Earlier this week, we heard horrified declarations that it would be "McCarthyism" for evil Democrats such as Barney Frank to reveal AIG bonus recipients' names. Some of these complaints came from Rupert Murdoch's cable empire -- among the complainants were Murdoch employees Shepard Smith and Martha MacCallum, while another complaint came from Michelle Malkin, who draws paychecks from Murdoch. Glenn Beck, on Fox, hosted a panel (featuring Malkin and Jonah Goldberg) that decried the new McCarthyism.
Now today I read this in my New York Times:
The A.I.G. executive who was nicknamed "Jackpot Jimmy" by a New York tabloid walked up the driveway toward his bay-windowed house in Fairfield, Conn., on Thursday afternoon. "How do I feel?" said the executive, James Haas, repeating the question he had just been asked. "I feel horrible. This has been a complete invasion of privacy."
Mr. Haas walked on, his pink shirt a burst of color on a slate-gray afternoon. The words came haltingly. "You have to understand," he said, "there are kids involved, there have been death threats. ..." His voice trailed off. It looked as if he was fighting back tears....
Gosh, what tabloid could have committed such a foul, nefarious, McCarthyite deed?
Let's find out!
Why, I'm shocked!
So I guess the Murdochites' problem wasn't with what they call McCarthyism -- their problem was with they consider socialized McCarthyism. Private-sector McCarthyism is just fine.
(I'll amend that statement if any of the above-named condemn the guy who signs their checks for running this article. Crickets, so far.)
*****
I love this from Gawker:
Anyway, the Times' story has precisely one secondhand report of a death threat, one angry neighbor in a driveway and a couple of pissed off Connecticut residents. None of the various Connecticut police departments contacted by the newspaper has heard anything about any sort of danger to these rich guys.
But still, let's feel anxious and a little ashamed of ourselves, on behalf of these wealthy executives. All that stands between them and terrible, fearsome populist mobs are their private security guards, their lawns, their state-of-the-art security systems, several flights of probably marble stairs and the entrenched political/law-enforcement establishment they bought over the past couple of decades, when the gettin' was good.
(Well, it's pretty good now, actually. When they gettin' was amazing.)
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