Replies

Tail-gunner Joe may not have been an attractive figure but he was more of a war hero than LBJ by light years and he had very good sources on communists within the US government. That is why two administrations from both parties wanted him to shut up. The personnel security program got rid of most of the obvious commies and scared a lot of others out of the government. Neither Truman, marshal, or Eisenhower wanted the real size of commie infiltrtration of government from 1933 to 45 to be discussed. It would have produced a real convulsion of national rage and seriously undermined trust in Uncle Sam at the height of the Cold war.

[Neither Truman, marshal, or Eisenhower wanted the real size of commie infiltrtration of government from 1933 to 45 to be discussed. It would have produced a real convulsion of national rage and seriously undermined trust in Uncle Sam at the height of the Cold war.]

Not to mention the political damage it would do to McCarthy's detractors. “National rage” was possible in that era because the public was mostly aware of the extent and malignancy of worldwide Soviet subversion. Today the mass media continues to distort the record. George Clooney’s 2005 film “Goodnight and Good Luck” was based on Edward Murrow's CBS TV interview of Senator McCarthy. The movie portrayed State Department official Laurence Duggan as a victim of McCarthy. Duggan, a friend of Murrow, committed suicide after being questioned by the FBI about his ties to the KGB. The Left, including Murrow, defended Duggan as a loyal American.

In 1990 deciphered Soviet message traffic was released by the NSA proving Duggin was a KGB agent. This was further substantiated by a former KGB official. Duggan’s spy role was collecting classified State Department telegrams and passing them to his Soviet handler. Clooney, the director of “Goodnight and Good Luck,” left this fact out of the film.

Joe should have smart enough to tone down his attacks, since everyone was telling him to shut up. But he loved the limelight too much. Still he did not deserve what he got from the senate, and of course, much less injustice was done during his time than during the Red Scare following WWI. “Palmerism” would be a more fitting term.