“Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican, was recently captured on video asserting that there are ’78 to 81′ Democrats in Congress who are members of the Communist Party. Of course, it’s not unusual for some renegade lawmaker from either side of the aisle to say something outrageous,” according to a column in the Washington Post by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein.
“What made West’s comment — right out of the McCarthyite playbook of the 1950s — so striking was the almost complete lack of condemnation from Republican congressional leaders or other major party figures, including the remaining presidential candidates.
“It’s not that the GOP leadership agrees with West; it is that such extreme remarks and views are now taken for granted.
“We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.
“The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”
The rest of the column is here.
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I sent the same article to several friends back in New York, some whom have always relied on me for info on many subjects and have specifically requested that I keep them informed on issues. I’ve pounding home this message for years. Others, as I’ve said before, whom I’ve know for decades and know never read books to increase their understanding of anything, remain adamant that uninformed opinions are equal to expertise. It is extremely frustrating, and really and exercise in futility, discussing issues with people of this ilk. One thing I find common to all in this group, is when I pose questions to them, the questions are ignored in their responses in favor of a repitition of their undocummented and often absurd assertions.
One guy, who claims no party affiliation, but vehemently argues a Tea Party line–which I finally told him–a union fireman in NYC, now retired, ignored my question on what he thought of all the union busting going on by the GOP, responding with validity of the new voter I.D. laws, saying, “For Chrisakes, Ed, even John Paul Stevens upheld voter I.D. laws . . .” Of corse that was in 2008, different time, different than photo I.D.s and the brazen, political attempt to disenfranchise voters likely not to vote republican. Every thing I read re. this is that voter fraud is not a problem, a bogus issue. But, once again, it fits perfectly into Leonard Pitts’ maxim, that “Facts don’t matter,” anymore.
Twice I made a statement which an inquiring mind would have challenged: You know of course, that no where in the Constitution is power bestowed upon the SCOTUS to declare a lae unconstitutional.
And to his bragging that he “Thinks for himself,” I answered that that is not always such a great virtue, as even the great thinkers and scholars read the work of others, and research is investigating what others other than onesself have produced.
No response to that email which is fine with me.
To be sure, “it takes two to tango,” but Norman Ornstein is a longtime political watcher, and we all have to acknowledge the rhetoric that is redolent of the “Mc Carthy playbook.” History always repeats itself.
BTW, here’s a review of the Ornstein/Mann book on this topic from the Economist:
http://www.economist.com/node/21553449
Not exactly a scoop… but good to finally see it in print. The primaries are good comedy: bring several unelectable bozos with money to spend (theirs as well as ‘OPM’) up to the podium to do a debate, and boil them all down to one unelectable superBozo, who has at least as good a chance at things as the guy in office now, since we don’t live in a country where ‘unelectable’ means they won’t win. The myth of the (on-average) well-informed and conscientious voter is alive and well… too bad the presidential election isn’t graded on a curve!
” too bad the presidential election isn’t graded on a curve!” Thanks Tom! I’m leaving the house with a big smile on my face!
The “Lunitic Fringe” Party is what they have become.
Just as dangerous as The Nazi Party, not taken serious until it too late.
This election will reverse course or destroy all that is good and still standing of this country.
Who will the fools be in 2012?
I stand by this song! All can sing along-
I think the Republicans realize that some real “winners” won in the last election by riding on the coattails of the Tea Party and backlash against the Democratic majority.
The silence could mean they are hoping that if they ignore the likes of Rep. West, they will just fade away (until one of them opens his mouth again).
It is stunning the lack of real attention this mental Troglydyte, West and his ludicrous replay of Tailgunner Joe’s character assassinations has received. Although the Soviets were indeed masters at the espionage game and the planting of moles, one of whom I picked up in Greenwich Village with a History professor to give a talk to the History Honor Society. The only text book was Whitaker Chambers’ Witness, which I had previously read years before. Of course, it was Alger Hiss whom we picked up, but he refused to talk about his trial, only foreign policy. He autographed his book for me, but I still believe he was guilty as hell.
Got astray; getting disgusted with the hammer and sickle appearing next to Obama because of the use of word Forward in a campaign video. Despite somewhat civil dialogue with right wing bloggers–there’s really no
change in their irrational hate and they wouldn’t know the difference between a communist, socialist, anarchist/sydicalist, right wing deviationist, or probably even that National Socialism, after the night of the long knives carved into pieces the very few remaing proponents of some rights for workers, was not socialism but facism.
Again, Mussolini declared facism to be the union of the state with corporations.
Learn your history, right wing bloggers. You sound like a bunch of Stalinists in your forced distortions of what is known to be nonsense.