Cruz has been in WDC less than 2 months and has already made enemies on both sides of the aisle, thanks largely to his grossly-overinflated ego ~ not surprising that Cruz is channeling Joe McCarthy since, as you can see, he looks enough like McCarthy to be a close relation ~ ~ Sooz

TPM Editor’s Blog
The Lies, The Lies, The Lies …



Josh Marshall-February 22, 2013, 1:18 PM

In addition to being abrasive and serially disliked, it seems Sen. Cruz’s penchant for imitating Joe McCarthy may have been even greater and of longer standing than we knew. In this case, the habit of lying for political advantage seems even more clear.

Jane Mayer just posted this piece at The New Yorker website in which she notes that only two and half years ago Cruz gave a Fourth of July speech in which he accused at least twelve members of the Harvard Law School faculty of being not only “Marxists” but communists “who believed in the Communists overthrowing the United States government.”

Here’s the passage …


Mayer goes on to discuss the issue with Charles Fried, a widely respected professor at HLS who was Ronald Reagan’s Solicitor General during his second term, who not surprisingly doubts there are twelve members of the Harvard Law faculty who believed in the violent overthrow of the United States government by the Communist Party now or when Cruz was a student from 1992 to 1995.

Now many universities, many law schools are going to have a few left-wingers and/or radicals on the faculty. That’s part of that free speech and academic freedom thing. But Cruz made a much more specific claim — that there were communists who supported the overthrow of the US government. That’s a claim of sedition, certainly a lie but one he knew would be a good political line.

It’s just another data point: the guy has a hard time not knowingly lying about people to gain political advantage.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/the_lies_the_lies_the_lies.php?ref=fpblg

So ... the GOP/TP choice is between [or combining ~ ] Ayn Rand and Joe McCarthy ~ but in its alternate universe, the GOP/TP still pretends its problem is with its messaging as opposed to its message ~ ~ Sooz

Taking McCarthyism literally
By Steve Benen - Fri Feb 22, 2013 12:33 PM EST

When his detractors talk about Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the one word that seems to come up more than any other is "McCarthyism." The point, of course, is to draw parallels between Cruz's worst habits and those of former Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-Wis.), who led ruthless and baseless witch hunts against his perceived rivals -- while mastering the art of guilt by association -- before being censured by the Senate in 1954, in an effort led by McCarthy's own Republicans colleagues.

Though Cruz is nowhere near McCarthy's level -- give the Texan time, he only joined the Senate last month -- the accusations are not without merit. We saw repeated examples of this during Cruz's campaign against Chuck Hagel's Defense Secretary nomination, which led Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to recently note, "It was really reminiscent of a different time and place, when you said, 'I have here in my pocket a speech you made on such and such a date,' and, of course, nothing was in the pocket. It was reminiscent of some bad times."

It was a trick Cruz leaned on repeatedly to question Hagel's loyalty and patriotism, going so far as to suggest, without evidence, the former Republican senator may have received unreported funds from foreign enemies of the United States.

But Jane Mayer reports today that it wasn't too long ago that Cruz delivered a speech at a Fourth of July weekend political rally, sponsored by the Koch brothers' political group, accusing Harvard Law School of harboring secret Communists on its faculty


A Harvard Law spokesperson told Mayer the school is "puzzled" by Cruz's accusations.

Of course, this shouldn't come as too big a surprise. Most Americans look at McCarthy's record as a stain on our political history; Cruz seems to look at McCarthy's record as how-to guide.

Postscript: Long-time readers may recall that I've been fascinated for several years with the right's willingness to re-embrace Joe McCarthy and his brand of politics.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has endorsed bringing back the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC); Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has said she supports investigations to determine which members of Congress are "pro-America or anti-America"; and in Texas, right-wing activists rewriting the state's curriculum have recommended telling students that McCarthy was a hero, "vindicated" by history.

If I thought they'd appreciate it, I'd gladly chip in to buy copies of "Good Night, and Good Luck" for Cruz and his allies.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/22/17057953-taking-mccarthyism-literally?lite