Yes, the Red Scare began as a perfectly justifiable attempt to go after Soviet spies. Then they stretched it to include anyone who belonged to the same political party as Soviet spies. Then they stretched it to include anyone who used to belong to the same political party as Soviet spies twenty years earlier. Then they stretched it to include anyone who'd served on the same committee or signed the same petition or appeared on the same stage as anyone who used to belong to the same political party as Soviet spies twenty years earlier. Then they stretched it to include anyone who didn't show sufficient zeal going after anyone who'd served on the same committee or signed the same petition or appeared on the same stage as anyone who used to belong to the same political party as Soviet spies twenty years earlier. Step by step, each a defensible-seeming escalation of what had come before, we ended up with something so crazy that--you know how sometimes you remember a seemingly small detail because it says so much--a three year old girl working as a model was denied a paycheck because she couldn't sign a loyalty oath.
Did you read the post? It was about how the 1st part of the 2nd red scare was not about spies. There was as yet no public direct evidence of a Soviet spy in America. Instead it was triggered by the reaction to those like Henry Wallace, who had been duped by Stalin into working for him.
Of course McCarthyism was inexcusable and excessive, and not justified. But that lesson was, if anything, over-learned, especially by the far-left, like Oliver Stone who duped many (including a personal friend) into believe that Henry Wallace was right the Stalin was peace-loving and hid the fact that Wallace himself publicized how wrong he had been.
The failure to act responsibly always creates the vacuum that is filled by demagogues. The failure of leadership in both government and business had tragic consequences that should transcend politics. Unfortunately, partisans being what they are, can dismiss the greatest human suffering and mass-murder by pointing to the excesses of the political opposition.
The New York Times coverage of the Ukrainian genocide is only one of many sickening examples. Vasily Grossman finally documented the horror of children forcibly starved by Soviet Collectivism, « have you ever seen the newspaper photos of the children of German camps? They were just like that; their heads like heavy balls on thin little necks, like storks…and the whole skeleton was stretched over with skin like yellow gauze…And by spring, they no longer had faces at all. Instead they had bird-like heads with beaks—-or frogs heads—-thin white lips—-and some of them resembled fish, mouths open…These were Soviet children and those who were putting them to death were Soviet people. »
Covering this horror up won a Pulitzer. Orwell spoke out to little avail. This shame did not prevent our paper of record from soft-pedaling Hiss and his guilt decades later.
Davies, Norman. Europe a History. New York: HarperPerennial, 1998, p. 965.
Yes, the Red Scare began as a perfectly justifiable attempt to go after Soviet spies. Then they stretched it to include anyone who belonged to the same political party as Soviet spies. Then they stretched it to include anyone who used to belong to the same political party as Soviet spies twenty years earlier. Then they stretched it to include anyone who'd served on the same committee or signed the same petition or appeared on the same stage as anyone who used to belong to the same political party as Soviet spies twenty years earlier. Then they stretched it to include anyone who didn't show sufficient zeal going after anyone who'd served on the same committee or signed the same petition or appeared on the same stage as anyone who used to belong to the same political party as Soviet spies twenty years earlier. Step by step, each a defensible-seeming escalation of what had come before, we ended up with something so crazy that--you know how sometimes you remember a seemingly small detail because it says so much--a three year old girl working as a model was denied a paycheck because she couldn't sign a loyalty oath.
Did you read the post? It was about how the 1st part of the 2nd red scare was not about spies. There was as yet no public direct evidence of a Soviet spy in America. Instead it was triggered by the reaction to those like Henry Wallace, who had been duped by Stalin into working for him.
Of course McCarthyism was inexcusable and excessive, and not justified. But that lesson was, if anything, over-learned, especially by the far-left, like Oliver Stone who duped many (including a personal friend) into believe that Henry Wallace was right the Stalin was peace-loving and hid the fact that Wallace himself publicized how wrong he had been.
The failure to act responsibly always creates the vacuum that is filled by demagogues. The failure of leadership in both government and business had tragic consequences that should transcend politics. Unfortunately, partisans being what they are, can dismiss the greatest human suffering and mass-murder by pointing to the excesses of the political opposition.
The New York Times coverage of the Ukrainian genocide is only one of many sickening examples. Vasily Grossman finally documented the horror of children forcibly starved by Soviet Collectivism, « have you ever seen the newspaper photos of the children of German camps? They were just like that; their heads like heavy balls on thin little necks, like storks…and the whole skeleton was stretched over with skin like yellow gauze…And by spring, they no longer had faces at all. Instead they had bird-like heads with beaks—-or frogs heads—-thin white lips—-and some of them resembled fish, mouths open…These were Soviet children and those who were putting them to death were Soviet people. »
Covering this horror up won a Pulitzer. Orwell spoke out to little avail. This shame did not prevent our paper of record from soft-pedaling Hiss and his guilt decades later.
Davies, Norman. Europe a History. New York: HarperPerennial, 1998, p. 965.