{original post had no questions}

I disagree. When even Truman was loathe to take on HUAC and
McCarthy, you've got a real problem. You make the impact sound
minimal; but people committed suicide when their careers were ruined by
HUAC and Tailgunner Joe. I personally know writers who were at the top
of their form and their careers who never worked again because they
were blacklisted or greylisted.

It was also the climate created by HUAC that threatened much
more widely than the actions of the committee itself. Take Red
Channels, a sleazy little rag published by the owner of a *SUPERMARKET
CHAIN* in which he listed those he considered -- based on whim or
divine revelation -- reds or sympathetic to reds. Even a publication
like that had tremendous destructive power. I know one of the writers
listed in Red Channels; the networks grey-listed him instantly. It was
*years* before he could work again.

The whole red-baiting hysteria of the 50s came as close to
destroying the American dream as any threatened invasion. If it had
been led by someone a little less self-destructive than McCarthy, I
hate to think what would've happened.

jms