Mamdani and McCarthyism: a connection?

The apparent favorite in the New York City mayor’s race, Zohran Mamdani, a self-proclaimed Socialist Democrat, and the shutdown of the federal government by Democrats, demanding a $1.5 trillion increase in a short-term spending bill causes me to remember the furor surrounding the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin, alleged in the 1950s that Washington, D.C., was shot full of communists and in a number of Senate hearings rigorously grilled individuals he considered needed rooting out.

He held hearings as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Operations.

McCarthy’s style of questioning drew the ire of some members of the Senate.

The early years of the Cold War saw the United States facing a hostile Soviet Union, the “loss” of China to communism, and war in Korea. In this politically charged atmosphere, fears of Communist influence over American institutions spread On Feb. 9, 1950, McCarthy claimed that he had a list of 205 State Department employees who were Communists. The official report in the Library of Congress states that “While he offered little proof, the claims gained the senator great notoriety.”

The episode that caused the biggest angst was known as the Army-McCarthy hearings in April 1954.

This occurred during the early years of television and were broadcast live – in their entirety – on a major network, and an estimated 20 million people watched at least part of them, an enormous audience for that era, one report noted.

“Some viewed the PSI’s (Permanent Subcommittee Investigation) decision to hold public hearings – a departure from its standard use of closed executive sessions (a trial balloon on using the new media to mold public opinion perhaps?) – as a calculated attempt to expose Senator McCarthy’s tactics and prevent him from controlling the narrative in the press as he so often did after holding an executive session. By allowing the public to see the hearings in their entirety, as they occurred, PSI members limited the senator’s ability to manipulate the facts and also created a contrast between his conduct and the Army’s chief representative, an unflappable, respected attorney, Joseph Welch of Hale & Dorr,” the (obviously biased report) stated later, then continued: “The most dramatic moment of the hearings came on June 9, 1954. (Joseph) Welch, attorney on behalf of the Army, asked ‘why, if it had evidence of a spy ring at Fort Monmouth, the subcommittee had not immediately informed the Army.’ Senator McCarthy interjected that a young lawyer at Mr. Welch’s firm, Fred Fisher, had once been a member of the “subversive” National Lawyers Guild. Prior to the hearings, concerned about that type of attack, Mr. Welch had dropped Mr. Fisher from the defense team. He tried to move past the issue, but Senator McCarthy persisted. Mr. Welch finally responded: “‘Little did I dream you could be so reckless and so cruel… I fear he shall always bear a scar needlessly inflicted by you… Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?’” Our family had no TV so we didn’t watch the hearing but we read about it in newspapers.

I recall a discussion my mother and I had about the event. I thought the hearing was slanted.

Mother thought McCarthy’s actions deserved his censure by the Senate handed down in December 1954.(Note: I didn’t argue with my mother much; she was generally right.)

The Censure Committee consisted of three Republicans and three Democrats led by Chairman Arthur V. Watkins (R-UT), included three former judges—Watkins, John Stennis (D-MS), and Sam Ervin (D-NC); two former governors—Edwin Johnson (D-CO) and Frank Carlson (R-KS); and a newspaper publisher and editor—Francis Case (R-SD).

Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine and six fellow Republicans issued a “Declaration of Conscience” asserting that because of McCarthy’s tactics, the Senate had been “debased to the level of a forum for hate and character assassination.”

Republican Senators Ralph Flanders of Vermont, Arthur Watkins of Utah, and Margaret Chase Smith led the efforts to discipline McCarthy. Flanders introduced two separate resolutions against McCarthy, one removing Mc-Carthy from his chairmanships and the other calling for his censure. The censure resolution moved forward with debate beginning July 30, 1954.

It seemed to me later after the tactic of attacking individuals to shut them up became more prevalent and that the McCarthy hearing might well have been the kickoff of the now common usage of media attacks to destroy people the power brokers hate. (Thinking now of the baseless suits filed against President Donald Trump.)

While the censure committee appeared to be balanced on the surface, including three Democrats and three Republicans, I have wondered if a uni-party might have been taking shape at that time.

As I read the report on the censure committees’s hearing recently, it seemed to me that the actions referenced by the PSI dealt only with McCarthy’s style, which they considered not dignified enough, with no reference at all to his hypothesis that communists were involved with the public’s business at the capitol.

It may be remembered by those around at that time that McCathy was labeled an alcoholic.

McCarthyism became a favored taunt by leftists against anyone, especially conservatives, who ran for office or opposed any Democrat program.

McCarthy served in the Senate from 1947 until his death May 2, 1957, at the age of 48 but the chant “Mc-Carthyism” is still with us along with a self proclaimed Democrat- Socialist/ whatever seeking the mayorship of the nation’s apex city.