The Redemption of Joe McCarthy
Senator Joseph McCarthy has been labeled a relentless witch-hunter of Communists. McCarthy believed Soviet (Russian) spies were conducting at will espionage on all levels of American society from high level government down to the everyday citizen of the USA.
Indeed the term named after Senator McCarthy – McCarthyism – probably squelched or stepped on First Amendment rights of Freedom of Speech which by inference means the freedom of the choice of ideology as long as it does not physically harm another citizen.
Therein lay the grey area of McCarthyism. The existence of McCarthyism was due to the well known abuse of Soviet citizens who did not believe in Communist ideology or that the State is supreme and citizens must submit to the will of the State or suffer horrendous consequences that included imprisonment, prison labor camps in freezing Siberia, torture (the kind that makes waterboarding appear like a picnic), feigned psychological treatment and executions.
The old Soviet Union was an enemy of America after WWII because to the Soviet and Maoist agenda to force the globe to live under Marxist/Leninist/Stalinist/Maoist Communism. The Soviets being the premier cult of global Communist power, the Soviet Union bullied independent nations to either join the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR) or institute State Communism under the management of the Soviet Communist Party (this would be the Eastern side of the imaginary Iron Curtain known as Eastern Europe).
Coupling the Soviet agenda with their acquisition of nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction instilled true fear in American culture. In the 1950’s and ‘60’s “Fall Out Shelters” had been built theoretically supplied to allow people to escape and wait for the Fall Out of a nuclear attack to subside. Grade School Children had Nuclear Attack drills which equated to meaningless hiding under their desks. I guess doing something comforted fearful little minds because hiding under a desk within the Fall Out or direct hit of Thermo-Nuclear explosion would not have protected anyone’s life.
American Ballistic Warheads were incredibly accurate however less powerful than Soviet Ballistic Warheads.
Ergo try to imagine the state of mind of American citizens during the Cold War in the 1950’s. Just after WWII which was quickly followed by the Korean War in which General Douglas MacArthur insisted on ending that war with nuclear strikes in China. President Truman fired MacArthur so that no button pushing would happen without Presidential authority. MacArthur was the hero of the Pacific Theater of WWII. It was General versus President on starting a nuclear World War. Although China had nukes their capability was like a fly to America’s fly swatter. Truman’s fear was that the Soviets would be compelled to launch their Ballistic Warheads if America attacked North Korea’s only salvation – Red China.
All this was happening then Joseph McCarthy emerged with evidence of Soviet Agents at the highest level of American government. Of course if the government was infiltrated American Communist sympathizers that supported Left Wing Marxism (some not of the Soviet-kind and some of the Soviet-kind) became the victims of national hysteria.
Some very important and notable people lost their jobs and those that could afford to do so moved abroad outside of the USA. Charlie Chaplin comes to mind in this exodus. And some people lost their jobs for flirting with Marxism in their youth. After all America and the Soviet Union were allies in bringing down Nazi Germany in WWII.
When became evident that the Soviets did not represent Freedom, many a casual flirter with Marxism gave that up and became Democrats and became hard working citizens.
McCarthy began running into trouble, he was stepping on some very powerful toes in government. Eisenhower was definitely an anti-Communist, but to suggest that Soviet Agents operated freely under his Administration did not set well with the elder war hero of WWII.
McCarthy’s sources began to dry up. I don’t know how that happened or who was responsible; however McCarthy knew the Soviets were in a position to greatly damage America’s National Security. So he made a bad choice and began making accusations with the smoking gun proof to back him up.
The enemies of McCarthyism then proceeded to publicly humiliate the Senator as a paranoid witch-hunter of people who did not exist. McCarthy was exonerated of ALL illegal allegations against him; however the US Senate wanted McCarthy blood; thus they censored him rendering McCarthy to the history books as an evil man when indeed he was an American Patriot.
There has been abundant evidence that has proven the McCarthy was not a crack pot. Ironically most of the exonerating evidence has come from old documents of the former Soviet Union.
Here is the thing, you and I were probably raised on large unhealthy dose of history staining Senator Joseph McCarthy as an evil man that ruined peoples lives (especially if you are a baby boomer like me). I even recall seeing old films in Middle School and High School demonizing Joseph McCarthy equating his last name with the practice of smearing a person’s reputation unjustly – McCarthyism. In fact I did a little Googling and discovered this vilification is still occurring as fact in schools and the Slanted Left MSM.
Ann Coulter included the Leftist history revisionism in her book Treason: Liberal Treachery From the Cold War to the War on Terrorism. Coulter defended McCarthy; however she relates that academia vilified her book because of a lack of supposed scholarship in her book. Evidently stuffed shirt Liberals equate biting wit combined with data as unscholarly work.
More recently Coulter has written a column again praising Senator McCarthy; however this time she uses the academic credentials of M. Stanton Evans who has written a 600 page plus book that includes the irrefutable documentation that Leftists could only denounce by what they do best – LIE.
The book Evans wrote is entitled, “Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies.” (Dad/Grandpa is having a birthday soon … hint.)
I highly encourage you to read Ann Coulter’s November 7, 2007 column titled McCarthyism: The Rosetta Stone of Liberal Lies to get a feel for the byzantine US government threat of Communism from the 1930’s through the era of McCarthy in the 1950’s.
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