Remembering The Ugliest Chapter in Republican History

[TreasonousBastard]

and you may want to try to post your own comments on the blog.

http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/3955.html

Thomas C. Reeves

The Ugliest Chapter in the History of the Republican Party (And Why It's Worth Remembering Now)

In 1948, Republicans were confident that they could not lose the presidential election. The polls showed Thomas Dewey easily defeating incumbent Harry S. Truman; indeed, the lead was such that pollsters quit the race weeks before people went to the polls. In November, the G.O.P. suffered shock when Truman pulled off an upset victory. To this day, American history textbooks routinely show the photograph of a jubilant Truman holding up the front page of the reactionary Chicago Tribune reporting his defeat.

What followed the upset was the ugliest chapter in the history of the Republican Party. Intensely frustrated over being denied the White House for fifteen years, and vowing to use any methods at their disposal, G.O.P. leaders employed Cold War frustrations to their advantage and launched an assault upon their political opponents that came to be known as the Second Red Scare. While the roots of the "Reds in high places" campaign can be found in the early Truman years, the full-scale attack upon the administration and upon Democrats and liberals in general burst onto the political scene after the election of 1948. It took Senator Joe McCarthy a while to grasp what was happening and turn it to his advantage. But in early 1950 his sweeping accusations and reckless tactics, soon called "McCarthyism," achieved worldwide attention, and the attack on ?Commiecrats became the major theme in American politics. It helped the G.O.P. win in 1952. So powerful was the vicious slander, however, that even the Eisenhower victory could not immediately stop it. (Yes, there were Reds in high places, but McCarthy and his allies were almost entirely unaware of the genuine articles.) Historians have been arguing ever since about the overall impact of the Second Red Scare, but few deny that it was considerable.

I wonder if in our own time the Left, represented by the Democratic Party, isn't suffering from the sort of trauma that gripped the G.O.P. in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

more...

[BOSSHOG]

1. Excellent reminder

Limbaugh is a big fan of McCarthy. Hannity wants to suspend the November elections in fear of democracy working. Some in America think Liberal is a bad word. Great point. What a sad chapter indeed when today's rubes and lemmings have benefited the most from the actions of evil liberals and yet they are the one's who have been trained to think they want to do away with the concept. Deliver us from evil indeed.

[Gman]

2. democracy working means

people may not vote for Bush. They may not vote for Bush because of the economy but to the Hannitys of the world, that is not a rational reason to not vote for Bush.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. The fact that "Hitler" Hannity wants to suspend elections justifies....

calling him "Hitler" Hannity because he does have this in common with Hitler.

:puke:

[Canuckistanian]

5. Really? Hannity said that?

My God, you guys should scream bloody murder when they start talking like that.
:grr:

[rasputin1952]

4. I think that most of McCarthy's Red Demons...

were found at the bottom of a whiskey bottle. He was in incredible danger of losing his Senate seat, and needed something to boost his chances of retaining it. The Red Scare was the springboard from which he launched those his retention bid.

When Eisenhower was implicated as a communist sympathizer, McCarthy had truly overstepped his bounds. McCarthy, like bush, shows us what can happen when power is left unrefined. I would expect a new round of calling anyone who doesn't agree w/bush traitors and such. Fear always rises from the ashes of the evil left behind.

O8)

[JAbuchan08]

6. An attack cleverly disguised as a self-criticism

that's rich.

The number one rule in modern politics: you can't call a wacko a wacko, a liar a liar, or a thief a thief 'cuz he'll just call you one right back.

[RafterMan]

7. Rich indeed

"The major media, having moved considerably to the Left since the McCarthy years, are intensifying the tension, routinely demonizing the president and the G.O.P. in general."

Yeeaaarrrgh!

I guess he accidentally wrote "demonizing" where he meant to say "boot licking, Uncle Tomming and whoring". Who is this guy, anyway, and what channel is he watching?

[JAbuchan08]

8. It's a stealth campaign to erase 50 years of Republican corruption

after all if the liberal backlash is worse than the McCarthyism it replaced why not return to the days of McCarthyism, or at least the Republican party which served as the incubator for McCarthyism and the Red-scare which lead to Vietnam. McCarthy is representative of a radical element that they can control now - trust them. Nothing we radicals and reactionaries should be frightened about.