[extropy-chat] can't second guess history

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Olga Bourlin <fauxever at sprynet.com> wrote:

> > As for McCarthyism, it is now a proven fact that all of McCarthy's
> > accusations were accurate. The release of the Venona files in the
> > last
> > decade document who was and was not a Soviet spy, and documents the
> > fact that the Roosevelt and Truman administrations specifically
> > suppressed this evidence because it implicated their own people
> >(Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White, among others). The only
> > outrageous thing about that issue was the fact that Democrats
> > were able to get away with their histrionics and treason.
> 
> I never said they weren't accurate, did I?  But you're not saying the
> McCarthy trials weren't a travesty, are you?

Despite what the media would have you believe, McCarthy never held a
trial. Nor did he run the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (he was
a Senator, and as such, could not sit on a House committee). While HUAC
focused on Hollywood left wingers, in many cases wrongly and without
any probable cause other than being ratted out by others (and in other
cases not wrongly).

McCarthy specifically focused on investigating government officials who
were Soviet spies. He was never a judge at any trial. His 'list' was
based on actual FBI tallies of public officials, however the FBI and
Army intelligence refused to declassify intelligence like the Venona
intercepts which would have corroborated McCarthy's assertions. They
did this because they were more interested in turning high level ACP
officials into double agents.

=====
Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism


		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do?
http://my.yahoo.com