Pinkos, Pedophiles, and Projection ||Commentary

In the mid-1920s, the term ‘Pinko’ reared its accusatory head. Anyone deemed a sympathizer but not a full-on communist was labeled a pinko—dare I say—semi-communist. The word’s resurgence was on display during the Army-McCarthy Hearings of the 1950s. Then Senator Joe McCarthy of Minnesota brought paranoia to new levels. He accused his political opposition, Hollywood, and writers of being communist and treacherous toward America, reaching such absurd heights that America’s red-headed darling, Lucille Ball, was forced to deny she was a communist. McCarthy worked to convince the country that nobody should Love Lucy. On June 9, 1954, McCarthy‘s unhinged tyranny was finally exposed with the words of Attorney Joseph Welch, “Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness.” Exasperated, Welch continued, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” The painful stain smeared American politics until Archie Bunker made the term—pinko—humorous in the 1970s.

Teaching, which in my life has always been a noble calling, is now being talked about as a hotbed for sexual misconduct. Presently there is a shortage of teachers across America. Teachers are under assault, being called groomers by the MAGA/QAnon wing of Republican theology. There are many reasons for a nearly 300,000 shortage of teachers; Covid, money, and safety, but without merit or evidence, being labeled a pedophile is the most insidious. President Biden has reached the edge of tolerance, watching part of the country ruled by anarchists, liars, and white supremacists.

CNN Republican contributors Alice Stewart and Scott Jennings have been the epitome of projection the past few days, trying to hold Mr. Biden’s feet to the political fire for speaking the truth. Jennings on the Don Lemon Tonight program tried to say Biden is against all Republicans. Still, when challenged to recall a moment when Biden called for no one to vote for a Republican, he reverted to phrases like “what I heard” or what Republicans hear. Alice Stewart, another Republican pundit, used the same tactic on CNN, using the words “what Republicans hear” in response to the commentator asking about Biden’s deliberate distinction between MAGA Republicans and the rest of the party with whom he has worked. That type of projection is stock in trade of a party with no real answers or responses when called out. The great irony for Jennings was after his boyish grin and screed against Biden was met by Mr. Lemon, saying, “Everything you just said applies to Mr. Trump.” Jennings’ bewildered silence was the loudest comment in the room.  

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called for an apology from Biden yesterday in his prebuttal to last night’s speech. His reasoning, “[President Biden] ‘has chosen to divide, demean and disparage his fellow Americans. Why? Simply because they disagree with his policies. That is not leadership,”’ said McCarthy. My response to Mr. McCarthy is, if you are defending insurrectionists, believe white supremacists have a place at the table, or disparaging liars is not wrong, it is not Mr. Biden who owes America an apology; it is you, Kevin.   

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