McCarthy States Objection to Supporter’s Remarks

Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy has formally stated his objections to comments, made at a dinner to raise money for his U.S. Senate campaign, likening American military policy to Nazi Germany’s policy of extermination and comparing Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to Jesus Christ.

In a letter to an organizer of the fund-raising event, McCarthy reacted to remarks made by Helen Caldicott, an Australian-born crusader against nuclear weapons, who spoke at a fund-raising event last Thursday to help McCarthy’s bid to unseat Republican Sen. Pete Wilson.

At the event, McCarthy offered a hasty disclaimer, saying that Caldicott expressed herself differently from the way he would, but he did not go into particulars.

His letter, dated the next day, offers more detailed and forceful objections. McCarthy wrote the letter to Lila Garrett, a television producer and an official of Voters to End the Arms Race, the group that organized the dinner.

“In particular,” McCarthy wrote, “I was deeply concerned by Helen’s comparisons of American policy makers to Nazi war criminals. I believe that the Holocaust stands alone in history as an evil, shameful scar. . . . I am sure that this was not Helen’s intent, but to compare the evils of Nazi Germany with any current American leaders and their actions does a grave injustice to Hitler’s victims and their survivors. . . .”

McCarthy said that, while Gorbachev represents a “considerable improvement over his predecessors, I do not agree with any favorable comparison between Gorbachev and Jesus Christ.”

But McCarthy also stated in the letter that he was gratified by Caldicott’s support. “I have deep admiration for her dedication to world peace,” he wrote.

McCarthy’s letter is dated April 8, three days before Sen. Wilson issued a sharp rebuke and called on McCarthy to explain how he differs from “the radical and misguided views of Helen Caldicott. . . .”

McCarthy responded Monday to Wilson’s statement, saying that he believes in a strong defense and adding that “I think we can all agree that certain weapons should be abolished, particularly the loose cannons and smoke bombs so prevalent in the Wilson campaign.”