Great post.
There's an old saying: "It takes courage to stand up to your enemies; it takes even more courage to stand up to your friends."
My problem with McCarthy was his methods. The basic result of the hearings- "Rat out all your friends or you'll never work again" was pretty nasty IMHO.
It definitely reminds me of the witch hunts of the middle ages. For example, the accused witch was guilty until proven innocent. Since "everybody knew" that there were always thirteen witches in a coven, the most horrible tortures ever devised were used until the victim "named names." When (as was almost always the case) an innocent was arrested, and was thus forced to name other innocents, the results were tragic.
I don't feel a bit sorry for Hollywood's card-carrying Reds. I do feel sorry for those who, while not communists themselves, chose their principles over their pocketbooks, refused to testify, and lost their livelihoods. They deserve our pity, and we must never let anyone be put in that position again.
Can you name names?
Conservative actors and screenwriters are blacklisted in Hollywood now. You can rarely be openly conservative there and expect to find work. So much for the tolerant, free thinking left in Hollywood.
If you're referring to the Hollywood hearings, McCarthy had nothing to do with them. He was never a member of the House and never investigated Hollywood.
The brainless association of Senator McCarthy with the House Committee On Un-American Activities would be comic if it weren't for the seriousness of the consequences.
Hold on a minute right there. When were accused Communists "guilty until proven innocent"?