Red Baiting in the 21st Century

by Mona Shaw

Red baiting in this election is going to get someone killed.

The Red Baiters are getting traction, and it’s leading to things like this gem.

“BTW, If you think we are going to let Comrade Bernie and all of you little communist scumbags turn our country into the USSR, we arent going down without a fight. I think there is a good reason guns are and have been flying off the shelves for the past few years. There is a major storm brewing and people are going to learn what the 2nd Amendment is all about.”

This was posted by a Trump supporter on a Burlington, Iowa, Facebook page in a discussion about Sanders’ candidacy.

The blood this man is threatening isn’t just a wacko Trumpster call to battle. It’s a sentiment that’s being ginned up the Democratic Party establishment.

Every, single, time a Democrat insults Bernie Sanders for being a “socialist,” they trigger this kind of response.  You can’t demonize people for being socialists and not expect a violent response from those inclined to violence.  That’s how hate crimes are motivated.

Even so, the Democratic Party Establishment is wielding the “Better Dead than Red” sword with the ferocity that would leave Joe McCarthy feeling inadequate. Not since the nadir of the 1950s HUAC hearings have we seen such viciousness toward those on the far left.

MSNC pundits like Chris Wallace have compared Sanders supporters to brown shirts who would call for public executions.  James Carville has called for socialist Bernie to be stopped before it’s too late. Michael Bloomberg called Sanders a communist from a public debate stage.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read or heard some Democrat say, “I don’t want socialism,” when Sanders is the topic of conversation.

The irony, of course, is that Bernie Sanders isn’t a socialist at all. He’s a capitalist with a more progressive agenda than centrist Democrats.  His politics are no more “socialist” than were those of FDR.

DNC leadership knows this. Sanders has caucused with Democrats for decades. They’ve appointed him to policy leadership posts.  Sanders has been a darling of the Democratic party. He has been one of the most popular keynote speakers at Democratic Party fundraisers for years. He has faithfully serviced as their favorite sheepdog bringing home the progressive wing of the party.

This makes the DNC more culpable than ignorant Republicans for violence that comes from red-baiting. They know they’re lying.

The more you portray people as a threat to democracy and freedom. The more you accuse them of being dangerous to the public. The more likely someone will believe socialists need to be taken out.

The thing is. There are real socialists in the United States, millions of them. These are kind and decent people who share the belief that capitalism begets suffering, racism, inequality and senseless death.

It is reasonable for real socialists, communists, anarchists and mutualists of any stripe to be alarmed.  What’s next?  Will they be blacklisted again?  Put before tribunals as an enemy of the state again?  Incarcerated?  Or just shot on the street?

If the word “socialist” can be used to interfere in the democratic electoral process of someone who is not a socialist, what’s in store for those who should have the right to espouse actual socialist beliefs? Should they stitch a red patch on their clothing now, or wait until it’s required?