I don't want to take specific issue with anything in Yates, but I would like to comment. Others who care to may judge whether and how it conflicts.
I'd like to make a distinction between anti-communism as unprincipled and/or unethical behavior, and AC as simply incorrect thinking (i.e., something with which you may disagree, or, if you like, something which is incorrect).
AC as bad behavior includes persecuting people for legal political activities and for political beliefs of any type. I would define persecution broadly as including social stigmatization, discrimination in employment, commercial practices, and the like. It includes things as trivial as statements like, "Joe believes xx so Joe is a shit," as well as garden-variety red-baiting.
By contrast, if I think communism stinks as a social system, or that it is responsible for mass murder of innocents, I could be wrong but I can't be unethical (unless I don't really believe what I am saying). One must be a mind-reader to ascertain honesty in the latter regard.
Or if I think Marxism is loopy, or socialism encourages low character, or apartheid is better than communist alternatives. This is different from ad hominem statements like Henwood is loopy because he is a marxist, which fall into category 1 above.
If you want to call category two "anti-communism," that's fine, but I think it commingles two different things, and that the second thing could be analytically wrong in one way or another but cannot be unfair, unethical, or immoral.
Category II might be linked to what we might call the honest fascist. Someone for whom fascism is an honest, idealistic, and self-sacrificing creedo. But at the very least this is an extreme case, and any judgements as to the character of the honest fascist ought to be separated from that of the honest, socially tolerant un-communist.
There is not a little hypocrisy involved when the AC label is brandished by those (not referring to Yates here) who engage in routine ad hominem and other forms of extra- governmental persecution of the Category I variety. Thus it will not do to cast aspersions on DeLong the person because he thinks Stalin killed more people than Hitler, while raising the specter of red-baiting. If you can't take it, you shouldn't dish it out. If you claim my belief entails conscious support for brutality somewhere in the capitalist periphery, and I respond you are a commie fuck, that isn't red-baiting or AC. It's just meeting you on your level, something I am never reluctant to do.
anti-communistically yours, mbs