mccarthyism

What does Invasion of the Body Snatchers have to do with the Cold War? Why do so many people know about Ayn Rand? These are just a few of the questions that Village Voice film critic J. Hoberman takes on in his new book, An Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War. Hoberman sat down with Laura for a look at some of those 1950s movies--and some more recent ones--and to discuss the hidden ideology behind monster movies and the not-so-hidden ideology of Ayn Rand movies. They came to work, they didn't come to die. But 100 years ago this week, that's exactly what happened to 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women trapped in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Filmmaker and GRITtv contributor Harry Hanbury checked in on the status of workers safety today and found "Triangle's Echoes: An Unfinished Struggle for Worker Protection, Safety & Health." And Danny Schechter, News Dissector, has some thoughts on the continuing economic crisis, and why we won't see a real solution from centrist politicians. Distributed by Tubemogul.

At what point do we call them the family of mass intimidation and simply stop playing into the Cheney clan's tired old terror tactics? Liz is the latest. Cheney child number one made the headlines this week, with an innuendo-laced video questioning the loyalty of lawyers who represent Guantanamo detainees. "The Al Qaeda 7: Who are they?" Asks the voice on a video released by Cheney's supposedly nonprofit, non-partisan new hit squad. (They call it an advocacy group?)
Liz is playing from a battered old family play book. Shortly after September 11, it was her mother out there, accusing people of lack of patriotism. Lynne Cheney teamed up with Senator Joseph Lieberman to release a report which accused colleges and universities of being the "weak link in America's response" and naming 117 professors and students whom they called "short on patriotism" and "hostile to the US and western Civilization."
Not to be outdone by his women, barely a month has passed between 2001 and today in which Darth Vader patriarch Dick Cheney didn't accuse some Democrat or another of endangering the homeland. The former vice president's training in bait and snitch dates back to the 60s when when he spied on Students for A Democratic Society meetings, jotting down names for his then-boss Donald Rumsfeld in an attempt to cut government funding for public colleges.
Teachers, lawyers, politicians, In case it's not entirely clear, the Cheneys aren't too hot on the independent professions of a free democracy, but they are red hot for the contemporary equivalent of red-baiting and they've gotten it down pat, how to harness money media to do their bidding.
After all, it's thanks to media that it works. Even concerted attacks on campus progressives, lawyers, and political candidates don't successfully discredit their targets without the help of media who carry the allegations and innuendos. Facts be damned, it's the accusations that do the work: intimidating scholars, chilling freedom of expression, driving lawyers and politicians out of the line of fire.
The media - like FOX - who went ahead this week and obediently printed the names of the Cheney-tagged "7" and place the dead horse heads in the beds. Without them, the Cheney mob are simply name-callers.
It's time the media started greeting Cheneyisms with the reaction they deserve. Snore. And most important of all, silence.
The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.