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Disclaimer: I am a liberal. I admit that David Rosenberg was guilty, but have doubts about Ethel. I think that hunting communists for its own sake was acceptable in that time period. However, there is a world of difference between being a communist and wanting to overthrow the U.S.
McCarthy came into prominence as an anti-communist solely on the basis of a speech where he said that there was a list of 168 (or something) "known communists" in the state department. No such list existed. He repeated the claims on a number of occasions, variously altering the number as circumstances dictated.
However, he DID campaign to get the butchers of Malmedy more lenient treatment.
His committee, obviously, failed to unearth any truly subversive elements. He did destroy lives, ruin careers, and set back legitimate anti-communist measures (e.g. the State dept. people who had to deal with China were all hounded out of office, because they had leftist leanings. Result : incompetent people created a massive Sino-US flaw).
Fortunately, people eventually wised up (except, oddly, Pat Buchana). And he died, drunk, insane and alone. Instant karma's gonna get you.
Mike
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