CNN's Soledad O'Brien asked Rep. Allen West to respond to his claim that 78-81 House Democrats were members of the Communist Party. As expected West declined to name names. That this type of foolishness still goes on 60 years after Joe McCarthy is just embarrassing.

The reasons for Allen West to continue saying outrageous things though are obvious enough: rubes in the tea party lap this stuff up, to the tune of $7.5 million for his re-election (and counting), number one by far of any other representative.

Eric Wemple at the Washington Post said Soledad was satirizing West. Could be.

O'BRIEN: "So name names for me. Start naming the 78 to 81…”

WEST: "Oh, we don’t have to."

O'BRIEN: "Oh, we do! I’m dying to know. Which are the members of the…”

WEST: “You can go look up the progressive caucus."

O'BRIEN: “I got ‘em right here!

WEST: "Well then you’ve got the names."

O'BRIEN “So Keith Ellison is a communist? Raúl Grijalva is a communist?”

WEST: “Well, look, I’m just talking about the fact that the ideology and principles — you can call it whatever you want."

O'BRIEN: “Tammy Baldwin is a communist? Judy Chu is a communist?”

WEST: “You can call it whatever you want."

O'BRIEN: “Yeah, but I want to know what you’re calling it."

WEST: “I’m calling it this. Communist, progressive, Marxist, statist, another term being used. I’m looking at things they believe in. If you don’t think we have to stand upon truth and be able to identify and clearly contrast the different principles and values and ideologies of governance here in this country, then we’re never going to get to the fact of accepting the true debate happening in America. We don’t need a bureaucratic nanny state. We need to stay a Constitutional Republic. I think a lot of people need to study that and understand what it is.”

O’Brien then read a statement from the National Communist Party who said West was wrong for calling his colleagues communists.

WEST: “I don’t care what he says".