For a long time, the left has decried the antics of Joe McCarthy during the 1950's. Recently, George Cloony made movie to show how evil McCarthy was and how heroic journalists united to take him down…. There are whole websites out there on the internet devoted to combating the "new McCarthyism". The sites are run by "Progressives". (You'll have to search them yourselves, I won't link them). So, what were McCarthy's tactics?
For Senator McCarthy, "A witness's refusal to answer whether or not he is a Communist on the ground that his answer would tend to incriminate him is the most positive proof obtainable that the witness is a Communist." Insisting that the people who took the Fifth were guilty of whatever it was they refused to talk about, the committees plied reluctant witnesses with damaging questions in the confident expectation that they could not answer them. Scientists could not deny outlandish charges that they had spied for the Soviet Union; teachers could not rebut similarly exaggerated allegations that they had brainwashed their students.
Guilt by association was a routine tactic…. So would anyone who watched the disgraceful performances by the Democratic Senators at the Alito hearings doubt that that is EXACTLY what they are trying to do? Painting Alito as some kind of secret bigot because he once belonged to a group that advocated some things the Senators don't like? Asking him over and over questions that they know would be improper for Alito to answer then trumpeting his refusal to answer as a reason to doubt his qualification for the Court. Joe Biden, Ted Kennedy and their pals. Meet the new McCarthys…… Have you no shame, Senator Kennedy? At long last, have you no shame? (You'll have to look into the history to understand that last sentence).
