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The entire "Red Baiting" era is one of the most propagandized and distorted periods in American history. Friedman is simply repeating pro-Communist lies created by CPUSA apparatchiks in the 1940s and 50s, often on instructions from Moscow. These lies have become the templates used by most of the establishment media to frame their "reporting" on these issues, and the ideological cornerstones of organizations like People for the American Way, the ACLU and many others.

While HUAC was guilty of some excesses, the actual blacklisting was done by Hollywood studio heads who didn't want to become associated with the Communist label. Even so, most of the people Friedman considers heros could have avoided all their problems simply by testifying honestly before the committee instead of taking the Fifth. Most of the people Kazan named were or had been Communists, as he himself had been.

I worked as a publicist in professional theater for five years and knew many people who had been employed in Hollywood or on Broadway during the HUAC period. No matter how they tried to put lipstick on the Bolshevik pig, they were Commies through and through. They were simply shrill and arrogant enough and had a large enough megaphone to leave the impression that they, not the American people, were the victims of their own treachery. They were actors and professionals at duplicity after all. They loved being able to spit in the eyes of loyal Americans while living off their largess. After all, they were smarter and better and more privileged than the lowly bourgeoisie, weren't they? Sarandon, Fonda, Farrell, Asner, ad nauseum come from a long line of show business liars.

Two misconceptions about HUAC.

First,the House UnAmerican Activities Committee didn't just spring up during the Red Scare. Its origins, as an investigative arm of the House of Representatives, goes back to the 1930's, when it investigated the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, which was at the height of its power. The committee wasn't persecuting individuals brought before it because of their beliefs; such individuals could have been racists for all the commmittee cared. The committee wanted to know if the individuals brought before it were members of the KKK - a dangerous organization which demanded that its members use coercion against African Americans and Catholics.

Likewise, during the Red Scare, HUAC didn't care whether the people brought before it sympathized with Communists. They wanted to identify individuals who were members of the Communist Party. The Party, at least under Stalin, was dedicated to the violent overthrow of the US Government.

Most informed folks know HUAC didn't create the blacklist - that was done by private employers. Liberals, however have no problem denying others their livelihood when the individual in question espouses beliefs they find offensive. Jimmy The Greek lost his job and so did Michael Savage. Both uttered some pretty distasteful comments, and I don't remember liberals rushing to help them regain their livelihood.