The stench of McCarthyism

[SemiCharmedQuark]

This is so much like the Vietnam era it is amazing. We have not learned that you cannot go to war against ideas. Ideas are not concrete, there is no definitive way to "win". Further, the fear of "them" has resulted in people being willing to sacrifice their freedoms for promises of security. Vietnam was kicked off with the Gulf of Tonkin. A lie to scare the people into giving the president immense power. Now? We have the Patriot Act. In the Vietnam era, we had the shadow of "communist" lurking everywhere. McCarthy and Nixon played up on this and used it to defame those whose views were disagreed with. Now? We have Cheney and Bush doing the same thing. Dixie Chicks don't like Bush? They must be terrorists. I'm sure you've seen the sign "Islam supports Kerry". Terrorist and Communist are terms used to distract people while our freedoms are trampled on and our treasury is plundered. Vietnam marked a period where we openly supporter ruthless leaders in our quest to stamp out communism. I was speaking with a friend and he began to talk about communism and how Lenin, Stalin and Ho Chi Minh had ruined it. Ho Chi Minh was not the bad guy in Vietnam. The man the United States supported was. Likewise, the current administration supports many brutal regimes now. Why are we allowed to befriend the Saudis, opon violaters of human rights? Because they are our ally against terrorism. Finally, just as Vietnam ended up being a lost cause, I fear this war on terrorism will as well. It is scary when just a few years ago, people who would have said "McCarthy was a blemish on the history of America" now say that we must fight terrorism "no matter what the cost".

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. All wars have a "cost" limit. There is no "no matter what the cost".

The Confederates believed very much in their cause to endure so much death in its defense. They finally did reach a "cost" limit in blood and had to lay down their arms.

The U.S., as a nation, has very little true belief in what its military is doing in Iraq. Hence the "cost" limit will be easily reached. Same with Vietnam. That is why anyone with money and influence is not joining the military, or even paying more tax money, to fight for this great "cause".

[SemiCharmedQuark]

5. Very well put

It's easy to send others to die for a cause you don't believe in. As the reserves begin to dwindle, what will they do? Reinstitute the draft before the send a single one of their kids to die.

[liberalmuse]

2. It's American arrogance.

All those who supported the Viet Nam war think we can redeem ourselves from that fiasco by winning another imperialistic war of aggression against another nation. Fools! We should have locked up all the meglomaniacs from the Nixon and Reagan administrations and thrown away the key.

[Roland99]

3. Poisoning Patriotism

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5935541/site/newsweek/

"Most disturbing of all, I’ve come across a lot of men and women who’ve grown afraid of their fellow Americans. It’s as if their patriotism has been poisoned. They say they feel their flag has been appropriated by narrow-minded zealots. Their hopes are being crushed by cynical politicians. Their sons and daughters are being sent to die in wars that seem to have no end, and anyone who questions those politicians or those wars is being branded a traitor. “I can’t bear to look at all these flags,” a woman told me who has worked for the United States government for several decades. “It’s like they all belong to Ashcroft.” It would be sad if those stickers on cars were put on by some people scared not to show the flag."


And, on a local news board, I'm constantly assaulted as being a leftist, a communist, traitorous, etc. by the blindly loyal to Bush fanatics.

The parallels between 1930s Germany, the McCarthy era, and the hatred of anti-war protesters during Vietnam to today's mentality of the right are eery.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. It is the politics of fear..... unhealthy at any speed. n/t

[cheshire]

6. It's the twilight zone. Some do not learn from history.