Posted on 04/22/2010 5:25:26 PM PDT by decimon
Teaching in the universities about the so-called McCarthy era has become an area most susceptible to politically correct and one-sided views of what the period was all about. One historian who strenuously objects to the accepted left-wing interpretation that prevails in the academy is Jennifer Delton, Chairman of the Department of History at Skidmore College.
In the March issue of The Journal of the Historical Society Delton writes:
However fiercely historians disagree about the merits of American Communism, they almost universally agree that the post-World War II Red scare signified a rightward turn in American politics. The consensus is that an exaggerated, irrational fear of communism, bolstered by a few spectacular spy cases, created an atmosphere of persecution and hysteria that was exploited and fanned by conservative opportunists such as Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy. This hysteria suppressed rival ideologies and curtailed the New Deal, leading to a resurgence of conservative ideas and corporate influence in government. We may add detail and nuance to this story, but this, basically, is what we tell our students and ourselves about post-World War II anti-Communism, also known as McCarthyism. It is fundamentally the same story that liberals have told since Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss of being a Communist spy in 1948.
(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...
Thank God for Joe McCarthy. May there be more elected officials like him.
HE WAS RIGHT!! Ann Caulter’s book Treason is a great read, pick it up if you haven’t already>
God bless all conservative scholars.
I could not agree more. Key in that book is the never ending attempt to rehabilitate Hiss and the Rosenbergs.And to minimize any red threat. I cite the Clooney film Good Night and Good Luck. They don’t bring up two key FACTS. Lenin and Stalin killed about 60 million of they’re own people; and there were communist spys in the federal government.
If you read the Venona decrypts or The Black Book of Communism, it is clear that if anything, McCarthy UNDER-stated the infiltration of communists in the US. Especially in positions of influence.
The Rosenburgs were defended by multitudes, and their own granddaughter defends them to this day as "Victims of McCarthyism". Meanwhile in the real world, USSR records released a decade ago proved that the secrets they gave the Russians were pivotal to their nuclear program, and that Stalin himself gave them a posthumous award for valor.
If you read the Venona decrypts or The Black Book of Communism, it is clear that if anything, McCarthy UNDER-stated the infiltration of communists in the US. Especially in positions of influence.
PBS had an excellent series on a few years ago,
“The Red Files.” The first program detailed the spies, especially Ted Hall and the Cohens.
http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/kgb/index.htm
If McCarthy came today, you’d have to blacklist all of Hollywood.
“If McCarthy came today, you’d have to blacklist all of Hollywood.”
*******************************************
. . . and much of Congress,the Federal bureaucracy, and, unfortunately, the White House, including the Communist in Chief - Zer0
The commies won. America is no more...
A very well made film, except it was completely wrong.
They also forget that stalin thanked the the rosenbergs.the other 2 films were “guilty by suspiscion” and “the hollywood ten”all of whom were guilty.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.