A day after the start of the partial government shutdown, author and ex-Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein ripped into the Republicans on the October 2 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe: “Eric Cantor and his Republican Party are the most dangerous demagogic force in American politics since Joe McCarthy. And that’s what this is about. And it’s about the parts of the Republican Party that are willing to appease this awful force. And I think what we’re seeing is a redefinition and understanding of Barack Obama’s presidency, which is to protect the national security from this dangerous demagogic element that is on the precipice of really having a kind of power that’s ruinous in America and ruinous to democracy.”
