Afterthoughts

By Mark Russell
Tribune Media Services Inc.

Published: Thursday, May 15 2003 8:50 a.m. MDT

Summary

The government has released 50-year-old transcripts from the McCarthy Era, named after Sen. Joseph McCarthy who employed ruthless slander, mudslinging and character assassination. He saw communists everywhere, including 200 of them under his bed.

• The government has released 50-year-old transcripts from the McCarthy Era, named after Sen. Joseph McCarthy who employed ruthless slander, mudslinging and character assassination. He saw communists everywhere, including 200 of them under his bed.

• McCarthy's slimy tactics came to be known as McCarthyism, a term still in use by liberals describing conservatives and conservatives describing liberals in today's climate of civility.

• The McCarthy Era has given us such terms as "blacklist," "witch hunt" and "Ken Starr." Some will say that I just used McCarthyism against Mr. Starr. So, let me change it to "Ashcroft."

• Fortunately, there are no traces of McCarthyism today. Otherwise, some DJ would get fired for playing Dixie Chicks recordings.

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