The Manchurian Listserv

by Ed Driscoll:

“Rev. Wright is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”

There’s an amusing moment in the classic Frank Sinatra/John Frankenheimer original version of The Manchurian Candidate, which you can watch about a minute into this clip:

James Gregory’s Joe McCarthy-inspired character asks his wife, the Red Queen, played by that paragon of eeeeeevil, Angela Lansbury(!), if there a was an easy way to keep track of how many communists he was supposed to claim were working in the Defense Department. The camera then zooms into the Heinz 57 logo on his ketchup bottle, followed by a cut to Gregory in the Senate bellowing, “There are exactly 57 card-carrying members of the Communist Party in the Department of Defense at this time!”

And yes, McCarthy himself famously claimed, “I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy.” (Van Jones and Anita Dunn could not be reached for comment.)

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