Dear People For Supporter,
Progressives and conservatives alike are slamming one of the most blatantly McCarthyist attacks yet. People For the American Way released a report several months ago on the rise of what we called the New McCarthyism. Clearly, that trend is growing.
An attack ad by Liz Cheney, archconservative daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and Bill Kristol, Head Cheerleader for the Iraq War, brands Eric Holder's DOJ the "Department of Jihad" for employing nine lawyers who represented detainees and asks of these lawyers: "whose values do they share?" The ad, produced by Cheney and Kristol's new Swift Boat-style front group, "Keep America Safe," labels seven then-unidentified DOJ lawyers "The Al Qaeda 7."
Our justice system is built around the idea that the accused have the right to a legal defense. There could be nothing MORE American. Regarding the lawyers in question, the "values they share" are clearly constitutional values -- values that, like Sen. Joseph McCarthy before them, Cheney and Kristol seem unable to understand. Let's not forget that it was attorney John Adams who defended the British soldiers accused in the Boston Massacre.
What makes this cowardly political attack all the more outrageous is that the lawyers in question were asked by the Bush administration to represent the detainees. Further, two people with such close ties to the Bush administration have no place attacking the Holder Justice Department considering the Bush-era DOJ, particularly under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was a place of infamous corruption and lawlessness.
Character assassination, attacks on loyalty, guilt by association... they are textbook McCarthyism.
Glenn Beck last week chose to channel Sen. Joe McCarthy a little more directly, however, when he went on the attack against the concept of "social justice," and more specifically, against churches that subscribe to helping the poor and defending human rights. "Social justice," Beck told his TV and radio audiences, is just code for Communism and Nazism!
Glenn Beck being in the business of misinformation is nothing new, but now he's drawn a target on churches and the millions of Americans who think that social justice is something to which we should aspire.
We'll continue to speak out against these ridiculous attacks and I urge you to do the same.
When you see these attacks echoed in your own community, don't let them go unchallenged.
- If you're on Facebook, become a fan of Standing Up to McCarthyism.
- When you see the news reports that treat these tactics as legitimate, or fail to call out the fearmongering, speak up -- call and email TV and radio stations, write letters to the editor of your local paper.
- If you have a blog, write about this important subject.
- And call your members of Congress and ask them what they are doing to stand up to the Right's New McCarthyism.
You can let us know what kind of action you are taking in your community with our online activism tracking form. Please be sure to share with us anything you are able to get published.
Thank you for your ongoing vigilance in defense of the American Way.
Sincerely,
Michael B. Keegan, President
