A Return to McCarthyism

Scary times in America.

Witch-hunts and tireless crusades against America's enemies abound.

Lives destroyed and ruined.

Terror in the streets.

Folks looking suspiciously at other people, wondering...worrying...fearful and anxious.

Could he be one?

She looks like one to me....

I bet they're all like that.

Yes....hard times for folks who wanted to speak their mind in a land seized by terror.

Hard times, indeed...

All because of one surly-little insolent asshole, which my pal Brian reminded me of recently.

Now...Charlie McCarthy managed to inflict his own brand of puppet terror for decades...and was a "co-host" of a TV show called Do You Trust Your Wife? which was later taken over by a little-known newcomer named Johnny Carson.

But I'm talking about a different terror today, depicted in the film Good Night, And Good Luck.

It seems that hunka-hunka burning love George Clooney has decided to make his own movie about another scary McCarthy - namely Senator Joseph McCarthy - and I admit I cannot wait to see it. George Clooney is hot, dude! Plus, a little history never hurt anybody, huh?

And while part of me would rather see a movie-version of little Candace Bergen having her Karen Black Trilogy of Terror Moment with a Charlie McCarthy version of that scary-ass Zuni doll, I suppose a film that talks about politics, responsible journalism, celebrity and a nation seized by fear is relevant and stuff, too...

As crazy at it seems, at one point in our past, celebrities, writers, artists and commentators were being defamed for having opinions that differed from the administration of the day.

We're talking about folks like Arthur Miller, Paul Robeson, Charlie Chaplin, Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett.

Clooney claims they were blacklisted, berated and humiliated in public just for having and expressing their opinions.

Isn't that just too weird to conceive?

I guess in times like these -- like way back when -- having your own opinion can get you into trouble.

The question I raise today is would you rather be speaking your own mind or would you rather be someone else's puppet?

That's the thing about being a mouthpiece -- whether you're the asshole-in-charge or simply the one spouting out other folk's words.

You're never quite sure if the words you say are truly your own.