McCarthy was the poster boy, canary in the coal mine, and fall guy for the US government’s full on assault on Citizens rights.
McCarthy didn’t influence Esienhower, the FBI, the CIA, or the judicial system. There was a stronger cultural force at play than one man had the power to control.
McCarthy was a bastard who ruined many good people. But the second red scare is a much better term for the period because it was much bigger than him.
BTW, this is an interesting subject to me since I think it’s partly happening now again. So if you have any recommendations on things to read or watch about this time I’ll gladly consume it.
I also really like the podcast Knowledge Fight. They mainly cover Alex Jones, but a lot of the current landscape is a mix of John Bircher society stuff reheated and served alongside 4chan/8chan deliberate trolling with the Russian troll farm content which is indistinguishable. Behind the Bastards often has figures which are relevant.
I think it can also be helpful to look at the roots of the Qanon movement by looking at the 80’s Satanic Panic. The Satan Seller about Mike Warnke is about the way that people can make a career about claiming to have sacrificed babies to the devil, and how willingly people will eat that up.
McCarthy was the poster boy, canary in the coal mine, and fall guy for the US government’s full on assault on Citizens rights.
McCarthy didn’t influence Esienhower, the FBI, the CIA, or the judicial system. There was a stronger cultural force at play than one man had the power to control.
McCarthy was a bastard who ruined many good people. But the second red scare is a much better term for the period because it was much bigger than him.
BTW, this is an interesting subject to me since I think it’s partly happening now again. So if you have any recommendations on things to read or watch about this time I’ll gladly consume it.
Hofstadter‘s The Paranoid Style in American Politics is from 1964, but timeless.
I also really like the podcast Knowledge Fight. They mainly cover Alex Jones, but a lot of the current landscape is a mix of John Bircher society stuff reheated and served alongside 4chan/8chan deliberate trolling with the Russian troll farm content which is indistinguishable. Behind the Bastards often has figures which are relevant.
I think it can also be helpful to look at the roots of the Qanon movement by looking at the 80’s Satanic Panic. The Satan Seller about Mike Warnke is about the way that people can make a career about claiming to have sacrificed babies to the devil, and how willingly people will eat that up.