McCarthyism
(mə-kär'thē-ĭz'əm) pronunciation
n.
1. The practice of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence.
2. The use of unfair investigatory or accusatory methods in order to suppress opposition.
[After Joseph Raymond MCCARTHY.]
Generally, the use of unscrupulous methods of investigation against supposed security risks and the creation of an atmosphere of fear and suspicion. Specifically, Joseph McCarthy was a US senator for Wisconsin from 1946 until his death in 1957. He is remembered for his demagogic crusade between 1950 and 1954 to root out alleged communists and spies in American public life. As chairman of the Senate Government Operations Committee conducting investigations, he appalled observers by his coarse and brutal behaviour. Witnesses were remorselessly bullied, currency was given to wild and unsubstantiated charges, and evidence falsified. As a result an ugly mood of national hysteria was created, the careers of honourable men and women were damaged, and the reputation of the United States abroad suffered badly. McCarthy operated at the height of the Cold War when international communism could be reasonably seen as a serious threat to the American way of life and many others shared McCarthy's fears. Eventually, however, the senator overreached himself in virulently attacking the Army on security grounds. He was subsequently censured by his colleagues in the Senate and ended his life as a broken and discredited figure.
JG: Who is Lt. Col. Chris Simmons?
Read the three articles below and you decide for yourself.
Spy catcher claims four are agents for Cuba
Posted on Thu, Aug. 07, 2008
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@MiamiHerald.com
A veteran spy catcher's appearance on Spanish-language TV in Miami has added fuel to the decades-long debate about the Castro government's interest in spying in South Florida.
Lt. Col. Chris Simmons, an Army Reserve counterintelligence officer and former Defense Intelligence Agency counterintelligence analyst, named Marifeli Pérez-Stable, Gilberto Abascal, Alberto R. Coll and Gillian Gunn Clissold as agents for the Cuban government.
But Simmons offered no conclusive evidence that any of the four -- who have denied the accusation -- gave classified information to Cuba, received intelligence training or undertook missions for Cuban intelligence.
The Cuban Triangle - Phil Peters
August 2, 2008
A government smear artist (Updated)
August 7, 2008
The smears continue
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