Mc Carthyism another lie by the left.

[Ironside]

Well, let me see if I get it straight, Mc Carthy made US aware of the Soviet infiltration threat, but also used the communist label to eliminate political enemies. Correct? That was then spread to a public witch-hunt on a lot of public people that didn't exactly was a threat (they were not Soviet spies or heavy Soviet sympathizers). Correct?

AFAIK, the second part is what Mc Carthyism symbolizes.

So the symbol and the actual figure isn't a 100% match. So what? That isn't exactly unusual, when it comes to symbols.

And the thread has ended up here?

[bmolsson]

I think McCarthy was a closet communist. He acted so much as the homophobians these days.....

[sharrukin]

Well, let me see if I get it straight, Mc Carthy made US aware of the Soviet infiltration threat, but also used the communist label to eliminate political enemies. Correct? That was then spread to a public witch-hunt on a lot of public people that didn't exactly was a threat (they were not Soviet spies or heavy Soviet sympathizers). Correct?

AFAIK, the second part is what Mc Carthyism symbolizes.

So the symbol and the actual figure isn't a 100% match. So what? That isn't exactly unusual, when it comes to symbols.

And the thread has ended up here?

What witch-hunt are you talking about?
AFAIK the only political opponent Mccarthy associated with Communism was a guy endorsed by the Communist party. That was in 1946.

The problem is that there is almost a total disconnect between what happened and the myth.

[Ironside]

What witch-hunt are you talking about?
AFAIK the only political opponent Mccarthy associated with Communism was a guy endorsed by the Communist party. That was in 1946.

McCarthy found a cause. In February 1950, in Wheeling, West Virginia, he made the first of a series of claims that he had the names of "known communists" who were in the employ of the State Department. It was the beginning of a personal witch hunt for communists in the government that lasted for more than five years. McCarthy rarely provided any solid evidence to back up his claims, but in the political climate of the time his accusations and subsequent investigations nonetheless ended many a career and damaged a good number of lives.

After winning re-election in 1952, McCarthy became chairman of the Permanent Investigations Subcommittee, a position he used to launch many of his investigations of government officials and agencies. He did not shy away from questioning the integrity of people such as George C. Marshall, or even President Eisenhower. The latter disliked McCarthy intensely but refused to "get in the gutter with him" and never denounced the senator publicly. However, by 1953 a seemingly out-of-control McCarthy was making many enemies. His investigation of the activities of an Army dentist, Maj. Irving Peress, eventually led to his downfall. In 1954, the Army launched its counterattack, charging that McCarthy was seeking preferential treatment for a consultant, David Schine, who in 1953 had been drafted into the Army. Eventually McCarthy's own subcommittee decided to hold hearings on the matter, the Army-McCarthy hearings. The televised hearings fully exposed McCarthy as irresponsible and dishonest. In December 1954, the Senate voted to censure him. McCarthy never repented, but he quickly descended into irrelevance and alcoholism. He died of a liver ailment in Bethesda, Maryland, on May 2, 1957, at age 47.

From one of Redleg's sources.

McCarthy is often incorrectly described as part of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which is well known for the investigation of Alger Hiss which helped bring Richard Nixon into prominence. HUAC was established in May of 1938 as the "Dies Committee" before McCarthy was elected to the Federal office, and, being a House committee, had no connection with McCarthy who served in the Senate. In 1953, playwright Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, an allegory for McCarthyism. This was probably the primary cause for Miller being brought before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956.

On the witch-hunt. Check out the HUAC...
Another one of Redlegs sources. Both is on the first page.

The problem is that there is almost a total disconnect between what happened and the myth.

Not exactly uncommon. I suspect that it's because McCarthy made the red scare public (it seems so for me atleast), that caused the symbolisation.

[Redleg]

Not exactly uncommon. I suspect that it's because McCarthy made the red scare public (it seems so for me atleast), that caused the symbolisation.

And in this statement I believe you have identified the gist of how the term came about and why only McCarthy is identified. The sad thing about the whole time period is that McCarthy was not the worst of them.

[Slyspy]

Not the worst no, but the first so the name has stuck. If the witch hunts were his legacy then why try to whitewash him in the original article? It has very little relevance now and McCarthy seems to be nobody's hero (except to a certain confused individual who isn't aware that the US actually did "win" the Cold War.