Diana West and "McCarthyism" refuted.

[Seth]

'McCarthyism' by the Numbers
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by M. Stanton Evans 21 Jan 2014, 12:57 PM PDT post a comment
The orchestrated attack on Diana West’s important book, American Betrayal, has been brutal and unseemly, but in one respect at least it has served a useful purpose.

This lone positive angle--counter-intuitive at first glance--is that her iconoclastic Cold War history has sparked a barrage of charges about “McCarthyism” and the senator from Wisconsin who gave his name to a decisive epoch in America’s long death struggle with the Kremlin.

As is well-known, “McCarthyism” was an alleged focus of political evil in the 1950s: accusations of Communist taint, without any factual basis; bogus “lists” of supposed Communists who never existed; failure in the end to produce even one provable Communist or Soviet agent, despite his myriad charges of subversion.

Such is the standard image of “McCarthyism” set forth in all the usual histories and media treatments of the era. Such is the image relied on by the critics of Ms. West to discredit her book and dismiss her as a crackpot and “conspiracy theorist.” By arguing that pro-Red elements in our government exerted baleful influence on US policy to suit the aims of Moscow, it is said, she becomes “McCarthy’s heiress,” reprising the evils of the fifties.

All of which, from my standpoint, has one beneficial feature--though it doesn’t make things less unpleasant for Ms. West. It pushes the issue of McCarthy and McCarthyism to the forefront, where it ought to be, and where it is now possible to view his cases in ways not feasible years ago when the relevant data were not open to the public.

Even today, there is much that we don’t know--documents that have vanished, ancient records still being censored, deceptions still in circulation. However, there is also a good deal of information available for those who care to view it: sizable tranches of McCarthy’s papers, and those of his opponents; reams of formerly confidential data from the FBI; thousands of pages of hearing transcripts and archives of his committee and other panels of the Congress; intercepted Soviet communications and revelations from Cold War defectors; and so on.

Looking at this mass of materials and matching them up with McCarthy’s cases, the main thing to be noted is a recurring pattern of verification. Time and again, we see the suspects named by McCarthy and/or his committee--treated at the time as hapless victims--revealed in official records as what McCarthy and company said they were--except, in the typical instance, a good deal more so.

The accompanying table provides a sampler of some of the suspects named by McCarthy, his aides, or in his committee hearings, and reflects what is now known about them, based on official records (some of it was known even then but ignored or misrepresented).

Suspects named by McCarthy, his aides, or before his committee; identified in sworn testimony, FBI archives, or other official security records as Communists or Soviet agents; or took the Fifth Amendment when asked about such matters.

1 .Adler, Solomon 26. Levitsky, Joseph *
2. Aronson, James * 27. Lovell, Leander
3. Barr, Joel 28. Mandel, William *
4. Belfrage, Cedric * 29. Miller, Robert
5. Bisson, T.A. 30. Mins, Leonard *
6. Carlisle, Lois 31. Moore (Gelfan), Harriet *
7. Chew Hong 32. Moss, Annie L.
8. Chi Chao-ting 33. Neumann, Franz
9. Coe, V. Frank * 34. Older, Andrew
10. Coleman, Aaron 35. Peress, Irving *
11. Currie, Lauchlin 36. Posniak, Edward
12. Dolivet, Louis 37. Post, Richard
13. Duran, Gustavo 38. Remington, William
14. Field, Frederick 39. Rosinger, Lawrence *
15. Glasser, Harold * 40. Rothschild, Edward *
16. Graze, Gerald 41. Sarant, Alfred
17. Graze, Stanley 42. Smedley, Agnes
18. Hanson, Haldore 43. Snyder, Samuel *
19. Henderson, Donald * 44. Stein, Guenther
20. Hyman, Harry * 45. Stern, Bernhard *
21. Jaffe, Philip 46. Taylor, William H.
22. Karr, David 47. Ullmann, Marcel *
23. Keeney, Mary Jane 48. Wales, Nym
24. Lattimore, Owen 49. Weintraub, David
25. Levine, Ruth * 50. Weltfish, Gene *
*Took Fifth Amendment as to Communist/ Soviet activity-affiliation

Solomon Adler, Chi Chao ting and V. Frank Coe would all abscond to Communist China. Joel Barr and Alfred Sarant, members of the Rosenberg spy ring who worked at Fort Monmouth and related commercial labs in the 1940s, would flee to the Soviet bloc before the McCarthy Monmouth hearings started. Philip Jaffe would self-identify as a Communist in his memoirs.

Analyzing this list of 50, we find all of them either (a) identified in sworn testimony, or in FBI and other once-confidential official security records, as Communists or Soviet agents, and/or (b) plead the Fifth Amendment when asked about such activities, saying a truthful answer would tend to incriminate them.

As is self-evident from this lineup, it’s untrue that McCarthy never spotted a single Communist or Soviet agent, or--per one variation--came up with only a handful of valid cases. He in fact tracked down a small army of such people, and the roster given here is merely a sampling of the flagrant suspects who attracted his attention.

This is most obviously so of the Fifth Amendment pleaders. Our table of 50 includes 18 McCarthy cases who refused to answer questions concerning Red connections, but these were only a fraction of the total who claimed the privilege. All told, an astonishing 100-plus McCarthy suspects would plead the Fifth before his committee (the bulk of these in the Fort Monmouth/defense-supply probe that triggered the Army-McCarthy hearings).

Also, contra the standard image, McCarthy and his staffers in the usual instance did not allege that his suspects were Communists or Soviet agents--though in some famous cases (Owen Lattimore, Annie Lee Moss) this did happen--for the simple reason that the probers didn’t then know the total story. More typically, they wielded dossiers concerning adverse security findings, membership in pro-Red groups, and so on--thereby understating the scope and nature of the problem.

Thus, such named McCarthy suspects as Solomon Adler, T.A. Bisson, Lauchlin Currie, Mary Jane Keeney, and many others were not then IDed as Soviet assets, though in fact they were. McCarthy knew enough to spot them as bad actors--in many cases knew a lot--but didn’t know what we know today.

Add the fact that, in case after significant case, McCarthy suspects were linked in ever-widening circles to a host of other operatives of like nature. For example, Adler, Currie, Keeney and the egregious pro-Soviet apparatchik Robert Miller were all parts of much larger networks, each with multiple contacts in the government, press corps, and outside groups of shadowy purpose.

All told, the McCarthy cases linked together in such fashion amounted to several hundred people, constituting a massive security danger to the nation. However, numbers per se were not the central issue. By far the most important thing about his suspects was their positioning in the governmental structure, and other posts of influence, where they could shape American policy or opinion in favor of the Communist interest. This they did on a fairly regular basis, a subject that deserves discussion in its own right.

For now, there is enough to note that the standard version of McCarthy and "McCarthyism" being wielded to discredit Diana West is, throughout, a fiction. How and why it was concocted, and is being repeated even now, must be the topic for another essay.
M. Stanton Evans is the author of Blacklisted By History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and co-author (with Herbert Romerstein) of Stalin’s Secret Agents.

Stan is the world's foremost authority on McCarthy and the McCarthy era. I highly recommend his book. For those with open minds, you will be astonished at the duplicity, treason and outright evil done by those who vilify and revile McCarthy, who was, in retrospect, entirely correct in his claims that Communists permeated the US government...and continue to do so.

[rainbow]

Communists still control the US government.

[pErvinalia]

I refuse to comment on anything you don't reference properly, Seth. Sort your shit out and stop being so disrespectful to the authors and publishers of works.

[mistermack]

Bit more trolling from Seth.

Nice try. The secret of trolling is to post bollocks, but convince people it's sincere.
You got the first bit right.

[Seth]

I refuse to comment on anything you don't reference properly, Seth. Sort your shit out and stop being so disrespectful to the authors and publishers of works.

Go fuck yourself. The author is properly credited. Stan happens to be a friend of mine. If you want more, google it.

I think you don't want to comment on the article because you have no rebuttal in the face of indisputable facts.

McCarthy was right, in each and every particular of his well-founded and (in retrospect) entirely accurate claims. "McCarthyism" is not what McCarthy is falsely accused of doing to Communists in the US government, it's what was DONE TO McCarthy by his enemies.

[Seth]

Bit more trolling from Seth.

Nice try. The secret of trolling is to post bollocks, but convince people it's sincere.
You got the first bit right.

Now all you have to do is prove that Stan is wrong. Good luck with that. I've seen his files, and they completely fill an entire room at the National Journalism Center in D.C.

He's correct and has conclusively proven it with physical evidence from government files that were only recently declassified, evidence that he tracked down despite the fact that the copies of critical documents supposed to be in the National Archives have been ripped-out of the document binders by someone and stolen. He found other copies in the personal files of one of the Congressmen involved in the hearings and has preserved them permanently so they cannot be "redacted" again, all of which is carefully and expertly documented in his book.

Just because you think something is "bollocks" doesn't mean it is. It just means you're ignorant.

[MrJonno]

Stan happens to be a friend of mine

You don't have friends, just people who share fantasies about murdering people with and if the world went to shit would just turn on each other

[jaydot]

we had open communists in this country and if anyone had tried mccarthy's trickery here he'd have been told to go fuck himself. i always had great respect for sinatra who said "so i'm a communist, so what?" he suffered for his defiance.

america, land of the free, home of the brave - yeah, right.

[mistermack]

Seth, McCarthy was a twat, and your ''friend'' is a sad wanker.

So what if some people had communist sympathies? What about all the Nazi sympathisers? And Klansmen? Did McCarthy persecute them? No, because he was a cunt. Like your friend.

[Tero]

It's kind of like religion!

[pErvinalia]

I refuse to comment on anything you don't reference properly, Seth. Sort your shit out and stop being so disrespectful to the authors and publishers of works.

Go fuck yourself. The author is properly credited.

But the publisher isn't. Sort your shit out.

[Seth]

I refuse to comment on anything you don't reference properly, Seth. Sort your shit out and stop being so disrespectful to the authors and publishers of works.

Go fuck yourself. The author is properly credited.

But the publisher isn't. Sort your shit out.

Pettifoggery.

[pErvinalia]

syso

[Seth]

Seth, McCarthy was a twat, and your ''friend'' is a sad wanker.

I'd expect a Communist to say something like that. Typical non-responsive ad hom in place of rational argument.

So what if some people had communist sympathies? What about all the Nazi sympathisers? And Klansmen? Did McCarthy persecute them? No, because he was a cunt. Like your friend.

That's why you ought to read the book. The people he accused were Soviet agents who stole, among other things, classified data on radar systems, and who did great harm to our nation by their treasonous acts during a time when the world was a heartbeat away from thermonuclear annihilation.

Most ignorami have swallowed the party line on McCarthy and the deliberate conflating of his activities with the House Committee on Unamerican Activities and the "Hollywood Blacklist" under the general, and highly deceptive and incorrect term "McCarthyism" as a standard disinformation tactic of Marxism.

The people McCarthy accused actually were Communist spies, agents, sympathizers and fellow-travelers who were engaged in espionage and seditious, treasonous actions against the United States during a time when the United States was under direct attack by Communists. McCarthy brought these crimes (and they were federal crimes by the way, crimes enacted by Congress, not McCarthy) to light and was destroyed by Marxist disinformation and disloyalty on the part of other members of Congress who were revealed to have been at best criminally negligent in their legal duty to keep Communists out of the government who didn't like being tied to the infiltrations because of their dereliction of duty.

His concern at the time was not Nazi sympathizers or Klansmen, it was a serious and widespread and warlike infiltration of our government by Communists.

I note that you are entirely unable to refute a single claim he makes in his book, all of which are thoroughly backed up with references to recently declassified FBI, National Archives and KGB files that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was exactly accurate in his reports to Congressional committees.

That makes you the wanker, not Stan or McCarthy.

I'm betting that intellectual cowardice will prevent you from reading the book and learning the truth because it would conflict with your warped perception of history and reality.

[Seth]

we had open communists in this country and if anyone had tried mccarthy's trickery here he'd have been told to go fuck himself. i always had great respect for sinatra who said "so i'm a communist, so what?" he suffered for his defiance.

america, land of the free, home of the brave - yeah, right.

It wasn't trickery, it was verified facts, as the documents now available prove. And it was a criminal offense to be a Communist while in the employ of the United States. It still is by the way...

If Sinatra suffered, it was because the people of the United States didn't care for his political affiliations, not because the government took any action against him. It didn't. He was not a government employee. Every person McCarthy accused was a government employee.

You may be a Communist sympathizer but that's utterly irrelevant as to whether or not McCarthy has been wrongfully accused and maligned. This book proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that McCarthy told the truth and did so accurately and substantiated his claims with documentary evidence demonstrating the guilt of the parties he brought forth.

Whether your country had open Communists or not is likewise irrelevant. We had plenty of open Communists in America, but all the activities in Washington were directed at Communists in the employ of the government of the United States who violated the law and their oaths of office by failing to admit that they were Communists, Soviet spies or Communist sympathizers when they were acting in their official capacity, which is a criminal offense in this country.

You can be a Communist here if you like. Hell, we've got one in Congress. But you can't be a Communist and work for the federal government, especially in any position that has access to classified materials, which many of the subjects of McCarthy's investigations were.