In February 1950, a little-known junior senator from Wisconsin entered the fray with his infamous "I Have a List" speech to a Republican Women's Club in Wheeling, W.Va. Although McCarthy's accusations were patently false, Republicans saw him as their ticket to power. He was soon the most sought-after speaker in the nation as he raged against political opponents determined "to reduce security ... to a nullity."
Over the next few years, a growing sense of national anxiety caused Americans to fear Americans and led millions of citizens to confuse panic with patriotism.
Of course, Joseph McCarthy did not invent the use of fear and invective for partisan political gain. As early as 1798, when the United States was on the verge of war with France, bitter political conflict buffeted the nation and called into question the very survival of the Constitution. Although supporters of Thomas Jefferson questioned the need for war, anti-French Federalists warned that "unless the nation prepared immediately for war," it could expect "nothing but bloodshed, slaughter, pillage and a complete subjection to France." President John Adams placed the country in a state of undeclared war against France, and a wave of patriotic fervor swept the nation. The Federalist Congress gave Adams everything he asked for, and the man who had won the presidency only two years earlier by only three electoral votes over Jefferson suddenly became a national hero.
When Jefferson's supporters questioned the president's call to arms, they were charged with dishonesty and disloyalty. Federalist congressman "Long John" Allen questioned whether they loved their country and Federalist congressman William Edmund charged them with being "so degraded" that they were willing to receive whatever "boon we can beg" from the French. In a pattern that has become all too common, Federalists blurred the line between dissent and treason. Congressman Robert Goodloe Harper charged Jeffersonians with attempting to prepare "the people for a base surrender of their rights," and Adams accused them of supporting measures that "would sink the glory of our country and prostrate her liberties at the feet of France." Such people, he observed, were deserving only of "our contempt and abhorrence."
In this crisis, the Federalists saw--and seized--the opportunity to strike a critical blow at their opponents. By discrediting Jefferson as weak in the face of a supposed external danger, the Federalists attempted to entrench themselves as the nation's dominant party. By leveraging a moment of high patriotism, they managed to enact the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 in an effort to cripple forever the party of Jefferson and Madison.
In the "war on terrorism," we once again see the manipulation of fear and the corruption of public discourse in pursuit of partisan gain. Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush warned, in terms strikingly reminiscent of language used by John Adams, "You are either with us or with the terrorists." Although the president was referring specifically to other nations, the underlying message was unmistakable. Shortly thereafter, U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft underscored the point, castigating Americans who challenge the government's policies: "To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies."
As the election nears, the president, Vice President Dick Cheney, and many of their supporters have stepped up their use of the fear card. The vice president's recent assertion that a vote for John Kerry would endanger the nation was part of a cynical campaign to frighten and confound the American people. As former Ambassador James Goodby has written, in the Bush administration, as in the age of the Sedition Act and the era of McCarthy, fear has too often "become the underlying theme of domestic and foreign policy." The "bottom line has been ... 'You are scared--trust us.'"
In our history, such tactics may work for a time, but they always end badly. Joseph McCarthy was eventually censured by the Senate and repudiated by the American people. In the election of 1800, Americans removed John Adams from office, put an end to the Federalist Party, and elevated Jefferson to the presidency.
Sometimes, Americans cannot passively count on judges and legislators to preserve their most fundamental values.
Sometimes, they must do it for themselves.
