Right--they act as if he set up HUAC, despite the fact that A) it was the HOUSE Un-American Activities Committee, not the SENATE (and he was a sentor) and B) He didn't really start his anti-Commie campaign until 1950...
True, and the thrust of his anti-communist investigation was the State Department and Department of Defense, which just happened to have been infiltrated by numerous communist activists and sympathizers. It's interesting to note that the left bashes those who have been the most successful in their anti-left campaigns, such as McCarthy, Reagan, Coulter, etc.