In the original 1962 version of The Manchurian Candidate, a prominent political family is seen clawing its way to political power. Actor Lawrence Harvey plays a soldier in the Korean War who is brainwashed to become an assassin. His mind is controlled by his own mother in a spellbinding performance by Angela Lansbury. She is consumed with Cold War ideology and is convinced that the communists in this country are out to get her.

The story is still fresh and just as meaningful in today's deeply divisive political arena.

The closer we get to November 4, and the worse it looks for Senator John McCain, the more bizarre claims and accusations we hear from the far right about the "anti-Americans" among us.

This is classic us-and-them stuff, and it has become the backbone of the Republican base. Retired Army General Colin Powell raised this point in his endorsement of Senator Barack Obama.

US Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Mathews that she was concerned about Obama's anti-American views. Bachmann suggested that the media should investigate government officials and their pro-or-anti-American positions - an updated version of the McCarthy-era witch hunt during the Red Scare.

Governor Sarah Palin and US Representative Robin Hayes of North Carolina have made similar comments. McCain's rallies began sounding more like a meeting with the Grand Wizard.

Now our own incumbent in the 29th District, Randy Kuhl, is reading from the same talking points, saying that the Democratic majority wants the American public to suffer. It's a spin-off of an earlier claim: Democrats want the US to lose the war in Iraq.

Charming, Randy.