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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.

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...from Weinstein/Vassiliev's The Haunted Wood:
Samuel Dickstein was a Democrat representative to the US House from NY..."...Dickstein's congressional focus throughout his career concerned immigaration issues, since he represented a largely foreign-born constituency. During the mid-1930's, however, Dickstein's major interest turned to investigating the network of pro-Nazi and facist groups in the United States...In 1934 Dickstein drafted and gained House support for a resolution supporting a special committee to probe Nazi and other subversive activities in the United States. He was appointed its vice chairman...The liberal Dickstein introduced several subsequent resolutions to create a continuing committee to investigate so-called un-American activities...If any man deserves the title of Father of the Committee, it is Representative Dickstein..."
It's ironic that the HUAC, so hated by the leftwing in this country, was initiated by a liberal looking to out Nazis, a cause the left would surely applaud. It's also ironic that at about the same time he was working on his committee, Dickstein was being recruited by the NKVD and eventually became a Soviet agent, codenamed "Crook"......