What is McCarthyism? (Part two)

Despite the name, Joe McCarthy had little to do with the events that are tossed into the pot labelled "The McCarthy Era." For instance, he had nothing to do with the Hiss case; that was HUAC. The House Committee had more hearings over a longer time period than McCarthy's Senate subcommittee.

Many of the so-called "victims of McCarthyism" were actually witnesses called by HUAC.

Another component of the "Red Scare hysteria" was the activity of private watchdog groups that tracked and publicized the activities of communists and fellow-travelers. Public exposure frequently resulted in lost jobs, etc.

Conventional wisdom holds that there are two reasons why this public witch-hunting was a bad idea. 1. People should not lose their jobs simply because they held unpopular political beliefs. 2. The private watchdogs frequently tarnished innocent people through guilt by association.

Let's say we accept the conventional wisdom: private sector watchdogs were harmful to civic life and are a stain on our history.

Well, then, what should we make of the Southern Poverty Law Center? They are quick to engage in tactics favored by the red hunters-- guilt by association, name-calling in lieu of rational argument , hyping threats to raise money. Their targets, like many targets of HUAC, have no role in government.

Why, then, is the SPCL treated as a reliable source by the MSM? If the McCarthy-era was so bad, why repeat its methods today?