What's in a Name?

Our father Henry (1915-2002) spent the first 42 years of his life bearing the family name “Schimberg.” Rather late in life, he got a bee in his bonnet to contact another Henry Schimberg . . . the president and CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises, the largest bottler of Coca Cola on the planet. His purpose? To find out if perhaps this Schimberg was related; after all it’s not a terribly common last name. After convincing the corporate magnate’s secretary that his call was not for purposes of putting the bite on her enormously wealthy and charitable boss, Dad was eventually put through, and the two Henrys had a brief but pleasant chat. It turned out that not only was the head of Coca Cola not a דאַמסלאַנ (lahntsman); he wasn’t even Jewish. (It is likely that the only possible connection would be geographic: Schimberg is a tiny (11.3 sq. miles) municipality in the district of Eichsfeld in Thuringia, Germany. And, so far as we know, our Schimbergs originally came from Germany.)

Then there are last names which are so omnipresent - like Smith, Jones, Brown, White, and McCarthy - that few would ever engage in a search to determine whether a person was a distant relation. The last of these names - McCarthy - is appended to my brief list not because it is so all-fired commonplace, but because of two politicians - one active, the other deceased - who share a haunting number of political traits. The first is the current House Minority Leader, California Republican Kevin O(liver) McCarthy, who wants nothing more than to become Speaker of the House; the second is the late senator from Wisconsin, Joseph R(aymond) McCarthy, who at one time was likely the best-known and most feared politician in America. Besides the obvious - sharing a last name - the two have other similarities:

Both are/were more than willing to change their political position, interests and stances, to achieve their ultimate goals.
Neither made so much as a blip of the legislative radar;
Both, despite their seeming political bravado, were essentially cowards;
Neither was particularly well-liked nor respected by their colleagues.

Joe McCarthy (1908-1957), whose first political nickname was “Tail-gunner Joe,” went from one issue to another before landing on his “The State Department is filled with Communists traitors” meme. When it was proven that he had essentially lied about his war-time achievements, he switched his energies to fighting against the continuation of wartime price controls, especially on sugar. His advocacy in this area was associated by critics with a $20,000 personal loan McCarthy received from a Pepsi bottling executive, thus earning the Senator the derisive nickname "The Pepsi-Cola Kid."

From there McCarthy lobbied for the commutation of death sentences given to a group of Waffen-SS soldiers convicted of war crimes for carrying out the 1944 Malmedy massacre of American prisoners of war. McCarthy was critical of the convictions because the German soldiers' confessions were allegedly obtained through torture during the interrogations. During this time, a poll of the Senate press corps voted McCarthy "the worst U.S. senator" currently in office. It is likely that McCarthy’s inherent anti-Semitism had much to do with taking this weird stance; McCarthy frequently used anti-Jewish slurs, received enthusiastic support from anti-Semitic politicians, and, according to friends, would frequently display his copy of Mein Kampf, stating, "That’s the way to do it.” Then too, many of his targets during the Communist Witch Hunt period of his career, were Jews. Censured by the Senate, McCarthy would go through a brief downward spiral of extreme alcoholism and morphine addiction; he died at age 48. In the special election that followed, Wisconsin State Assembly member William Proxmire, who would remain a senator of prominence for the next 32 years took the seat. Proxmire (1915-2005) was best known for his monthly “Golden Fleece” awards. (Ironically, McCarthy was sandwiched in between two progressives of historic import: Senator Robert “Fighting Bob” LaFollette and the aforementioned Proxmire).

Rep. Kevin O. McCarthy and Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy

Like Joe McCarthy, who believed in precious little besides furthering his career, the current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is a man who floats with the political breeze. He is the epitome of an institutionalist; one who has spent virtually his entire professional career in politics; first as a longtime (1987-2002) aid to California Representative Bill Thomas, then as a three-term member of the California State Assembly (2002-06), where he was known as a moderate, and finally as a member of the House (2007-present). He has, for the most part, been a down-the-line conservative (pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment, anti healthcare etc.) who has rapidly made his way up the leadership ladder. Like his earlier namesake, he has not been known as a legislative powerhouse. He has gotten to where he is by carrying political water for those above him. He is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and has, on occasion, been guilty of committing what is known as the “Kinsley gaffe,” (defined as when a politician accidentally tells the truth; it is also known as “the gift that keeps on giving”).

McCarthy’s most notable gaffe occurred back in September 2015, when, in an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity, McCarthy was asked what Republicans had accomplished in Congress. He replied by talking about the House special panel investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack (in which Islamic militants attacked the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya). Republicans said the purpose of the government-funded committee was purely to investigate the deaths of four Americans. But McCarthy told Hannity on nationwide television, "Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she's untrustable [sic]. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought." This comment was seen as an admission that the investigation was a partisan political undertaking rather than a substantive inquiry. Oops!

Kevin McCarthy was an early and steadfast supporter of Donald Trump. As part of the Republican leadership team in the House, it fell to him to keep his colleagues unified and supporting virtually everything the president said or did. In September 2015, Speaker John Boehner announced that he was handing in his gavel . . . immediately. McCarthy announced his candidacy for the position but soon came to understand that he would not have the 218 votes required to win. Why? Likely his “Kinsley gaffe” about Benghazi played a role. Then too, he was accused of having an affair with North Carolina Representative Renee Ellmers. Despite the fact that both publicly denying the charges, word got around the Republican Caucus that “any candidates for a leadership position with misdeeds should withdraw from the race.” Paul Ryan wound up becoming Speaker and McCarthy his chief deputy.

Not surprisingly, McCarthy wholeheartedly backed President Donald Trump’s ludicrous claim that the 2020 election had been stolen from him by the Democrats. Following the January 6, 2021 insurrection, he said that ". . . as a nation, we all have some responsibility for the event.” A week later he said that Trump "bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters, and that “He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.” Nonetheless, McCarthy did not vote to impeach Trump for a second time, instead calling for a censure resolution against Trump for his role in the attack. Shortly thereafter, McCarthy went to visit the former POTUS at his Mar-a-Lago residence and recanted. Officially, the topic was said to be "regaining the lost votes in the midterm elections of 2022", but it was widely reported as an attempt to mend fences with Trump and lessen tensions in the Republican Party.

Since that meeting, McCarthy has been carrying Trump’s water, kept silent about the anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and other pro-violence comments and videos of his party’s lunatic wing - Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, and the latest, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who tweeted a Christmas photo of his family this past Saturday in which they’re all holding automatic weapons and smiling in front of a Christmas tree, with the caption: “Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo,” days after a mass shooting at a Michigan high school.

Most recently, the Minority Leader gave a lengthy, rambling speech on the House floor, holding up passage of the historic “Build Back Better Act” by nearly nine hours. (The House, unlike the Senate, does not permit filibusters. What it does have is the so-called “magic minute,” wherein House leaders are generally allowed to take as long as they want when recognized for one minute of floor time.) Speaking on everything from Socialism and the Southern Wall to Covid-19, masks and climate change (none of which he believes is real) McCarthy gave what MSNBC’s Hayes Brown called “both a masterful summation of the state of his caucus and a fitting distillation of his leadership style.”

When all is said and done, McCarthy’s true aim was not to kill the Democrat’s massive public works bill - passage of which was a foregone conclusion- but rather to prove to his caucus that he was “Trumpy” enough to warrant becoming the next Speaker of the House.

If ever there was a reason to keep House leadership out of the hands of the Republicans, it would have to be Kevin McCarthy. While perhaps not as manaical as Joseph R., Kevin O. is even more dangerous, for unlike the Republicans of the fifties who did have a few dozen with guts and an ability to separate lunatic fiction from legal fact, today’s crew has nary a one . . . and seems more than capable of driving America off the cliff.

If we must have another Kevin McCarthy, might I suggest exhuming the remains of that grand actor who graced the Broadway Boards and the Hollywood screen for more than 70 years. (Most notably, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Best Man and Big Hand for a Little Lady on screen and Two for the Seesaw, Advise and Consent and Give ‘em Hell Harry!” on Broadway. For not only was he a highly literate and charismatic progressive, he was the brother of a great writer (Mary McCarthy, author, most notably of The Group), and cousin of Senator Eugene “Clean for Gene” McCarthy.

About the only thing these two McCarthys have in common is a great head of grey hair . . .