Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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After viewing a documentary on Joseph McCarthy, I have a better understanding of the Trump phenomenon.
His appeal, like Donald Trump’s, was to tap into the innermost fears of the American people (in the 1950s, it was communism) rather than their hopes for a brighter future.
McCarthy was aided and abetted by a political party that found his popularity to be in their own best interests, while at the same time abhorring his divisive rhetoric. Sound familiar?
But just as McCarthy overplayed his hand when taking on the U.S. military, Trump has done the same with his belief in unlimited presidential power.
And while McCarthy was eventually done in by his col- leagues, we can only hope that the unraveling of the disgraced ex-president lies in the integrity of the Department of Justice.
The memory of the long-departed Wisconsin senator fades with each new generation. If only the same might one day be said of Trump.
