In 1947, Wisconsin sent to the Senate Republican Joe McCarthy. He was known as “Tail Gunner Joe” for his service in World War II where he volunteered to serve as a Marine. Bless him for that. Beyond that point however….

McCarthy was a keen political animal playing off the fears of his time. He saw “communists” everywhere. In the 1950’s a new political phrase entered the lexicon, “McCarthyism” which stands for demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents. He of course went after those in the Truman administration. However, he also went after fellow Republicans in the Eisenhower administration. It was the height of the cold war. People saw communists everywhere. So Joe started his “Anti-American Activities” committee in the Senate that he used as his platform to the American people to demonstrate how he was personally keeping the country safe from communists. He played to the lowest common denominator; clueless, intellectually lazy people who only believed what they were told without actually thinking anything through. Much like today’s Tea Party.

For the first three years of his term, he garnered little attention until 1950 when he declared there were communists in the State Department. He said it had been infiltrated. Throughout his remaining years in the Senate he provides no proof that supported his accusations. He was successful in ruining the careers of government servants both military and civilian, but found no communists. Joe had no facts, only rumors and innuendo. But he made a lot of it until it all came crashing down on him.

In the Army McCarthy Hearing of 1954, the press finally came after him and then there was this famous episode in our governance that had reverberations for generations to come.

On December 2, 1954 Joe McCarthy was censured by the Senate in a vote of 67 to 22. Though he remained in the Senate, his career ended. He was seen for the swine he was. He died three years later in Bethesda Hospital of acute hepatitis exacerbated by alcoholism.

Fast forward to 2012 and Texas Tea Party Darling Senator Ted Cruz. He was born in Calgary Canada to a Cuban father and American mother. He entered the United States when he was four years old. His family was in the oil business. He went to Princeton and got his law degree from Harvard. He clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist and eventually made oral arguments for the Heller case before the Supreme Court that resulted in a new interpretation of the 2nd Amendment that indicated that U.S. Citizens did have a right to own a gun. However, as Justice Scalia indicated in his majority opinion, even this right can be regulated. He is a Tea Party darling and came to the Senate from Texas in 2012. He has extreme right wing views and has recklessly attacked not only Democrats in the Obama administration, but Republicans too, like Joe McCarthy.

In the two months as a Senator, he has:

●been one of three senators to vote against confirming fellow Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as secretary of state.

●expressed “deep concerns” with a bipartisan immigration-reform blueprint crafted by, among others, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla).

●introduced his first bill, to “repeal every last word of Obamacare.”

●tangled with Rahm Emanuel over the Chicago mayor’s “bullying campaign” to have the city’s pension funds divest their investments in gun manufacturers.

And most notably, as a member of the Armed Services Committee, even though he never served in the military, he’s gone after Vietnam War Veteran and Hero, Republican Chuck Hagel over his nomination for Secretary of Defense. He also besmirches fellow Vietnam War Hero John Kerry. Odd that a man too cowardly to serve the country he claims to love has the audacity to impugn the honor of those who volunteered service in Vietnam. Here is a snippet of what Cruz had to say on the record in the Senate in a very McCarthy like manner:

And here is what Ted Cruz had to say about both John Kerry and Chuck Hagel as presented and commented by David Pakman

Cruz, like McCarthy has no facts to back any of his accusations. Only accusations. Much like McCarthy, its innuendo, speculative and wouldn’t hold up in Court. You would think a lawyer would know that. He even acknowledges he has no evidence in his accusations against Hagel. He is drawing complaints from Democrats and some mild complaints from some Republicans, but nothing substantial. Even today, Senator Marco Rubio called Cruz “a superstar.”

Cruz is a bully and is on his way in becoming far worse than McCarthy. He is an extremist who only is in it because playing to extremist makes him powerful in Texas and the Tea Party Movement. He cares not for the truth or who he hurts in his quest for glory and power. It’s a damn shame our “liberal media” doesn’t have the balls to call this man out for his reckless behavior on the Senate Floor and that Harry Reid doesn’t begin Censure hearings against Cruz for his inappropriate and fact less attacks on American Citizens in the same way Joe McCarthy dishonored the Senate and the American people.