The ghost of Tailgunner Joe

By Mustang Bobby

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) is new to the job, but he's already making news for himself by being a shameless jerk. He's already gotten some notice for claiming that John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are not "ardent fans" of the U.S. military — they were both wounded in Vietnam — and now he's gone and accused Mr. Hagel of being a secret supporter of Iran. It got bad enough at the Senate confirmation hearing for Mr. Hagel that Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) got pissed off.

You have to realize that Mr. Nelson is not the most excitable person in the world — if he was any mellower he'd rot — so this little flash of temper on his part is the equivalent of a full-tilt rant from anyone else.


You go, Bill.

For those of us over a certain age, Mr. Cruz reminds us of another junior senator some sixty years ago who made a name for himself by accusing people of being "fellow travelers" and scattering the pigeons with character assassination. To some people, that shit never gets old, and my fellow Texans have got a fresh version of the dyspeptic demagogue on their hands.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

The McCarthy Code

By Capt. Fogg

"The creation myth of modern conservatism usually begins with Barry Goldwater,"

says Neal Gabler in the Los Angeles Times, but was Goldwater really anything like Sarah Palin or George Bush or indeed any Republican president or candidate since his disastrous run?

Gabler thinks the true story bears no resemblance to the heroic epic of Goldwater, Reagan, and the Bushes, but rather that the blood line descends from Joe McCarthy to Dick Nixon to the Commander Guy. Wisconsin Senator McCarthy with his witch hunts, fake lists of Commies in the State Department, Hollywood, the schools, and under your bed was the prototype, seting the stage for the aggressive use of bogeymen to divide, antagonize, and conquer.

"McCarthyism is a way to build support by playing on the anxieties of Americans, actively convincing them of danger and conspiracy even where these don't exist."

Even a man like John McCain couldn't resist the temptation to demonize, to invent doubt and suspicion, to enlist people like Sara Palin -- and perhaps without the vertiginous descent of our economy, so reminiscent of the Biblical plagues upon Egypt, he would have succeeded.

All the pundits are pretending to ask themselves, "whither the GOP?" Now that McCain has sold his withered soul and slithering Sarah is in the spotlight, supporting unscrupulous candidates and hunting witches, Gabler thinks he knows and I think I agree.

"There may be assorted intellectuals and ideologues in the party, maybe even a few centrists, but there is no longer an intellectual or even ideological wing. The party belongs to McCarthy and his heirs -- Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Palin. It's in the genes."

Let's hope we acquire some immunity.

(Cross-posted from Human Voices.)