The American Communist Party was a secret organization not a political party. And as the KGB archives prove, it was financed and directed by the Soviet Union, which made it an extension of Soviet foreign policy, and thus a proper subject for congressional inquiry. Those who refused to "name names" had plenty to hide.
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Hmmm.
Years ago I listened to a fellow on the NPR interview program "Fresh Air" discuss his (then new) book about how McCarthyism was justified because the Soviets had, in one form or another, been in contact with many of the Americans grilled and ruined by sweaty Joe.
"The recently released Soviet archives prove it" he said.
An obvious question, unasked by the host as I recall, came to mind: military espionage is one thing but the fact that some guillable screenwriter or political activist with no access to strategic information of any sort and no provable connection to violent, overthrow-the-government actions talked to a Soviet agent (perhaps unwittingly) hardly counted as a clear and present danger.
If the country could be brought to its knees by a 'subversive' screenplay or poorly attended protest march which received some fundage (often as little as a hundred bucks) from the USSR - as seemed to be the chain of un-reason - than this is a pathetic nation state indeed.
DRM
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