AFL-CIO president to Sarah Palin: Change or be linked with McCarthyism

[sabra]

Source: CS Monitor

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka charged that if Republican political star Sarah Palin is not more careful in her choice of words, the political movement she has helped to create will be linked with 1950s McCarthyism.


AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka charged Thursday that if Republican political star Sarah Palin is not more careful in her choice of words, the political movement she has helped to create will be linked with McCarthyism, the 1950s-era crusade by Sen. Joseph McCarthy to brand political enemies as communists.

Mr. Trumka’s comments about his strained relations with Ms. Palin came at a Monitor-sponsored breakfast for reporters, where he was asked how his previous critical words about the 2008 GOP vice-presidential nominee squared with his call for union members to save their anger for “corporate lapdogs” and Senate Republicans.

The comments were “totally consistent,” Trumka said. “She has taken on a position of leadership, and whether it is rightfully given to her or not, she is there. And so she can’t use loose language that foments … changing that anger to hatred or that action to violence.” He continued, “If she doesn’t change her ways, then Palinism will be equated with other forms of McCarthyism that fomented division among the populace and acts of hatred among the populace.”

The union leader’s comments Thursday are a sequel to a battle of words between the two figures last week. In a speech in Anchorage, Alaska. on Aug. 26, Trumka said Palin will “go down in history like McCarthy.” He criticized her for what he sees as incendiary rhetoric, including her use of the phrase “don’t retreat ... reload” and a reference she made to “union thugs.”



Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/monitor_breakfast/2010/0902/AFL-CIO-president-to-Sarah-Palin-Change-or-be-linked-with-McCarthyism

[pnwmom]

1. And like McCarthy, she is a real threat -- not just a joke. Recommended.

[BlueMTexpat]

26. I concur that Sarah is a real threat.

But plenty of good people had lives and careers ruined because of McCarthy and the HUAC. He was hardly a joke.
Sarah has ruined lives and careers in Alaska and intimidated others so that they actually moved out of state to get away from her (as per Vanity Fair). She is indeed formidable and on a national scale.

[SoapBox]

33. I concur as well....!

and hammer...HAMMER her with the McCarthyism charge.

She and her ilk, that the MSM have simply giggled about, ARE a serious danger to America and our democracy.

[The Green Manalishi]

63. They won't mind

To many on the right Joe McCArthy was an honest patriot, maligned and smeared by the MSM, now proven to be correct on the matter of Soviet espionage and communists in the US government.

Seriously.

I think there are nearly as many Republicans would would be proud to be considered 'McCarthyites" as there are Democrats would would proudly proclaim that they are really socialists.

[defendandprotect]

43. Exactly... McCarthyism was a highly successful attack on ideals of democracy which

purged government of liberals/progressives --

and did it with fear, threats, propaganda --

McCarthyism begins in 1950 and runs thru 1957 -- though we are still

feeling the effects of it, IMO --

IMO, they also used the 1953 trial/execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to

frighten the country --

[superconnected]

2. +1000

[The Wielding Truth]

3. Too bad SP has never heard of that McCarthy.If she weren't so disposed

to lying for money and power,someday when and if she learned about the true struggle to secure a free and equal America she might be a decent local leader. She is too radical to be given any real power.

[MessiahRp]

9. She was a shitty Mayor in Wasilla

She shouldn't be leading anything. Frankly she belongs in a nuthouse.

Rp

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

36. She was a shitty half-term governor in Alaska

Of course, the Repugs would never let go of attacking a governor who quit mid-term to "go for the gold" if he/she was a Democrat.

[Plucketeer]

61. And I can't believe

that MORE MENTION of her governorship-abandonment isn't made on a regular basis. She's in the company of Nixon!

[MrsBrady]

4. nice n/t

[Hulk]

5. she is just too stupid to get it.

she has NO clue. This woman is a sock-puppet for the Kohls and fox propaganda machine. she just doesn't get it...nor will she ever. she IS the joe mcCarthy of this century. Nice distinction.

[PSzymeczek]

38. Don't you mean the Kochs?

Kohl's is actually a pretty decent place to get clothes.

[hfojvt]

51. I was confused by that too. Herb Kohl?

I know he's a bit of a DINO, but I could not understand how Palin was a spokesperson for him. Perhaps the confusion began because in some places Koch is pronounced as Koh and if a person reads the name, rather than hearing it pronounced as Coke, so it is remembered as Koh which easily reverts to Kohl.

Of course, I am used to thinking of "the Kochs" as me, my dad, my brother, my uncle and my cousins http://www.koch2congress.com/5.html

[Omaha Steve]

6. K&R!

Go Trumka Go!

[cosmicone]

7. Palin probably thinks Joe the McCarthy is

Joe the Plumber's dad.

[louis-t]

8. Or Sir Paul McCarthy's dad.

[Ishoutandscream2]

28. LOL!!

[Tansy_Gold]

10. Palin and her ilk consider comparison with Joe McCarthy a compliment

[harun]

11. Yah, they think McCarthy was right.

[oldhippydude]

47. i was waiting to see that posted..

growing up i was exposed to birchers... their idea was that joe didn't go far enough.. they considered him a saint

[RaleighNCDUer]

62. Yup. They see a comparison to Tail Gunner Joe and the Birchers

as a badge of honor.

[ShadowLiberal]

39. Definitely, in Texas her ilk are rewriting history books to portray McCarthy as a hero

Ok, I might be going a bit too far by saying the Texas books are rewriting him as a hero, but they are supposed to basically justify all his witch hunts for Communists by arguing that most of the lives he ruined were Communist lives. They take this 'fact' from very flimsy evidence that many historians strongly disagree with the validity and truthfulness of.

[Gamey]

12. Oooooo.....take that Sarah!

[still_one]

13. It isn't only her, it is also the leadership of the repugs, and it is pathetic how the Democrats

don't even seem to fight back

[totodeinhere]

16. That's because a lot of Dems, not all but a lot, are bought and paid for by the same people who pull

Palin's strings.

[breadandwine]

22. IT IS FORBIDDEN FOR DEMOCRATS TO MAKE AN ISSUE OF PALIN AND BECK.

IT IS FORBIDDEN.
IT IS FORBIDDEN.
IT IS FORBIDDEN.
IT IS FORBIDDEN.
IT IS FORBIDDEN.
IT IS FORBIDDEN.
IT IS FORBIDDEN.
IT IS FORBIDDEN.
IT IS FORBIDDEN.
IT IS FORBIDDEN.


Remember, Winkeypooh knows how to use a gun.

DO YOU??????????????????????????????

She's the CHEATER WITH THE HEATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUST THE KIND OF FASCIST THIS COUNTRY NEEDS.

[sam sarrha]

14. do you think this will make them put her back on her medication..??

[totodeinhere]

15. I doubt if she will pay any attention to Mr. Trumka.

The union movement is not the constituency that she is playing too. And if she is in a spat with the unions, it will only strengthen her with her wingnut base.

[onehandle]

17. Speaker Boehner says too late. nt

[NewJeffCT]

18. RWers have been trying to rehab McCarthy's image

Ann Coulter wrote a book defending him, if I recall... William F Buckley ripped her for that one. Of course, he is dead now and Coulter is still going strong. Maybe she'll write a sequel and also defend Father Coughlin and the KKK, too.

[Mr. Sparkle]

19. Sarah is a shyster, plain and simple.

a bit like Newt but without the eduction or verbal skills.

[Liberalynn]

20. Glad the union is standing up to Caribou Barbie

Its time somebody did.

[GentryDixon]

21. She is such a media hound

she probably thinks this is a good thing. Her logic: "Wow, they are still talking about McCarthy 60 years later, COOL, that could be ME!".

[sam sarrha]

44. she is a megalamaniac..! and a paranoid one too...

[Radical Activist]

23. Too late!

[thereismore]

24. Don't give her any ideas. Let her destroy herself. nt

[ustilago]

25. Isn't that...

...the sort of thing she'd probably be proud of?

[blue sky at night]

27. I am telling you now...

she will be the candidate in 2012 and will be the perfect puppet president, just like georgie-the-idiot-boy bu$h was....and we are all doomed if they steal the election for her.

[Politicalboi]

29. McCarthyism. WTF

Something else Sarah needs to study. LOL! But will she? I think we all know the answer to that. Like "What does a V.P. do"? :rofl:
At least his first name is Joe.

[DailyGrind51]

30. He paid her a compliment, the "new right" considers McCarthy a hero!

[Cass]

31. I doubt this criticism will faze her.

She will probably take this as a compliment.

[TNLib]

32. Now all her Knuckle dragging fans will start wearing t-shirts that say "Bring back McCarthyism".

nt

[AsahinaKimi]

34. I think it could probably be said,

No one will tell Sarah Palin what to do or how to do it. She's got her own mind, even if her decisions are horrible and stupid.

[RoccoR5955]

35. Her only problem might be that she would confuse McCarthy's

And think it was Eugene McCarthyism, not Joseph!
She IS that stupid!

[Quantess]

37. Now someone will have to tell her who Joe McCarthy was.

[Kablooie]

40. She would be proud to be linked with McCarthy. I'm sure he's one of her heros.

[defendandprotect]

41. Is Trumka working on a LABOR party . . . ???

It was Susan B. Anthony's dream, in fact, that there would one day be a

LABOR/WOMEN's party --

That could have happened long ago as both groups came under increased attacks

by right wing elites --

Unionization is now down to 7% vs a one time high of 39% -- we never got higher than that!!

[fascisthunter]

42. That Would be a Party I'd Support in a Heart Beat

[otohara]

45. She Probably Will Take This As a Compliment

and then spew something hateful on her twitter account to union thug Trumka.

[bherrera]

46. I suspect she is hoping to get very rich

I don't see her as a true founder of anything, she is an empty head, into which ideas can be poured by her handlers. And she is willing to let the ideas be poured, as long as there is money to be earned. In other words, she may be the ultimate political prostitute.

[Joey Kidd]

48. I wonder if...

she knows anything about that scumbag McCarthy.(K&R,good post)

[newtothegame]

49. I wasn't aware that Sarah Palin listened to the AFL-CIO?

:shrug:

[GreenTea]

50. Palin, just another republican front & lying self-serving opportunist-shilling for the rich & corps

It's not hard if one choose to see clearly that republican Sarah Palin is nothing more than an arrogant opportunist.

Being closed minded as so many are when it comes to Palin simply because she trashes Obama & the Dems, repeats the selfish greedy corporate republican agenda at every opportunity. Even when proved a phony they still believe every word out of her fact-less mouth - they need to, their hate needs fuel.

Palin's employer, Fox manipulating news - Fox a big contributor to the elitist republican party and with Palin's help the republican sheep can justify their hate in their minds, Palin reinforcing that it's okay to hate, pointing her hypocritical finger at others, scapegoating, their narrow-minded prejudices...Palin simply spews it out and feeds it to the manipulated fleeceable sheep who eat it up, as she sucks in the bucks.

Even when facts are directly in front of their eyes they still deny them... never considering Palin just might be a money grubbing phony, there are a lot of gullible easily manipulated people out there who are dying to believe anything....most are uninformed, many uneducated and definitely because they hate Obama - AND Palin will make piles of money smearing & distortimg!

Obviously the money & spotlight (gives her power) it mean everything to Palin as she repeats & does whatever her republican conniving money handlers tell her to.

Palin cries out constantly that the media is being too darn tough on her when ever the truth slowly comes out who she really is and always has been, a huckster, a self-serving con artist.

[Enthusiast]

53. "shilling for the rich & corps"

That is the sole purpose of Palin and Beck. Spread misinformation in a coordinated effort to get people to vote against their own best interests.

[LaPera]

52. Unions - YES!!!

[eyewall]

54. Is it illegal to be a communist?

When I was in college I was invited to a meeting of the American Communist Party. It turned out to be a tea and cookies type of discussion group. AFAIK it's not illegal to be a communist in the US but the rightwing has convinced their minions that it is, just as they've convinced so many Americans that it should be illegal to be a Muslim. Somebody in the media needs to promote Edward R Murrows' statement that helped bring down McCarthyism. "We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men."

[harun]

56. +1

[Hannah Bell]

55. She's already linked to mccarthyism in my book.

[drm604]

57. She'd probably be proud to be linked with McCarthyism. n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

58. As usual..courage and honesty from a labor leader.

[Uncle Joe]

59. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, sabra.

[Drale]

60. crazy

Shes already almost as crazy as Mcarthy, but the only way she could get to his level is to get elected to a position of power and God help us all if that happens.