There's no doubt that Jesus is a socialist, particularly if one adopts the current GOP definition of the term. That is, if one can only figure out what that definition is. "Anyone to the left of Ayn Rand," one might suppose. But if the definition might be lacking, the origins are not. It was a mainstay of the McCarthy Era, and was abandoned by mainstream politicians with McCarthy's ignominious fall, only to be resurrected by Newt Gingrich, back in early 1995, during the heyday of the "Gingrich Revolution":
Speaker Points to 'Socialists'
WASHINGTON, March 8 (AP) -- Mr. Gingrich said today that there were "socialists" on many newspaper editorial boards, and he suggested that businesses reconsider advertising in papers that oppose their views.
"I think it's perfectly legitimate in a free society for people to decide where they'll put their money and their impact," he said in an interview on the Fox television network.
The Speaker declined to identify those he referred to as socialists. But he did say: "I'd be glad to get you a collection of editorials that only make sense if people believe that government's good and the free market is bad. Surely you can't really argue that there aren't a substantial number of news editorial pages that start from an extraordinary pro-government, anti-free-market bias."
You report that Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said there were socialists on many newspaper editorial boards (news article, March 9). Unfortunately for the Socialist Party, Mr. Gingrich has so far declined to identify those he believes to be socialists.
We have long suspected there were many basically in agreement with the goals of democratic socialism, and if Mr. Gingrich would only supply the names, we would be delighted to bill these folks for our dues.
DAVID MCREYNOLDS Co-Chairman, Socialist Party USA New York, March 9, 1995
