Editor's note: This column first appeared in the Washington Times.

Two actors who are best known for a television sitcom that aired more than a decade ago have found a new lease on life — exposing for all of us of the totalitarian instincts of liberals.

Eric McCormack and Debra Messing of the 1990s TV series “Will and Grace” decided it would be a really good idea to use social media to call for a blacklist of conservatives in Hollywood. Being oh so clever, and knowing exactly what it was they were doing, they opted to couch their fascist instinct as a personal inquiry so that they would know who not to work with.

In response to a Hollywood Reporter tweet announcing that President Donald Trump would be appearing in a Beverly Hills fundraiser in mid-September, Mr. McCormack tweeted, “Hey, kindly report on everyone attending this event so the rest of us can be clear about who we don’t wanna work with. Thx.” Ms. Messing issued her support for the creation of the list shortly thereafter, tweeting the trade magazine should “print a list of all attendees please” adding that “the public has a right to know.”

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The two actors are friends, so it’s not a stretch to believe this to be a dumb but coordinated effort repeating what Rep. Joaquin Castro did in Texas when he released the names and employers of local Trump donors.

Both Ms. Messing and Mr. McCormack are middle-aged. They’re not 20-somethings with no education about U.S. history, which would include the 1950s’ McCarthy-era and the blacklisting of actors and other creative people who were, or just thought to be, associated with the Communist Party.

The good news is they were confronted on social media and on various television programs for the obvious call for a blacklist. After all, there’s only one reason you put out a public call to create a list of people and that is to invite shunning, harassment, and sometimes even violence, against those whom you are targeting.

That didn’t seem to matter until Whoopi Goldberg condemned them both on national television. The cohost of “The View” did something remarkable, not just because of her liberalism, but because she is the only Hollywood liberal, so far, to slam the two actors for calling for something that is, in fact, fascist.

The Hollywood Reporter said, “… Whoopi Goldberg was not pleased that Messing and McCormack would make such a request. In a heated dialogue with fellow panelists Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin, Goldberg said that ‘the last time people did this, it did not end well. … We had something called a blacklist, and a lot of really good people were accused of stuff. Nobody cared whether it was true or not. They were accused. And they lost their right to work. … In this country, people can vote for who they want to. That is one of the great rights of this country. You don’t have to like it, but we don’t go after people because we don’t like who they voted for. We don’t go after them that way. We can talk about issues and stuff, but we don’t print out lists.’”

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Lo and behold after that exchange, Mr. McCormack issued a statement, insisting that he doesn’t support blacklists. Reports were that he was “walking back” his comments, but that’s not entirely accurate. Instead, he insisted he had been “misinterpreted” and that while he doesn’t support blacklists or discrimination of any kind, he added, on Instagram, “I’d simply like to understand where Trump’s major donations are coming from which is a matter of public record. I am holding myself responsible for making educated and informed decisions that I can morally and ethically standby and to do that transparency is essential.”

What utter nonsense. I’m sure if he could have added an insincere confused shrug, he would have.

Ms. Messing, in the meantime, retweeted that, saying she agrees completely. Of course she does. “I couldn’t of said it better,” is how she chimed in on Twitter.

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There is an importance to this charade in that it reveals and confirms what we’ve seen the Democratic Party and liberals as they devolve back into the most natural state of the left — slouching toward the desire to harm, and even destroy, those with whom they disagree.

Keep in mind, the call itself for the creation of a blacklist is actually the totalitarian aspect — an overarching threat meant to frighten and intimidate people from acting on their own personal beliefs, political, social or cultural. It is meant to stomp on the virtual neck of anyone who may dare think for themselves.

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From Rep. Maxine Waters calling for personal direct harassment of Trump supporters, to Mr. Castro, who released the names and employers of Trump donors in Texas, and now for these two sitcom actors calling for a list of political heretics, the point is to frighten, intimidate, bully and threaten people into silence and retreat.

This tells you everything you need to know about the Democratic Party, the liberal establishment and their enforcers, and it is vital you remember in 2020.