Thank you, Senator McCarthy

[theoldwolf]

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This insanity touched the lives of so many, particularly in the entertainment industry. Like so many others, my father was blackballed during the McCarthy era and lost several years of work. Only by dint of diligence was he able to get his name cleared.

What disturbs me is that I see such sentiments beginning to surface in our society once again. As a race, humans are abysmally slow to learn.

Comments

[dhlawrence.livejournal.com]

It's been said that towards the end of his time as senator nobody would talk to McCarthy on Capitol Hill. He had accused almost all of them so he wasn't exactly blessed with friends.

In his defence (never thought I'd say that) he stuck to politicians. Someone else took up the banner for Hollywood, though the two phases have both picked up the McCarthyism label. Small matter; they're interchangeable.

[ccdesan.livejournal.com]

Point well-taken, but as you mentioned, the devastating effect was the same.

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

I understand that McCarthy did discover a number of actual subversives, giving him probably a better success rate than the Salem investigators. Alas, that's how he got as far as he did in bad ways.