Steve King & Joe McCarthy?

Joe McCarthy: American Hero?

Wednesday, September 28, 2005
DES MOINES – Adding to his list of extreme and inflammatory comments, Congressman Steve King called Senator Joe McCarthy, whose interrogations of alleged Communists was condemned by the Senate, a “Hero for America”, and called a peace and civil rights activist not “consistent of American values.”

King led the opposition Tuesday to legislation to naming a post office in Berkeley, CA after noted local peace and civil rights activist Maudelle Shirek. Alleging unfounded ties to the Communist Party, King said her background “sets her apart from, I will say, the most consistent of American values.” [AP, 9/27/05]

Congresswoman Barbara Lee, sponsor of the legislation, rejected King’s comments as inflammatory and compared his allegations to that of Joe McCarthy.

The Associated Press reported, “‘I think that if Barbara Lee would read the history of Joe McCarthy she would realize that he was a hero for America,’ King said of the senator who was censured by the Senate for his investigations into alleged communist sympathizers.”

“This is just another example that Steve King is out of touch with reality,” said Iowa Democratic Party Executive Director Mike Milligan. “Joe McCarthy conducted infamous witch hunts in the 1950s which lead to the false convictions of many innocent people. Their actions aren’t what most American’s would consider the values of a hero.”