The McCarthyism of the Left

Henry Srebrnik, [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
 
From the end of the Second World War to the downfall of Senator Joe McCarthy, America was consumed by an anti-Communist “red scare.”

People on the left, mainly Democrats, were accused by Republicans of being “fellow-travellers” and “fifth columnists” on behalf of the Soviet Union and its dictator, Joseph Stalin.

There were blacklists that led to people being fired from their jobs and ostracized, and many lives were ruined.

In 1948, right-wingers insisted that presidential hopeful Henry Wallace was just a Communist puppet. Today, it seems, the tables are turned.

With the election of Donald Trump, it is now Democrats whipping up anti-Russian hysteria by claiming that Vladimir Putin helped the Republican candidate defeat Hillary Clinton by interfering in the presidential election.

The charge of being a tool of the Kremlin, levelled against Trump and his supporters, is part of the left’s campaign to de-legitimize the incoming president. Might we call it McCarthyism 2.0?

During the presidential campaign, the Democrats and the mainstream media (especially the Washington Post) repeatedly warned of the supposed endangerment to the country’s national interest by the apparent ideological affinity between Trump and Putin.

Stories also regularly appeared in the press regarding Trump’s business interests overseas, as well as those of his associates, implying that he would be “soft” on Russia due to his ties there.

In late October NBC News reported that the FBI was looking into business dealings between ex-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Russian politicians and businessmen. He denied any business relationship with the Kremlin, calling the charge “Democratic propaganda.”

Then there were the stories alleging that Russians had hacked into the communications of the Democratic National Committee and the private emails of influential individuals, notably Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, and then leaked the contents onto the internet.

By the end of August, several leading Democratic lawmakers had asked the FBI to investigate senior Trump campaign advisers for collusion in the suspected Russian hacking. Clinton campaign spokesman Glen Caplin said the Trump campaign had multiple advisers with deep ties to Russia.

“The prospect of individuals tied to Trump, Wikileaks and the Russian government coordinating to influence our election raises concerns of the utmost gravity and merits full examination,” wrote Harry Reid, the Democratic Minority leader in the Senate, to FBI director James Comey.

In early September, Defence Secretary Ashton Carter warned Moscow that Washington “will not ignore attempts to interfere with our democratic processes.”

Trump’s victory has only made things worse. On Dec. 9 President Obama ordered a “full review” of Russian hacking during the presidential campaign, after intelligence officials reported that the CIA concluded that Putin was not just trying to undermine the election, but had also acted to give Trump an advantage.

Eric Schultz, the deputy White House press secretary, told reporters that the president wanted this done under his watch because “he takes it very seriously.”

And Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee are pushing for a broad investigation. Do they hope to lay the groundwork for future impeachment proceedings?

The Democrats will also pounce on the fact that Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, has struck several major deals with the Russian state-run corporation Rosneft and has a personal relationship with Putin.

This frenzy remains part of America’s enduring Russophobia. Twenty-five years after the collapse of Communism, why do people still assume Russia is capable of nothing but evil?

Now that Obama has himself become a McCarthyite, “Tail-gunner Joe” must be laughing in his grave.

Actually, with Trump’s ascendancy, maybe Americans can liberate themselves from their Cold War discourse. The world doesn’t need a new period of American-Russian enmity.