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Witch Hunts, Pledges, And Blacklists
Way Back in the 1950's, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy had his own little version of the Spanish Inquisition, an hysterical attempt to root out the communism that he thought he saw climbing the walls all around him. No one was safe from his probing, beady little eyes. Government workers, College Professors, Playrights and Hollywood Screenwriters, actors, artists, musicians, gays, Jews and anyone with a goatee was suspect. (He would be foaming at the mouth if he came back today...;-) Many people's careers were destroyed by just knowing the wrong person. The most intensive focus of the Red Hunters was on Hollywood, perceived as the shaper of public thought. Many writers and performers moved to Mexico or Europe to avoid being put in prison. There was great pressure to avoid controversial subject matter in films or on TV, and the result was the Ozzie and Harriet myth, Doris Day and Annette Funicello, Beach Blanket Bingo: silly, vapid entertainment. The ice began to melt in 1960, with breakthrough films like "The Brave One" (written by Dalton Trumbo under a fake name because he was blacklisted) and Spartacus, both highly acclaimed and both addressing the plight of the downtrodden, repressive government, human rights, etc. During the heyday of the witch hunts, victims were all made to 'Take the Pledge', and answer the question: "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the communist party?' In those days, there were some people who thought it was cool to be a communist, and indeed some of them were communists, and sending money or military secrets to Moscow: (Julius and Ethel Rosenberg died in twin electric chairs for being spies, in 1953.) Americans were afraid of the communists for good reason, in light of the atrocities committed by Josef Stalin and Mao Tse Tung. Through American spies, the Commies had gotten the recipe for the Atom Bomb, a truly terrifying prospect. To be suspected of being... Please login to view comments from other users.
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