Senate unseals McCarthy transcripts

Sac Bee ^ | 5/5/03 | Frederic J. Frommer - AP

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Pushing an anti-communist crusade that riveted America a half century ago, Joseph McCarthy manipulated his Senate hearings by calling witnesses he could intimidate and ignoring those likely to oppose him, newly released transcripts show.

Among the roughly 400 witnesses covered in transcripts of closed door meetings, made public Monday by the Senate, are composer Aaron Copland, New York Times journalist James Reston and Eslanda Goode Robeson, the wife of blacklisted singer-actor Paul Robeson. Some 4,000 pages of newly released documents also show that McCarthy was convinced that many writers, government officials and secretaries had access to classified information.

[NormsRevenge]

From Reuters last night

Joe McCarthy Secret Hearings to Be Unveiled Monday

[KellyAdmirer]

Cohn: In other words, as of today you don't have any firm thought?

Copland: I would be inclined to allow the faculty of the university to decide that.

Funny stuff. Some cool characters before that Committee.

[TheCrusader]

Joe McCarthy was right.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

...Oshinsky said communists had indeed infiltrated the government during the 1930s and 1940s, but by the time McCarthy launched his investigation that had pretty much been stamped out...

Let's see, there are at least fifty admitted communists in the Congress today.

I notice that everyone critizes McArthy, but few admit that he was right about most of it.
He WAS an ass, though.

[NormsRevenge]

Link to the Senate COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS / PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS page for information now being "disclosed".

WARNING -- These are big files!!!

• S. Prt. 107-84 -- Executive Sessions of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations  
  Volume 1    TEXT 5.1M   PDF 2.4M
  Volume 2    TEXT 2.3M   PDF 2.2M
  Volume 3    TEXT 2.4M   PDF 2.2M
  Volume 4    TEXT 2.3M   PDF 2.2M
  Volume 5    TEXT 1.5M   PDF 1.5M
  

[jd777]

A lot of people don't recall the Robert Kennedy worked on McCarthy's committee, McCarthy was godfather to Bobby's son Joe, and JFK called him as a "good american"...

[7beuties]

Was McCarthy good or bad for the cause of anti-communism?

[the_Watchman]

. . . in 1953 and 1954 at the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union . . .

This guy can't even get well-known history correct. The Cold War had just barely begun. The term "Iron Curtain" was less than 10 years old. I think they phrase it this way in order to make it sound like the Cold War was a figment of the imagination of those affiliated with McCarthy.

McCarthy started his hearings using a list of over 100 people in government positions which had been identified as members of specific Communist cells. Most of these people worked in the Department of Agriculture. They ALL resigned when confronted.

These people had been fingered by Chambers and a black woman whose name I cannot remember. Both Chambers and the black woman confessed that they had been members of these Communist cells. Chambers went on to help Nixon convict Alger Hiss.

[Triple]

Did McCarthy question Alger Hiss? I really would like to read that session, if it happened.

[the_Watchman]

Cohn and Bobby Kennedy actually came to blows over who was going to be the lead lawyer for the committee. One of them, I believe Cohn, sported a shiner for a while.

[Chi-townChief]

Both - right message, wrong messenger.

[NativeNewYorker]

Obviously this will give the anti-anti-Commies a few days of material.

The evening news will be about the American people standing firm against evil tax cuts, the incompetence of the US military, the greed of US corporations, and the absurdity of believing totalitarian collectivists have infiltrated all strata of US society.

Then, the press idiots will marvel at Fox's ratings.

[NormsRevenge]

It took quite a few years, but we did elect Ronald Reagan in 1980 and at least make a dent in the global politik. So, I would say Yes, he was good, imo.

[DPB101]

Cohn and Bobby Kennedy actually came to blows over who was going to be the lead lawyer for the committee,

If only Bobby had gotten the job, history would have been very different. Just a coincidence, I supposed, that after the Kennedys were killed there were no more Democrats of note who opposed communism, fought the mob and busted corrupt unions.

[yonif]

Are these the published transcripts?

[NormsRevenge]

Just released, Yes.

This ought to put a dent in your college social life. ;-)

[NormsRevenge]

Link to Yahoo! News Full Coverage page re: Latest Developments in Congre$$. Currently has some links re: McCarthy transcripts featured.

[Gurn]

In the movie (an HBO production, I think) "Citizen Cohn", Roy Cohn is shown lobbying McCarthy for the Chief Counsel's job, then held by RFK.

Cohn's rationale was that with so many suspected communists' being Jews, it would be better -- as a shield from prospective charges of anti-semitism -- to have a Jew, rather than a Catholic, being the bad guy.

Don't know if that's true, but it seems plausible.

[johnb838]

It is time for McCarthy to be rehabilitated. Because he was right. The commies were and are everywhere. Especially in the State Department and Hollywood.

[ClearCase_guy]

Is this big news, that the Senator who was fighting Communism would choose to call only helpful witnesses to testify before public hearings? What should he have done? What do most lawyers do? Call the worthless witnesses who neither add nor detract from the case??

With this sort of thinking, I expect the whole process of Voir Dire to be thrown out. "Sir, is it not true that you actually moved to keep one or more potential jurors out of the jury box? Are you trying to rig this trial, sir?"