"There's a red under my bed."
Back in the 1950s, McCarthyism was viewed as a witch hunt for communists, seeing them where none existed. Of course there were communists, but a lot of people were targeted as communists who weren't. Hence the bad name today for the practice of
McCarthyism,
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. It also means "the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism."[1] The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from 1950 to 1956 and characterized by heightened political repression against communists, as well as a fear campaign spreading paranoia of their influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents.
Despite that, the tactic is still being employed today by liberals. A recent example, is
Eric Holder using race as the bogeyman and painting a broad swath of the population with a racist brush;
Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday he and President Obama have been targets of “a racial animus” by some of the administration’s political opponents.
“There's a certain level of vehemence, it seems to me, that's directed at me [and] directed at the president,” Holder told ABC. “You know, people talking about taking their country back. … There's a certain racial component to this for some people. I don’t think this is the thing that is a main driver, but for some there's a racial animus."
To say this is an irresponsible statement is an understatement. It plays on the notion of racism to quiet political opponents for fear of being politically incorrect based on an implied intent that does not match any of their political motivations. That is irresponsible at a minimum but Machiavellian in it's intent.
How about the idea that those who are questioning your actions are actually concerned about what you are doing? Seeing racists under the your bed is one thing, trying to convince the nation that this is the case is McCarthyism in reverse. Liberals in Hollywood decried McCarthyism in its heyday. Don't expect Hollywood to point out the Holderism this time around.
