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A comment on In the end, you're treated like a spy, says MIT scientist. Parent comment

Re:In the end, you're treated like a spy, says MIT scientist by mynameishere on Friday January 28, 2022 @08:28AM (#30114270)
The term probably shouldn't mean that since there actually was a wealth of communist spies, sympathizers, etc. Ie, it was not a witch hunt. McCarthy's problem was using the Congress in an executive role.
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Re:In the end, you're treated like a spy, says MIT scientist by p_l on Friday January 28, 2022 @09:22AM (#30114897)
McCarthy's problem was being a daft c_nt on a power trip, with no idea how to actually deal with spies, and heavily based on violating supposed american freedom of thought and association. It was absolutely a witch hunt.

There's in fact no record he ever disrupted any actual spy work, as far as I know, and his legacy is that even in Warsaw Pact he became famous - famous enough to require redefining in popular vernacular "useful idiot" to include him and his supporters.

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Re:In the end, you're treated like a spy, says MIT scientist by jvanderbot on Friday January 28, 2022 @12:18PM (#30117545)
Sure. I mean, there probably were witches too, they just weren't actually magical.
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