Editorial: Critics as ‘communists’

Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 | 5:44 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

January 22 - 23, 2005

"Washington Gone Crazy: Sen. Pat McCarran and the Great American Communist Hunt" is the title of a new book about the red-baiting senator from Nevada in the years 1932 to 1954. Perhaps Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., had just finished reading the book. What else could explain a remark he made last week?

For a story about the $40 million inauguration, and the growing criticism that wealthy people bought influence at the White House through their donations, NBC reporter Lisa Myers sought comment from Gibbons. Bristling, he defended lavish, privately funded inaugurations. "Anybody who is against that obviously must be a communist," he snapped.

He made the remark in all seriousness -- during an inaugural, no less, whose overriding theme was the spread of freedom around the world. For that to happen, the world needs to see an America that practices freedom by being tolerant of criticism. How can Gibbons justify calling people communists for speaking their minds? Just who is acting like a communist here?