Tag: Senator Joe McCarthy

Can they call YOU a terrorist?

Posted on by kathiemm

During the Cold War, people–particularly those who called themselves conservatives–often accused individuals they didn’t like of being “dirty Commies.”

The Senator Joe McCarthy era was a scary time for socialists, liberals, artists, writers—anyone who intimidated the right wing, or made conservatives feel inferior. (A chilling treatment of this era can be found in Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Lacuna.)

The Cold War is over, but the U.S. government, with the help of the right wing, has given us new epithets for people distrusted by the right wing. You know the label—“terrorist.”

Consider the wording of the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act (the Ag-gag laws), passed in Missouri, Iowa, and Utah, designed to stop animal rights and environmental activists from reporting abuses on factory farms:

“Special interest extremists continue to conduct acts of politically motivated violence to force segments of society, including the general public, to change attitudes about issues considered important to their causes. These groups occupy the extreme fringes of animal rights, pro-life, environmental, anti-nuclear, and other movements. Some special interest extremists — most notably within the animal rights and environmental movements — have turned increasingly toward vandalism and terrorist activity…to further their causes.” (quote from pdf document from corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council)

How about YOU?

  • Are you concerned about the treatment of animals in factory farms?
  • Are you concerned about the environment?
  • Do you oppose nuclear weapons?
  • Do you consider yourself a feminist? Beware: that’s all it takes for some people to call you a terrorist.

Don’t let the name-callers intimidate you. Joe McCarthy left Congress in disgrace. Follow the lead of the Montreal Raging Grannies  and support nonviolence, humane behavior, and social justice. Better yet, tell us what you are already doing to make a positive difference in this country and in this world, both now during the season of non-violence and throughout the year.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

More than graduations and weddings

Posted on by kathiemm

June is Torture Awareness Month.

It is a good month to put yourself in the shoes of another, particularly someone who is being tortured. Right now, as you read, in all likelihood someone is being tortured at the behest of the U.S. government.

Have you ever struggled to catch your breath, choked on food or drink “going down the wrong way,” panicked, feared you would die?

How much worse would it be if someone were deliberately drowning you, pouring streams of water over your face as you lay strapped to a board with your hands and feet bound, punching you in the stomach to make you open your mouth and gasp for air?

What would you do in this situation if you were told to name names, any names, or prepare to undergo the procedure again and again and again, each time nearly drowning?

Since 9/11, hundreds if not thousands of people have been arrested and tortured but then released because there was no evidence of any guilt, not even by association.

Remember the McCarthy era and its Cold War paranoia about Communist infiltration? Americans “gave up” names of friends and family members who were no threat to anyone, just to keep their own jobs and to feed Senator Joe McCarthy’s thirst for power.

That was a shameful era in this country, when ordinary people tolerated years of threats to democracy and human rights, personally betraying perfectly innocent others.

Consider how much worse it is today to ignore government-sanctioned torture of other human beings — and to justify that so-called enhanced interrogation in the name of democracy. Is behavior that defies international law and all human rights principles truly a pathway to democracy?

Please check out these resources:

Consciences need exercising. June is a good month to exercise yours.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology