Posted by AZBlueMeanie:
Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary defines "demagogue" as "a person, esp. an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people."
Or as H.L. Mencken said, "A demagogue is one who will preach doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots."
Senator John McCain revived his presidential campaign with his so-called "No Surrender Tour." Earlier this year McCain set about accusing his chief rival for the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney, of setting a date for withdrawal that would signal a date of surrender to our enemy. McCain, Romney trade barbs over Iraq – USATODAY.com
This was a bald-face lie. Romney had never taken the position of adopting a time line for withdrawal. Romney supported the benchmarks for success in Iraq proposed by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and adopted by the Congress. When Romney demanded that McCain apologize for his bald-face lie, McCain said it was his rival who "should apologize to the troops."
McCain also attacked Senator Hillary Clinton, whom he believed at that time would be the Democratic nominee, suggesting that "for the first time in political history" a presidential candidate has called for outright surrender in a war. "Candidate Clinton has called for surrender and waving the white flag." McCain Says Clinton Would Surrender – The Caucus – Politics – New York Times Blog
Now that Senator Barack Obama has emerged as the likely Democratic nominee, McCain used an interview on Memorial Day to assert that Obama favors surrender, and that "I will never surrender."
To accuse one’s political opponents of surrender to an enemy of the United States is to accuse your political opponents of treason. This is the hallmark of a demagogue, like Senator Joseph McCarthy:
McCarthy: The issue between the Republicans and Democrats is clearly drawn. It has been deliberately drawn by those who have been in charge of twenty years of treason. Not the hard fact is…the hard fact is that those who wear the label…those who wear the label "Democrat" wear it with the stain of a historic betrayal.
McCain’s allegations are similar to Joseph McCarthy’s claim that "I hold in my hand a list of 205 communists known by the State Department" to work for the United States government (the "list" was actually only a letter used as a prop).
McCarthy unleashed an era of irrational fear and suspicion among Americans with his red baiting tactics. Attacking the patriotism and loyalty of Americans has been a staple of Republican politics ever since.
The fear mongering of McCarthyism has now been recast as the fear mongering of McCainism.
After nearly eight years of the politics of fear engaged in by President Bush and Karl Rove (who is also an adviser to McCain), McCain proposes to continue Bush’s politics of fear and to raise the ante with his own brand of McCainism, i.e., accusing his political opponents, and anyone else who would disagree with him, of wanting to surrender to the enemy and of treason.
Let’s be clear. No elected representative or politician in the United States has ever suggested that the United States "surrender" to anyone. So the first part of McCain’s demagogic statement is a bald-face lie. His shameful rhetoric should be challenged and condemned by the media and the public every time McCain utters these words.
As Joseph Welch admonished Senator McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy hearings:
"Until this moment, Senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness….
Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator…. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
Who will have the common decency and courage to challenge and condemn the demagoguery of Senator McCain like Joseph Welch, or Edward R. Murrow:
"This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy’s methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."
And just to whom does McCain think the most powerful nation in the world is going to surrender? Are we going to surrender to our puppet regime in Iraq? The democratically elected Shiite-majority Al Maliki government that the U.S. installed?
The Al Maliki government in Iraq also enjoys the support of political groups inside Iran. For all of the Bush administration’s saber rattling about Iran, the fact remains that both the U.S. and Iran support the same Shiite government in Iraq. Are we going to surrender to our soft partner in the region, Iran?
Or are we going to surrender to the offshoot Sunni terrorist group Al Qaida in Iraq (AQI)? U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said on Saturday that AQI has never been closer to defeat. Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll said Sunday that AQI has been put on the run, but retains the ability to carry out high profile terrorism attacks. VOA News – US Military: Al-Qaida in Iraq ‘On the Run’ But Remains ‘Lethal’ Does this mean that Iraq’s security forces are now capable of handling security on their own? And if the surge has been a success as McCain asserts, doesn’t this mean it is time to declare victory and bring the troops home? I recall this was the original promise of the surge as proposed by President Bush.
Are we going to surrender to one of the ethnic or tribal militias in Iraq? This is preposterous on its face.
Saddam Hussein’s military was destroyed in 2003. The U.S. "won" the war a long time ago.
So just who is the enemy, Senator, that we need to "win" against in Iraq? And just who is the enemy to whom you falsely assert that your political opponents will surrender?
More than two-thirds of Americans believe that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was a mistake and they want to bring our troops home. Are the majority of your fellow American citizens also guilty of surrender and treason, Senator?
Please explain yourself, Senator. You owe an apology to your political opponents, all of whom are loyal and patriotic American citizens, and you owe an apology to the American people for your reckless and irresponsible words and conduct. You shame us all with your demagoguery.
"You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"