Joseph R. McCarthy Quotes

Note Jenner’s paranoia of an “invisible government”. In the 20th century there were several left wing and right wing conspiracy theories held by the party extremists. This was one of the right wing conspiracy theories. There have been individual members of the US Government—appointees and Civil Servants--, who have been spies and extremists who did not believe in the Constitution. Some of these have been covert and others overt as in the George W, Bush administration where there were a few officials who believed that officials could torture when it was against the law. At no point were these many and in most cases—especially with spies—they never knew each other or communicated. They certainly never could be reasonably be called an “invisible government.” However some extreme leftists have believed that there was a cabal of wealthy men—right wing extremists--who operated such an invisible government. Likewise, there were rightist politicians who believed erroneously that there was such an invisible government implementing Communistic policies. From the 1930s through the 21st century, there were some racists—usually Southerners—who saw all government officials who supported racial equality and integration as Communists and anti-Constitutionalists forming a secret government to racially integrate the country. Those officials were generally not invisible at all, and it was their overt support for an end to racism that made them “subversive.”

The Slavery issue was so contentious that many Northern Congressmen had just given up on the abolitionist cause or never agreed with it even though in many areas of the country the majority of their constituents supported abolition.

McCarthy had turned hyperbole into an art form.

Testifying for air power proponent General Billy Mitchell at his court martial, the Congressman described the quality of Mitchell's superiors:

There are few national organizations who would keep a director who made statements as vicious and racist as this about anyone much less the President of the United States. The use of the Nazi slogan of “subhuman mongrels” was stunning at the time. However, the National Rifle Association is a single issue organization and of the racists and neo-Nazis in America many have affiliated with the NRA so forcing Nugent out would have caused a split in their ranks. The larger problem was for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, running for Governor, who kept campaigning with Nugent and even refused to repudiate Nugent’s language or facts. He too wanted the votes of the racists, KKK and Nazis of Texas and did not want to anger them. However, many of the independents and conservative Democrats who otherwise might have supported Abbot will likely not. One of the biggest problem for every candidate is what to do when one of his extreme supporters makes extreme and reprehensible statements. The strongest candidates repudiate them right away and if that loses a few votes from the base, so be it. The weaker candidates try and play the middle and remain silent. A month later, after a huge press story covered the media, Nugent made a half-hearted apology.

Castigating President Polk for his activities in the Mexican War:

At the time the some conservatives in America were on witch hunts claiming that all sorts of undesirables were “infiltrating” the Federal Government. As we know, in any large population of people, there will be some tall people, some gays, some leftists, some drug users, some creative people, some ultra patriots, etc. The Federal Government has millions of employees. The deduction that if a sex pervert is one of the millions, he is “infiltrating” the government is silly. 60 years later, a few others claimed that Muslims were having children in America to “infiltrate” the nation with terrorist “sleeper agents.” Politicians are a large group and some of them are bound to be fanciful and somewhat paranoid.

In 1936 FDR wanted the FBI to investigate various communist and fascist groups in the U. S. FBI director Hoover informed the President that such an investigation could only take place legally if requested by the Secretary of State who was summoned to the meeting with FDR and J. Edgar Hoover and asked his reaction:

Referring to General and then Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall:

Referring to State Department staff:

Yale University had announced the discovery of a Norse map called the Vinland Map. It was an old Viking map that showed the East Coast of America and Canada as well as Greenland and Iceland. It purported to prove that the Vikings had been to America before Columbus. This was shocking and unbelievable to large numbers of Italian Americans many of whom lived in New York City. Most Italian Americans rejected the possibility that the map could be genuine, but there had to be a reason that it was forged. In the midst of the Cold War, there was an obvious villain and it did not take long before large numbers of people believed and repeated the headline. The quotation shows how rabid the anti-Communism of the Cold War was. The authenticity of the Vinland Map is still debated. Ironically, Columbus—the “discoverer” of America, never got to North America at all. He landed in and captured some islands in the Caribbean. The Daily News was then the largest circulation newspaper in the United States.

Referring to the Supreme Court 5-4 decision—Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission--that allows corporations and rich individuals to spend unlimited amounts of money campaigning to the advantage of particular candidates.