A Republican Voice in the Wilderness - How Sad

[garthranzz]

MARGARET CHASE SMITH:
I don't want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny - Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.


(But that's all it is, these days.)

[SpiralHawk]

1. Republiconism in a nutshell

She nailed it.

[livetohike]

2. FIBS, in other words

Liars.

[Winterblues]

3. Quick... LOL... you nailed that one in a hurry

:rofl:

[calimary]

4. Wow - that's quite a quote. So uncharacteristic for a republi-CON.

But then again, I vaguely remember Margaret Chase Smith and as I recall, she was far more of a Republican than a republi-CON. She wouldn't recognize her party today. Heck, she may not even want to be part of such an outfit now. :shrug:

[Staph]

6. She is a Maine Republican,

a species still visible today in the persons of Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins (don't grumble -- I would rather have 40 Collins than have a single Inhofe or McConnell!).

Margaret Chase Smith was an early opponent of Joe McCarthy. In her Declaration of Conscience (the same speech decrying the Four Horsemen of Calumny -- Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear), delivered on the Senate floor on June 1, 1950, she said:

I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some soul searching -- for us to weigh our consciences -- on the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America -- on the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges.

I think that it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. I think that it is high time that we remembered; that the Constitution, as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation.

Whether it be a criminal prosecution in court or a character prosecution in the Senate, there is little practical distinction when the life of a person has been ruined.

Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism --

The right to criticize;

The right to hold unpopular beliefs;

The right to protest;

The right of independent thought.

The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood nor should he be in danger of losing his reputation or livelihood merely because he happens to know some one who holds unpopular beliefs. Who of us doesn't? Otherwise none of us could call our souls our own. Otherwise thought control would have set in.

The American people are sick and tired of being afraid to speak their minds lest they be politically smeared as "Communists" or "Fascists" by their opponents. Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America. It has been so abused by some that it is not exercised by others. The American people are sick and tired of seeing innocent people smeared and guilty people whitewashed. But there have been enough proved cases to cause nationwide distrust and strong suspicion that there may be something to the unproved, sensational accusations.

http://www.mcslibrary.org/program/library/declaration.htm

[cilla4progress]

5. "Good Republican"

Yes, I recall my parents - diehard libs - considered Smith a "good Republican".