt with open sedition whenever a Republican president engages in military action.
Since I live right in the middle of it, I can tell you that the crazy left continues to pray the destruction of the U.S. and the return of the Soviet Union. They haven’t given up on Utopia.
Whoops, forgot. Here’s what I mean.
I am a professional musician. Years ago, I played routinely at community and benefit events in Woodstock, which are usually staged at the Community Center.
I stopped doing this when the community decided to post a 6 by 4 foot poster of Mumia on the wall. This man is a cold blooded executioner of a white cop in Philadelphia.
I refuse to stand up in front of a poster of this murderer and perform. Woodstock’s left openly embraces this execrable creature.
“The truth is that the left in the 40s and 50s did sell out to the Kremlin, often directly on the payroll of the KGB.”
Must be why they, for example, picked to support the french re-colonization of vietnam over the communist nationalist movement.
Oof! actus! And Michelle scolded me for saying that you are a Marxist.
The U.S. was on the right side in Vietnam, and events subsequent to the defeat of the U.S. in Vietnam have proven that.
The “communist nationalist movement” my a**! Marxism is an absolute evil, actus. No use talking here, is there? The notion that the Marxist left in the U.S. is some sort of loyal (or even coherent) opposition is so much bunk.
“The U.S. was on the right side in Vietnam, and events subsequent to the defeat of the U.S. in Vietnam have proven that.”
But the left that supposely sold out to the KGB is the one that picked to be on this right.
“The “communist nationalist movement” my a**! Marxism is an absolute evil, actus.”
That’s true, but it was the nationalist side in vietnam, and the left that supposedly sold out to marxist evil sided against marxist evil and in favor of colonialism.
Not a very good sellout.
So we’re down to “Do you now ‘hang out,’ or have you ever ‘hung out,’ with any members of the Federalist Society”? That is flat-out pathetic.
“So we’re down to “Do you now ‘hang out,’ or have you ever ‘hung out,’ with any members of the Federalist Society”? That is flat-out pathetic.”
Absolutely. I’m much more interested in how much of an affinity a nominee has to the federalists than with who they went to lunch with, or how well they paid their dues.
Well, actus, I generally don’t choose my friends by political affiliation; do you? As a matter of fact the people I “hang out” with generally disagree with me about almost every political issue, starting with who should have won the last Presidential election. I gather the “intellectual immersion” didn’t quite take in my case.
But then, hey, look at you: Here you are, daily, repeatedly conversing with known conservatives! Perhaps you’re one yourself?
Oh, dear. actus, I think I misread you. You were agreeing with me, weren’t you? Sorry. Post in haste, repent at leisure . . .
History certainly does repeat in that way in Show Biz. World War II was refought on the screen first as drama, then as comedy in later productions.
Terrific post. Yes, I’m old enough to remember the Army-McCarthy Hearings, though I was serving in the Army in Germany at the time, and only viewed them after I was discharged. Kennedy’s disgusting performance did indeed immediately remind me of McCarthy’s, and I was wishing that somebody would play the role of Joseph Welch. Sen. Graham tried and to some degree succeeded, but his apology should have come sooner, perhaps right after Kennedy ended his histrionics.
What was truly disgraceful, however, was that Sen. Feinstein — and other Democrats — egged Kennedy on, urging him to read several more quotations from the article in CAP’s magazine — an article that we now know was a poor satire. And Schumer’s theatrics, wondering “why, why” Alito was a member of CAP, long after Alito explained “why”, was beneath contempt.
http://www.20six.co.uk/Mvzu-black-hairy-bears/ – Mvzu black hairy bears http://www.20six.co.uk/Mvzu-black-hairy-bears/
http://www.20six.co.uk/VOhQ-hairy-armpit-free-photos/ – VOhQ hairy armpit free photos http://www.20six.co.uk/VOhQ-hairy-armpit-free-photos/
http://www.20six.co.uk/vJmH-amateur-hairy-pussy-pictures/ – vJmH amateur hairy pussy pictures http://www.20six.co.uk/vJmH-amateur-hairy-pussy-pictures/
http://www.20six.co.uk/CHbB-chubby-hairy-bears/ – CHbB chubby hairy bears http://www.20six.co.uk/CHbB-chubby-hairy-bears/
http://www.20six.co.uk/tzVe-men-hairy/ – tzVe men hairy http://www.20six.co.uk/tzVe-men-hairy/
http://www.20six.co.uk/YoAk-hairy-special/ – YoAk hairy special http://www.20six.co.uk/YoAk-hairy-special/
http://www.20six.co.uk/tdJz-hairy-mammoth/ – tdJz hairy mammoth http://www.20six.co.uk/tdJz-hairy-mammoth/
http://www.20six.co.uk/hREQ-hairy-male/ – hREQ hairy male http://www.20six.co.uk/hREQ-hairy-male/
http://www.20six.co.uk/pBvP-hairy-legs-guy-gay/ – pBvP hairy legs guy gay http://www.20six.co.uk/pBvP-hairy-legs-guy-gay/
http://www.20six.co.uk/uaPm-young-hairy/ – uaPm young hairy http://www.20six.co.uk/uaPm-young-hairy/
http://www.20six.co.uk/tUre-hairy-muscle-men/ – tUre hairy muscle men http://www.20six.co.uk/tUre-hairy-muscle-men/
http://www.20six.co.uk/IPws-hairy-men/ – IPws hairy men http://www.20six.co.uk/IPws-hairy-men/
http://www.20six.co.uk/lEZK-hairy-naked-guys/ – lEZK hairy naked guys http://www.20six.co.uk/lEZK-hairy-naked-guys/
http://www.20six.co.uk/DxcA-free-pics-hairy/ – DxcA free pics hairy http://www.20six.co.uk/DxcA-free-pics-hairy/
http://www.20six.co.uk/LHsb-gay-hairy/ – LHsb gay hairy http://www.20six.co.uk/LHsb-gay-hairy/
http://www.20six.co.uk/KdfY-amateur-hairy/ – KdfY amateur hairy http://www.20six.co.uk/KdfY-amateur-hairy/
http://www.20six.co.uk/QiIk-hairy-pussy/ – QiIk hairy pussy http://www.20six.co.uk/QiIk-hairy-pussy/
http://www.20six.co.uk/LDXK-hairy-men-photos/ – LDXK hairy men photos http://www.20six.co.uk/LDXK-hairy-men-photos/
http://www.20six.co.uk/ZSEe-hung-hairy/ – ZSEe hung hairy http://www.20six.co.uk/ZSEe-hung-hairy/
http://www.20six.co.uk/vbeP-hairy-bears/ – vbeP hairy bears http://www.20six.co.uk/vbeP-hairy-bears/
http://www.20six.co.uk/KNWR-older-hairy/ – KNWR older hairy http://www.20six.co.uk/KNWR-older-hairy/
http://www.20six.co.uk/zLBg-hairy-arm/ – zLBg hairy arm http://www.20six.co.uk/zLBg-hairy-arm/
http://www.20six.co.uk/hREQ-hairy-male/ – hREQ hairy male http://www.20six.co.uk/hREQ-hairy-male/
http://www.20six.co.uk/nGAz-hairy-women-pics/ – nGAz hairy women pics http://www.20six.co.uk/nGAz-hairy-women-pics/
http://www.20six.co.uk/DrRe-hairy-porn/ – DrRe hairy porn http://www.20six.co.uk/DrRe-hairy-porn/
http://www.20six.co.uk/Bwfz-hairy-twats/ – Bwfz hairy twats http://www.20six.co.uk/Bwfz-hairy-twats/
http://www.20six.co.uk/bLMe-hairy-female-crotches/ – bLMe hairy female crotches http://www.20six.co.uk/bLMe-hairy-female-crotches/
http://www.20six.co.uk/JhDx-hair-trigger-hairy/ – JhDx hair trigger hairy http://www.20six.co.uk/JhDx-hair-trigger-hairy/
http://www.20six.co.uk/Dasi-real-hairy-woman/ – Dasi real hairy woman http://www.20six.co.uk/Dasi-real-hairy-woman/
http://www.20six.co.uk/tzap-hairy-pussy-free-pics/ – tzap hairy pussy free pics http://www.20six.co.uk/tzap-hairy-pussy-free-pics/
http://www.20six.co.uk/NeVO-hairy-mature-old-gay-men/ – NeVO hairy mature old gay men http://www.20six.co.uk/NeVO-hairy-mature-old-gay-men/
WBR ohSepLnxgDyfcTORA
Was there anyone McCarthy accused of Communism who wasn’t a communist?
And as to the commentary about who one hangs out with, I still get mail from Planned Parenthood since joining NOW during college. I wonder if the senators would accuse me of holding some sort of views because of that?