But today's GOP talking points are so dynamic (and not credible) that even when the current talking point veers into McCarthyism, its life is mere seconds.
From Crooks and Liars, a GOP talking point aimed at a less-than-brilliant segment of the viewership in a market in Florida has "Joe Biden (sitting) down for an interview with Florida television anchor Barbara West (last) Thursday," getting hit "by a barrage of Sean Hannity's talking points."
Interviewer: You may recognize this famous quote: 'From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.' That's from Karl Marx. How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?
Biden: Are you joking? Is this a joke?
Interviewer: No
Biden: Is that a real question?
Interviewer: That's a real question.
Before asking 'who the hell is Florida television anchor Barbara West and can she really be that stupid', consider this truism from polls measuring American pulbic opinion:
(The) belief in the basic moral principles of traditional socialism is
surprisingly high: to mention merely one example, almost half the population consider the phrase 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his need' to be such an obvious truth that they attribute it to the U.S. Constitution, a text taken to be akin to Holy Writ.
- Noam Chomsky
I can't find a cite for that often quoted illustration of the political ignorance of the American public, but it's not controversial. [I think I first read it in Right Turn: The Decline of the Democrats and the Future of American Politics (1987)by Thomas Ferguson and Joel Rogers.]
The foolish GOP talking point aside, there does exist quasi-Democratic-socialistic sentiments among the American population. I mean look at the popularity of Social Security and Medicare, and national health care.
And the fact is that the injection of $100s of billions into the high-tech private sector that has been a staple of the American economy for many decades combined with the more naked bailouts likely had more than a few people scratching their heads over the GOP branding Obama as a socialist, Marxist, or whatever.
America has been and is a mixed socialized system; its resources just have not been aimed at the masses so very much.
Truly exciting times we live in, and as Molly Ivins would point out: Great for a laugh, and that goes triple for Florida television anchor Barbara West.
[Note: Shot is of Joe McCarthy's grave in Appleton, Wisconsin and the writer paying his respects.]
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