All That Was Old Is New Again 0
At the Tampa Bay Times, Larry Tye makes a case that understanding the history of Senator Joe McCarthy could lead to understanding Donald Trump and his dupes, symps, and fellow-travelers. Here’s a telling bit from the article:
To Senate Democrats, McCarthy’s message was clear-cut and Trump-like: beware the battering ram.
Republicans were even more yellow-bellied. Their leader in the Senate, Robert Taft of Ohio, confided to friends that McCarthy had “made allegations which are impossible to prove.” But there was a reason Taft, like today’s GOP Senate boss Mitch McConnell, was called Mr. Republican. “Whether Senator McCarthy has legal evidence, whether he has overstated or understated his case, is of lesser importance. The question is whether the Communist influence in the State Department still exists,” said Taft, knowing full well it didn’t. A Washington acquaintance explained that “McCarthyism is a kind of liquor for Taft. He knows it’s bad stuff, and he keeps taking the pledge. But every so often he falls off the wagon.”
