In Vermont, Shades of McCarthy

[marmar]

from In These Times:



In Vermont, Shades of McCarthy
The state’s Republican candidate for governor waves a bogus list—but this time the enemies are prisoners, not communists.

By Terry J. Allen


At a September 23 debate, Republican candidate for Vermont governor Brian Dubie waved a sheaf of 8.5 x 11 printouts in the air. He announced he was holding a “list” of inmates “who need to be incarcerated,” and said his Democratic rival Peter Shumlin’s proposed corrections reform plan would free the criminals. Fanning the papers, Dubie charged:

“These are the 780 individuals that are on that list. On this list there are people that deal with pornography with children. There are drug dealers. There’s a comprehensive list of who these people are. That’s what my ad says. That’s what the list is.”

Watch the video: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/6513/in_vermont_shades_of_mccarthy


Sixty years earlier, another man waved papers, declaring: “I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who are still working and shaping policy in the State Department.”

Sen. Joseph McCarthy never made his list public, but repeatedly insisted it was real, and named card-carrying communists who threatened America’s security. History guesses, but cannot prove, that McCarthy’s list never existed.

But soon after Dubie’s list maneuver, it emerged that the papers he brandished were not what the candidate claimed. The document did not contain 780 inmate names. It was not a list. It was simply a printout explaining state statutes. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/6513/in_vermont_shades_of_mccarthy

[bluerum]

1. that crap goes over like lead ballons in Vt.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I thought that this was about Eugene McCarthy.

In 1968, as kids in Vermont, we had a mock election and Eugene McCarthy won, hands down... :)

[no_hypocrisy]

3. McCarthy could have easily been talking about the U.S. Chamber Commerce in 2010.

[nashville_brook]

4. +1