McCarthy Reconsidered

I've been thinking some about the universal excuse conservatives use to exculpate their bad ideas and failed policies: "we didn't go far enough!" It comes with numerous variations, of course, like "we didn't give it a chance" (not far enough in time), or "he wasn't a true conservative" (not far enough ideologically).

We've had plenty of chance to see it in action this century.

I don't have a prediction yet, but I'm expecting any week now to see team-backwards start trying to resurrect McCarthyism. Clearly McCarthy would have produced good results, if he'd just been given the time and the support.

I'm really only pointing this out so you can understand why I appear to start laughing spontaneously whenever someone of conservative convictions argues against, oh, marriage equality or gays in the military because "it's no time for social experimentation".

Posted on December 5, 2007 at 16.21 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Splenetics

5 Responses

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  1. Written by rightsaidfred
    on Wednesday, 5 December 2007 at 22.58
    Permalink

    >I've been thinking some about the universal excuse conservatives use to exculpate their bad ideas and failed policies…

    Thank you for your thoughts. We will try and do better in the future.

    >"we didn't go far enough!"

    Well, often we didn't. Plus this applies to both sides. As Archimedes said, "give me a place to stand…"

    >Vietnam

    Uh, the evidence is on my side. See Gen. Giap's autobiography.

    >Tax cuts

    Have worked pretty much as anticipated. Reports of the death of the lower classes has been greatly exaggerated.

    >Torturing political prisoners

    Oh please. They are not political prisoners, except to the extent the Democrats think they have the terrorist vote.

    >"Abstinence-only education"

    is no worse than the alternative, so I'm not sure it counts as a failure.

    >McCarthy

    Now that you mention it…

  2. Written by rightsaidfred
    on Thursday, 6 December 2007 at 08.13
    Permalink

    The Giap link above is apparently a hoax. Sorry about that.

  3. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Saturday, 8 December 2007 at 00.00
    Permalink

    This goes way back. Herbert Hoover sought re-election by predicting the market would right itself in time and all would be well. Meanwhile, the night he uttered those words, parents went to bed, some in a Hooverville lean-to, with an empty stomach because they had given the children what little food they had. A chicken in every pot, Hoover said. But he didn't say when.

    Give it long enough and you could hold the winter olympics in hell, but who's got time to wait.

    During the Korean conflict, anti-communist warhawks carried on about Gen. Douglas MacArthur having been sandbagged because Truman was too chicken to let him send troops into Communist China. And what was with firing MacArthur just for trying to dictate policy to the president?

    Yeah, a few more years, a million or two more troops, throw in a few nukes and we could've taken China back! Just think, they'd now be serving Big Macs in Beijing . . . oh, wait, never mind.

    As for a new McCarthyism, Randi Rhodes looks at a crackpot crusader plan to have firefighters and fire code inspectors rat out any residents who have "suspicious" reading materials, artwork or other trappings of Muslim extremism or terrorist chic in their abodes. Obviously, these creeps have been scavenging in NKVD file cabinets again.

  4. Written by rightsaidfred
    on Saturday, 8 December 2007 at 09.34
    Permalink

    "Give it long enough and you could…"

    How long to stick with something is a rather important question.

    I see this tendency on the Left, where we are told to add just one more entitlement program, give the current war on poverty just a little more time, just boost spending a little bit more, and things will be so much better. Just elect a few more Democrats. Just give them a little more power, and the good times will roll.

  5. Written by jns
    on Thursday, 13 December 2007 at 00.10
    Permalink

    The book looks interesting, Fred, although you do realize that the idea of McCarthy is bigger than any historical figure by now, and not prone to historical correction.

    I agree also that how long to stick with something is important and difficult to judge until it's usually much too late, alas. I guess that's where we get to enjoy the political debate.

    I do disagree ever so slightly with your characterization of the liberal way of working it, of course, since it sounds so very conservative to me….

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