A straight line connects Senator Joe McCarthy to today, says veteran political journalist Haynes Johnson. He says the danger McCarthy posed in his era has left a powerful imprint, a lasting, corrosive legacy very much in evidence now. Mr. Johnson cites the terrifying destructiveness of character assassination, of sneers and fear, the use of attacks on people to divide the country, enforced conformity and people fearful of taking a stand on issues, lives destroyed, citizens being detained indefinitely or tortured in U.S. prisons, and abroad, with no one held accountable for abuses -- which IS McCarthyism.

We'd better understand how this happened, Mr. Johnson warns, what lessons should be learned, how to respond. Why? Because in addition to democracy itself, personal, family and national self-interest are all at stake.

It's important to remember that fear, repressions, anxieties and demagoguery are not new in American life, Mr. Johnson says. And, while it’s understandable to look to the nation's leader in a moment of crisis like Pearl Harbor or 9/11, the danger is that leader can exploit the climate of fear. And George W. Bush did, Mr. Johnson says. He considers the results the tragedy of our time -- America's actions in Iraq creating more terrorists and Americans now even less secure at home and abroad.

This has been a failure across the board, Mr. Johnson reports -- a failure of America's political process, of its media and of the public itself. Yes, there has in fact been a huge change in American politics, Mr. Johnson says. When McCarthy's colleagues in the Senate finally censured him after his 3 year rampage, the Republicans split right down the middle. Twenty-two moderate and progressive Republican Senators voted to censure McCarthy. Now they have all but vanished. Twenty-two others -- the Republican right-wing of the time -- voted against censuring McCarthy. And those hard-liners inherited the GOP.

In the political process, the real tragedy of McCarthyism that continues to this day, Mr. Johnson says, is the failure to say, "We have to stand up. We're elected to be counted. To stand for something." Back then, it was Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson who refused. Now, Democrats and what few moderate Republicans remain have been so spooked by the McCarthy era that they, too, have failed.

Then there's Haynes Johnson's own beloved field of journalism. Another devastating failure. As bad as the press was during the McCarthy period, Mr. Johnson says, there was some tremendous reporting done. And, he says, over time it did create a climate of opposition to McCarthy that affected his standing. In the last 5 years? Until Hurricane Katrina, the attitude has been practically quiescence. Don't challenge. Or question. Press-as-cheerleader.

As Haynes Johnson travels the country, he does NOT find a nation divided. He sees Americans confused, distrustful and disgusted, hungry for someone authentic who will tell them the truth. He believes it's an opening at this moment in American history through which a different kind of politics can emerge. Don't wait for a god-like figure, he says. Politics changes from the bottom up. That takes time. Eventually a leader with an authentic voice emerges. Mr. Johnson saw it happen reporting on America's Civil Rights Movement, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize.

 

[This Program was recorded October 18, 2005, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.]