COMMUNISM! Boo!

 

“Have you no sense of decency, sir?
At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
Joseph N. Welch to Senator McCarthy,
on the floor of the Senate.

COMMUNISM! Boo!

by Alfred Lehmberg

A furiously frothy MAGA Mike Johnson, House Speaker—takin’ a break from checking his porn monitor and quite simply beside himself—railed, pissed, and moaned, where it could be heard, that evil Communism was in our very home! New York mayor Mamdani, he warned, was a “socialist dagger” pointed at the throat of America, and “Mini‑Mamdani” clones were “already springing up” across the United States like little cancers and festering blights! Anxious stuff, boy howdy!

...But here’s the rub: most people couldn’t tell a Democratic Socialist (Bernie Sanders) from a National Socialist (Adolf Hitler), define “socialist,” itself, distinguish it from fascism, capitalism, or the dreaded bug‑a‑boo (cue ominous music!) COMMUNISM! …And that’s the point. It doesn’t have to be factual, authoritative, or even rational! It just has to be a “bug‑a‑boo”—preferably three syllables. You know, like Benghazi. Solyndra. Antifa. George Soros. Social‑ist. Rad‑i‑cal. Il‑le‑gals. Toxic catchphrases of that disingenuous ilk, and used by a disingenuous ilk in support of disingenuous ilk!

So let’s evaluate this right‑wing bug‑a‑boo for what it is: a dodge, a distraction, and ultimately a disservice. What else could it be? It’s not truth!

…But wait—how many times, and when, has the Angry American right trumpeted warnings of “COMMUNISM!” whenever it starts looking like Social Democrats might hold legitimate sway? Well… it’s worse than you’d have thought, and shameless for the effort.

This is one of those questions where the pattern is the answer—because the American right has warned of “communism” or “creeping socialism” so many times, across so many eras, that it becomes a kind of political reflex of anxious panic. Their insentient go‑to. And why? To keep your money flowing upward to the billionaire class. No surprises there!

Below is the structured historical rundown—the fossil record—showing when and how these warnings have been deployed whenever Social Democrats, progressives, lefties, or even mild reformers begin to gain any, and justifiable for that, remember, any influence in public affairs.

1. The First “Red Scare” (1917–1920) …Angry Trumpets are sounded!

The trigger? Labor movements, unionization, and mild social-democratic reforms. Today’s citizen has no idea the hellscape poor white citizenry endured back then! The Right-wing’s disingenuous warnings?  “Bolshevism is coming to America”!!! “Labor Strikes” = communist plotage!!! Immigrants = communist infiltrators!!! This was only the first major instance of “communism” being used as a blanket warning against any left-leaning policy, however moderate!

 2. The New Deal Era Scare (1933–1945) …Gird responsible loins!

Trigger: FDR’s Social Democratic reforms — Social Security, labor protections, public works. Right-wing warning? FDR is a “dictator”!!! The New Deal is “creeping socialism”!!! Social Security = communist redistribution!!!

Business lobbies and conservative politicians used “communism (!)” as the label for any expansion of the “welfare state.” …Welfare State will be heretofore defined as a State concerned with the SENTIENT general “welfare” of its citizenry. Not its coddling. Not its babysitting. Not its enslavement!

3. The Second “Red Scare” / McCarthyism (late 1940s–1954). …“Have you no shame, Sir?”

Trigger? Truman’s Fair Deal, civil rights stirrings, and postwar labor strength. Right-wing warning: Democrats infiltrated by communists!!! Civil rights activism = communist agitation!!! Social Democrats in Europe = proof that America was “next”!!!

This is the era that cemented “communism” as a catch-all accusation of liars, cheats, and thieves to besmear the correct, right, and just!

4. Civil Rights Movement Scare (1955–1968) …We shall overcome!

Trigger? Social Democrats and progressives pushing racial equality. Right-wing warning: MLK and civil rights leaders = communist agents!!! Desegregation = communist destabilization!!! Voting rights = communist takeover!!! Oh, the pearls so jealously clutched!

The FBI itself used this very framing!

5. The Great Society scare (1964–1968) …Mammals considered over Reptiles!

Trigger? Medicare, Medicaid, anti-poverty programs. Right-wing warning: “Welfare state = socialism”!!! Medicare = “socialized medicine”!!! LBJ = “soft on communism”!!!

This rhetoric was used heavily by Goldwater conservatives. Goldwater wanted to nuke Vietnam!

6. The 1970s–1980s (Carter and early Reagan era) …Fairness is dealt a lethal blow!

Trigger? Environmental regulation, consumer protection, and détente. Right-wing warning: EPA = communist-style central planning!!! Consumer safety laws = socialism!!! Carter’s diplomacy = “appeasement of communists”!!!

Even Jimmy Carter’s solar panels were called “communist nonsense.”

7. Clinton Era (1993–2001) …And why they hate Hillary!

Trigger? Healthcare reform, gun control, and globalization. Right-wing warning: Hillarycare = “socialized medicine”!!! It was precisely this that started her problems with the GOP, and their fallacious persecution of her ongoing to this very DAY! Assault weapons ban = communist-style disarmament!!! UN cooperation = “global communism”!!!

Unregulated Talk (HATE!) radio and FOX News, et al, amplified all this dramatically.

8. Obama Era (2009–2017) …No, you won’t!

Trigger? ACA, stimulus, auto rescue, Dodd–Frank, and multiculturalism. Right-wing warning: Obama = socialist/communist!!! ACA = “government takeover”!!! Bank regulation = Marxism!!! …Even the tan suit, remember the tan suit…. It was all the right had; they said it was “communist chic.” … Effin’ Morons.

This was one of the most intense periods of “communism” rhetoric since McCarthy! All of it Bull shiznit, just dusted off for use in the 21^st Century. Apparently, we still have no shame!

9. Biden Era (2021–2024)

Trigger? Infrastructure spending, student debt relief, climate policy, and pandemic response. Right-wing warning: Biden = socialist puppet!!! Mask mandates = communist control!!! EV incentives = “green communism”!!! Social Democrats in Congress = “Marxist caucus”!!!

The term “communism” is now applied to everything from public health, through sentient legislature, to electric stoves. No Communist worries in Republican administration, boy howdy! No, that will be when the fascist billionaire Epstein class is in charge!

10. The pattern across all eras… Whenever: Social Democrats gain influence, progressive reforms appear, or government expands services, the American NAZI and psychopathic right reliably deploys: “communism,” “socialism,” “Marxism,” “collectivism,” “tyranny,” and “dictatorship”… It’s a century-long rhetorical tradition of hypocrisy and self-serving mendacity, only! It is not a specific analysis. It is only a stupid mnemonic device to distract and besmear the legitimate and righteous!

At the end of the day? The right has warned of “communism” in every major era that Social Democrats or progressives begin to hold sway! This is from 1917 to 2026! It’s not tied to specific policies so much as it is to any movement toward collective action, regulation, or social welfare. Billionaires don’t pay taxes! It’s the law. A joke, but that’s not far off the mark.

See! This is the full “Communism (!) BOO!” pattern laid out in one place. It’s structural, reflexive, continuous, AND?! It's...

...PREDICTABLE. 

Then, it’s a disingenuous lie…

We’re reacting now to the realization that the American right has been running the same duplicitous, dissembling, and hollow-hearted script for more than a century—and that script predates even the effin’ Cold War! It’s older than McCarthy! It’s older than the Soviet Union’s collapse! It’s older than the modern GOP! It’s practically baked into the lurid and duplicitous DNA of American conservative rhetoric!

And when you see it all at once, the continuity of it is… revolting.

Let me give the patient and concerned reader the distilled insight—the one that explains our outrage!

Revealed! The glad American right has used “communism” as a panic button for every leftward motion since 1917. Not sometimes. Not often. Not during crises. ...Always!

Whenever: labor organizes, workers demand rights, minorities demand equality, government expands services, regulation increases, social welfare grows, or Social Democrats gain influence… the right deploys the same sick, demented, and mendacious gimmick:

“Communism is coming”!  …Well, not so much, scroller… ever!

It’s not analysis. It’s not ideology. It’s not policy critique. It’s conditioning—a century-long Pavlovian reflex imposed by the tyrannical wanting to make us all wage slaves sans healthcare, affordable housing, or clean air and water! Republicans take us for Pavlov’s dogs… they’re largely correct about that…

Why it feels worse now?

Because we’re able to see the false-fronted continuity across eras:

• 1917: unions = communism
• 1933: Social Security = communism
• 1955: civil rights = communism
• 1965: Medicare = communism
• 1993: healthcare reform = communism
• 2009: Obama = communist
• 2021–2026: masks, EVs, stoves, vaccines, infrastructure = communism
• Constructive Social Evolution = COMMUNISM!

It’s not just worse—it’s unchanged. It’s a broken record of one-trick ponies! Then? It’s stupid! The rhetoric is so repetitive that it becomes a kind of nasty-smelling right-wing political flatulence!

The kicker—the part that hits hardest?! The American right has warned of “communism” more often than actual communists have actually existed! True story! Talk about the boy who cried wolf, eh? …And the Republi-tard “hunter” STILL comes runnin’!

That’s why our reaction is what it is. We’re not shocked by the existence of the pattern, so much, although that’s pretty nasty, too. No, we’re shocked by the scale of it—the sheer number of times it has been deployed, the breadth of rationally reasonable policies it has been applied to, and the fact that it has been used to oppose everything from racial equality, through sexual emancipation, to public health, just to start! Evil by any other name…

We’re reacting to the horrific and hysterical historical absurdity of it!

And yes—knowing it —that absurdity hits even harder. It all comes down to choice, friends and neighbors… Well, scroller, "Choice" and "November" LOOM! Have a plan to vote.