#mccarthyism

[1968bullittmustang]

I'm not a historian, but there were plenty of nazi in the USA in the 1930s. (If you don't want to read that article, here's a short video, but be warned it's got a lot of nazi iconography.)

Hitler got most of his ideas from USA southern states and federal Jim Crow laws.

The McCarthy trials were nazi resurfacing in the 1950s, just with a more slick veneer. So much racism and antisemitism. And it's been on the rise pretty much ever since.

I agree that 1945 USA would be pissed, but I also know so many of the people who fought in WW2 also voted for that orange bastard. My grandparents never once voted Democrat despite the fact that FDR was the only reason they didn't live in abject poverty their entire lives. And to my great sorrow, I rarely spoke to them after they voted for him the first time. I have no idea if I would have ever spoken to them again if they'd lived long enough to vote for him again. Because without a shadow of a doubt, I know they would have.

1945 America would be pretty fcuking pissed off with 2024 America.

[hussyknee]

ID in alt.

Palestinian and pro-Palestinian students and academics are being actively persecuted beyond all precedent at universities right now. Can confirm Palestinians who're losing family members are being institutionally terrorized in both the North America and Europe. Students have been suspended for putting up Palestine flags. Palestinians posting on social media about their families and neighbours are being reported and doxxed and getting death threats and their employers and supervisors refusing support them. A colleague of a friend who lost her entire family went to talk to the university counselor about her anger and grief and was immediately reported to the administration. An entire think tank was dissolved because of its members spoke in support of Palestine at a lecture. This level of witch hunting and purging hasn't been seen since the Red Scare. It's fucking terrifying. Please boost this.

[alanshemper]

“If you want to be against McCarthy, boys, you’ve got to be either a Communist or a cocksucker.”

—Sen. Joe McCarthy, helpfully explaining how the red scare and the lavender scare intersected with each other

[gael-garcia]

Vanessa Redgrave's on Palestine, her Oscars speech, and The Palestinian (1977)

Links:

this interview

1978 Best Supporting Actress (Julia) win and speech

The Palestinian (1977)

and here she is in 2008 NYC Ethical Culture speaking for Palestine

[odinsblog]

House Resolution 883 formally condemns the phrase, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” as antisemitic hate speech—but in reality it is the preface for governmental censorship (sponsored by a foreign government via AIPAC) that unconstitutionally bans freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

As israel has already murdered more than 33,000 noncombatant civilians in Palestine and is currently committing war crimes like bombing hospitals, mosques, churches, schools and even children’s playgrounds, something tells me that there won’t be a similar condemnation of rampant Islamophobia.

[bfpnola]

introductory excerpts on COINTELPRO

it came to my awareness that some folks don't know what COINTELPRO is still, so imma drop some excerpts from the wikipedia page. ofc there are a billion other resources you can check out, especially firsthand accounts, but this is always a good place to start! link attached below:

[Note that the embedded link above's photo has the following caption: "COINTELPRO memo proposing a plan to expose the pregnancy of actress Jean Seberg, a financial supporter of the Black Panther Party, hoping to "possibly cause her embarrassment or tarnish her image with the general public". Covert campaigns to publicly discredit activists and destroy their interpersonal relationships were a common tactic used by COINTELPRO agents."]

The Introduction:

COINTELPRO (syllabic abbreviation derived from Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of covert and illegal[1][2] projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic American political organizations.[3][4] FBI records show COINTELPRO resources targeted groups and individuals the FBI[5] deemed subversive,[6] including feminist organizations,[7][8] the Communist Party USA,[9] anti–Vietnam War organizers, activists of the civil rights and Black power movements (e.g. Martin Luther King Jr., the Nation of Islam, and the Black Panther Party), environmentalist and animal rights organizations, the American Indian Movement (AIM), Chicano and Mexican-American groups like the Brown Berets and the United Farm Workers, independence movements (including Puerto Rican independence groups such as the Young Lords and the Puerto Rican Socialist Party), a variety of organizations that were part of the broader New Left, and white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan[10][11] and the far-right group National States' Rights Party.[12]

Methods COINTELPRO Utilized

According to attorney Brian Glick in his book War at Home, the FBI used five main methods during COINTELPRO:

Infiltration: Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. Their main purpose was to discredit, disrupt and negatively redirect action. Their very presence served to undermine trust and scare off potential supporters. The FBI and police exploited this fear to smear genuine activists as agents.

Psychological warfare: The FBI and police used a myriad of "dirty tricks" to undermine movements. They planted false media stories and published bogus leaflets and other publications in the name of targeted groups. They forged correspondence, sent anonymous letters, and made anonymous telephone calls. They spread misinformation about meetings and events, set up pseudo movement groups run by government agents, and manipulated or strong-armed parents, employers, landlords, school officials, and others to cause trouble for activists. They used bad-jacketing to create suspicion about targeted activists, sometimes with lethal consequences.[74]

Harassment via the legal system: The FBI and police abused the legal system to harass dissidents and make them appear to be criminals. Officers of the law gave perjured testimony and presented fabricated evidence as a pretext for false arrests and wrongful imprisonment. They discriminatorily enforced tax laws and other government regulations and used conspicuous surveillance, "investigative" interviews, and grand jury subpoenas in an effort to intimidate activists and silence their supporters.[73][75]

Illegal force: The FBI conspired with local police departments to threaten dissidents; to conduct illegal break-ins in order to search dissident homes; and to commit vandalism, assaults, beatings and assassinations.[73] The objective was to frighten or eliminate dissidents and disrupt their movements.

Undermine public opinion: One of the primary ways the FBI targeted organizations was by challenging their reputations in the community and denying them a platform to gain legitimacy. Hoover specifically designed programs to block leaders from "spreading their philosophy publicly or through the communications media". Furthermore, the organization created and controlled negative media meant to undermine black power organizations. For instance, they oversaw the creation of "documentaries" skillfully edited to paint the Black Panther Party as aggressive, and false newspapers that spread misinformation about party members. The ability of the FBI to create distrust within and between revolutionary organizations tainted their public image and weakened chances at unity and public support.[49]

The FBI specifically developed tactics intended to heighten tension and hostility between various factions in the black power movement, for example between the Black Panthers and the US Organization. For instance, the FBI sent a fake letter to the US Organization exposing a supposed Black Panther plot to murder the head of the US Organization, Ron Karenga. They then intensified this by spreading falsely attributed cartoons in the black communities pitting the Black Panther Party against the US Organization.[49] This resulted in numerous deaths, among which were San Diego Black Panther Party members John Huggins, Bunchy Carter and Sylvester Bell.[73] Another example of the FBI's anonymous letter writing campaign is how they turned the Blackstone Rangers head, Jeff Fort, against former ally Fred Hampton, by stating that Hampton had a hit on Fort.[49] They also were instrumental in developing the rift between Black Panther Party leaders Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton, as executed through false letters inciting the two leaders of the Black Panther Party.[49]

...

In order to eliminate black militant leaders whom they considered dangerous, the FBI is believed to have worked with local police departments to target specific individuals,[78] accuse them of crimes they did not commit, suppress exculpatory evidence and falsely incarcerate them. Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, a Black Panther Party leader, was incarcerated for 27 years before a California Superior Court vacated his murder conviction, ultimately freeing him. Appearing before the court, an FBI agent testified that he believed Pratt had been framed, because both the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department knew he had not been in the area at the time the murder occurred.[79][80]

...

In 1969 the FBI special agent in San Francisco wrote Hoover that his investigation of the Black Panther Party had concluded that in his city, at least, the Panthers were primarily engaged in feeding breakfast to children. Hoover fired back a memo implying the agent's career goals would be directly affected by his supplying evidence to support Hoover's view that the Black Panther Party was "a violence-prone organization seeking to overthrow the Government by revolutionary means".[84]

Hoover supported using false claims to attack his political enemies. In one memo he wrote: "Purpose of counterintelligence action is to disrupt the Black Panther Party and it is immaterial whether facts exist to substantiate the charge."[85]

Intended Effects of COINTELPRO

The intended effect of the FBI's COINTELPRO was to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, or otherwise neutralize" groups that the FBI officials believed were "subversive"[58] by instructing FBI field operatives to:[59] 1. Create a negative public image for target groups (for example through surveilling activists and then releasing negative personal information to the public) 2. Break down internal organization by creating conflicts (for example, by having agents exacerbate racial tensions, or send anonymous letters to try to create conflicts) 3. Create dissension between groups (for example, by spreading rumors that other groups were stealing money) 4. Restrict access to public resources (for example, by pressuring non-profit organizations to cut off funding or material support) 5. Restrict the ability to organize protest (for example, through agents promoting violence against police during planning and at protests) 6. Restrict the ability of individuals to participate in group activities (for example, by character assassinations, false arrests, surveillance)

When did they start?

Centralized operations under COINTELPRO officially began in August 1956 with a program designed to "increase factionalism, cause disruption and win defections" inside the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). Tactics included anonymous phone calls, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits, and the creation of documents that would divide the American communist organization internally.[9] An October 1956 memo from Hoover reclassified the FBI's ongoing surveillance of black leaders, including it within COINTELPRO, with the justification that the movement was infiltrated by communists.[31] In 1956, Hoover sent an open letter denouncing Dr. T. R. M. Howard, a civil rights leader, surgeon, and wealthy entrepreneur in Mississippi who had criticized FBI inaction in solving recent murders of George W. Lee, Emmett Till, and other African Americans in the South.[32] When the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an African-American civil rights organization, was founded in 1957, the FBI began to monitor and target the group almost immediately, focusing particularly on Bayard Rustin, Stanley Levison, and eventually Martin Luther King Jr.[33]

How did the news get out about COINTELPRO?

The program was secret until March 8, 1971, when the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI burgled an FBI field office in Media, Pennsylvania, took several dossiers, and exposed the program by passing this material to news agencies.[1][54] The boxing match known as the Fight of the Century between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in March 1971 provided cover for the activist group to successfully pull off the burglary. Muhammad Ali was a COINTELPRO target because he had joined the Nation of Islam and the anti-war movement.[55] Many news organizations initially refused to immediately publish the information, with the notable exception of The Washington Post. After affirming the reliability of the documents, it published them on the front page (in defiance of the Attorney General's request), prompting other organizations to follow suit. Within the year, Director J. Edgar Hoover declared that the centralized COINTELPRO was over, and that all future counterintelligence operations would be handled case by case.[56][57]

[conformi]

Giovanni Agostino da Lodi, Christ washing the feet of the Apostles, 1500 VS Ron Nyswaner, Fellow Travelers, 2023

[oldshowbiz]

Brent Bozell Jr. was a speechwriter for Joseph McCarthy and ghost writer for Barry Goldwater. He attacked TV shows like Maude starring Bea Arthur. Brent Bozell III was finance chairman for Pat Buchanan's presidential campaign. He attacked TV shows like Roseanne and Picket Fences. He was responsible for the Janet Jackson nipple controversy.

Brent Bozell IV was arrested for storming the Capitol Building on January 6, charged with committing acts of physical violence, and six other counts.

[newyorkthegoldenage]

From the shoulders of cheering, singing supporters, Dalton Trumbo and John Howard Lawson make farewell speeches as they prepare to leave Penn Station for Washington, where they were to start serving one-year prison terms for contempt of Congress, June 9, 1950. The "Hollywood 10" had appeared before the House Un-American Affairs Committee in October, 1947, and refused to answer questions regarding their possible affiliations with the Communist Party. After they were released, they were blacklisted by the Hollywood studios.

Photo: Marty Lederhandler for the AP

[oldpersonnewspaper]

“You want me to name communists? Okay well Pete Seeger for one,” says Burl Ives when asked for his lunch order.

[rdng1230]

In Defense of Fellow Travelers

I just read a little comment on a FT edit about how sad queer stories are overdone. And I’d say in most examples I’d tend to agree. But I find so much value in the story of Hawk, Tim, Marcus, and Frankie. Of these fictional characters nestled in the very real historical events around them. We barely covered McCarthyism at all in my school much less the specific threats it posed to the LGBT community, and I remember flipping through my AP US history textbook and being livid that it contained only one sentence about the aids crisis. And more than just that. The monsters of that era haunts us in the modern day. As much as we as queer people would love to put up a brick wall between us and the Roy Cohns of the world, they are a part of our story. It was Roy Cohn who mentored Donald Trump, and Roy Cohn whispering in Reagan’s ear. It’s the spirit of McCarthy that leads to things like Drain the Swamp and January 6th. To minimize the awful and long lasting effects of people like Cohn and McCarthy also minimizes the resilience of our community. I don’t expect a happy ending for Tim and Hawk, (Although I’m cautiously optimistic about Marcus and Frankie), but that doesn’t mean their stories aren’t worth watching. There’s so much love, joy, and laughter in them too. I am compelled by the choices and sacrifices they had to make in unimaginably difficult circumstances, and I think this show does a great job at showing the many paths people took through those circumstances. I think we as modern day queers have something to learn from every one of them no matter where those paths ended up.

[hussyknee]

This article describes what is essentially a McCarthyist wet dream. Uncritical support for genocide and imperial expansionism has been made non-negotiable for the US Jewish community.

[ilearnedthistodaysblog]

#1060 How did McCarthyism reach such a level?

How did McCarthyism reach such a level? There was a genuine fear of communism in America that McCarthy used to accelerate his rise to power. McCarthyism is named after Joseph McCarthy, who was a senator from Wisconsin until his death in 1957. McCarthyism started in 1947 and it ended in 1959, two years after McCarthy died. Joseph McCarthy didn’t jump on the bandwagon until 1950, so the era known as McCarthyism didn’t actually have McCarthy’s involvement until 1950. What was McCarthyism? It was a communist witch hunt in which Senator Joseph McCarthy had carte blanche to summon government officials, academics, actors, and many other people in public positions, before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). McCarthy ended up in charge of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and he was responsible for investigating suspected communists. At these hearings, there was often no evidence more than accusations and the accused people were not allowed attorneys or to be able to cross-examine the accuser. They had an impossible task in defending themselves and many were found guilty of being communist. Blacklists sprang up, the Hollywood blacklist is probably the most famous, and people on the list could not find work in that industry. McCarthyism started before McCarthy, when President Truman issued a law in 1947 that demanded federal employees were checked for “loyalty” and that they would be dismissed if they were found to be disloyal to the United States government. The law didn’t mention communism. This seems strange, but the global situation in 1947 seemed very unstable. The latter part of World War 2 had seen the USSR rise as a global superpower. The USSR had taken over most of eastern Europe and was becoming a huge country with enormous resources. They were working on a nuclear bomb, that they would successfully test in 1949. A war in Korea was looking more likely and it appeared that the USA and the USSR would be on opposite sides of it. There was great fear of the USSR in America and that was felt more generally as a fear of communism. In 1950, Joseph McCarthy gave a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia. He was talking to the Republican Women’s Club and, amongst other things, he talked about the “Enemies Within”. He held up a piece of paper that he said had the names of 205 communists currently working in the US State Department. A speech like that would probably have disappeared, but, because of the fear of communism, it was picked up by the press and became huge. McCarthy, being a politician, realized he was onto a good thing and doubled down on his claims. A month later, the Washington Post came up with the name McCarthyism, but they meant it as a derogatory term. McCarthy didn’t see it that way and he embraced it. McCarthy had no actual proof against the people he accused, so he widened his list of targets to include homosexuals. He said that they were at risk of blackmail because they would want to keep their sexual orientation a secret. He was disliked amongst other senators, but his “war” on communism and homosexuals appealed to the public. After a couple of years, it reached the point where people didn’t want to confront him in case they ended up being accused.    In 1952, Eisenhower became president. He was a strong person, but he didn’t appear to want to confront McCarthy either. Probably, McCarthy had too much public opinion behind him and Eisenhower, as a new president, didn’t feel he had the confidence to go up against McCarthy. Unchecked, McCarthyism slowly got worse. However, Eisenhower didn’t agree with McCarthy’s methods and he didn’t particularly like McCarthy. It seems that nobody really liked McCarthy. Eisenhower started to make moves behind the scenes to cut McCarthy off. Finally, in May of 1954, Eisenhower used his executive power to curtail McCarthy. As head of his committee, McCarthy had the power to subpoena people and they had no choice but to appear. Eisenhower used his executive privilege to say that all federal and executive employees could ignore any subpoena from McCarthy. In one foul swoop, McCarthyism was finished. Being unable to call anymore witnesses, there was nothing McCarthy could do. And, no longer being afraid of him, the other senators moved to condemn him in the senate. After this, McCarthy no longer had any real power and he served out his last two years as a senator without being able to influence anybody and with a ruined public image. He carried on talking about communism, but he started to drink more, and he died 3 years after Eisenhower ended his reign of terror. His name lives on as McCarthyism, but it only has negative connotations. And this is what I learned today. Image By United States Senate - http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/graphic/xlarge/Welch_McCarthy.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27839902 Sources https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/age-of-eisenhower/mcarthyism-red-scare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism https://billofrightsinstitute.org/activities/joseph-mccarthy-and-irresponsibility-narrative Read the full article

[greencheekconure27]

Lmao the tankies in my notes:

"Red Scare is Alive and Well on tumblr"

"We're doing McCarthyism AGAIN"

Well I was hoping people wouldn't be trying to bring Stalinism back in the year of our lord 2023 either, but apparently *genocide bad* *genocide denial also bad* *benevolent dictatorships do not exist* *imperialism is still imperialism regardless of what country does it* and *maybe shut up and listen to people about their own history* were all too difficult concepts for you lot to grasp.

[animentality]

[rainbowpopeworld]

If you wanna see a jingoistic, yet entertaining, music video starring Michael Sheen singing “I’ll be there”, here ya go

If you haven’t seen the show The Good Fight, he plays Roland Blum, an intentionally provocative conservative asshole, who relishes breaking laws and sexually harassing his co-workers. Basically the opposite of Aziraphale 😇😈 And he’s really good at it, of course, because he’s an amazing actor

Here’s a compilation of Blum fuckery:

Here is how Sheen describes the role himself:

A trickster based on Roy Cohn, who in addition to McCarthyism, was also Donald Trump’s lawyer and mentor in the 70’s and 80’s. I first saw him depicted in the play Angels in America as a closeted man who publicly advocated to make things worse for lgbtq+ people because his privilege shielded him from those same efforts, except for what ultimately killed him.

Welp, I guess this is both a Michael Sheen appreciation post and a Roy Cohn antipathy post 🙃