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> It blows my mind that intelligent people could still be part of the CPUSA in the 50s. The CPUSA is alive and well, and some intelligent people are probably m

> It blows my mind that intelligent people could still be part of the CPUSA in the 50s. The CPUSA is alive and well, and some intelligent people are probably members of it. Do you long for the times of McCarthyism? This is your actual reaction to this? OK. :)

bobcostas55 11y ago
>Do you long for the times of McCarthyism? McCarthy was a bit overzealous but honestly I don't see the issue with it. Imagine if North Korea had its own party in the US, a party that worshiped Kim Jong-Un, and NK was 100 times larger, and had tons of nukes, and murdered wayyy more people than it does, and had spies at the highest levels of US government. What would you think of the people who belonged to this party? Would you work with them? Trust them with positions of power, authority, or influence?
- angersock 11y ago
  What would you think of the people who belonged to this party? Would you work with them? Trust them with positions of power, authority, or influence? Well, it depends. Are they proposing things and doing a better job than the current turkeys? That's what actually matters--everything else is just branding.
- adekok 11y ago
  > McCarthy was a bit overzealous but honestly I don't see the issue with it. Some people are unable to learn from the lessons of others. Remind me to turn you in as a communist / whatever in the next round of inquisitions. The accusation doesn't need to be true. It just needs to be seen as "not an issue" by people like you.
- elektromekatron 11y ago
  A bit overzealous? "If you want to be against McCarthy, boys, you've got to be either a Communist or a cocksucker." - Senator Joseph McCarthy
  - bobcostas55 11y ago
    Unfortunately McCarthy wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, the gay stuff was particularly silly. On the other hand he was 100% right about the CPUSA, about soviet spies infiltrating the government, etc. Between Venona and the Soviet intelligence archives we know that he was spot on. The much-maligned HUAC even found the Soviets' most valued asset, Alger Hiss. So yeah, a bit overzealous. The whole circus didn't last long, anyway.
    - elektromekatron 11y ago
      Again, silly isn't the word I'd use here, however I guess, given you are also busy slandering Ray Bradbury as a Stalin apologist based on not properly reading a very short article, it is a bit petty in context to be too annoyed about your continual abuse of serious understatement.
    - jacquesm 11y ago
      Fortunately! He could have done a lot more damage if he was sharper and it would have taken longer for his contemporaries to come to their senses. Ditto Hitler.
    - srean 11y ago
      you mean just like rape is a bit of surprise sex and typically doesn't last very long anyways, right ?
ptaipale 11y ago
Well, as they say, intelligence is not the same as wisdom. Many intelligent people may well belong to communist parties in Western countries, but I don't think they are very wise. (Just recently came back from a trip where visited Stalin's Canal. The GULAG killed there so many workers, intentionally, that they could be laid next to each other along the built-up parts of the canal, head next to the next body's toes, forming a linked chain of bodies buried in the embankments. This construction was where the Nazis visited to learn how to set up a forced labour camp and how to wear off people and kill them with hunger.)

bobcostas55 11y ago

>Do you long for the times of McCarthyism? McCarthy was a bit overzealous but honestly I don't see the issue with it. Imagine if North Korea had its own party in the US, a party that worshiped Kim Jong-Un, and NK was 100 times larger, and had tons of nukes, and murdered wayyy more people than it does, and had spies at the highest levels of US government. What would you think of the people who belonged to this party? Would you work with them? Trust them with positions of power, authority, or influence?

angersock 11y ago
What would you think of the people who belonged to this party? Would you work with them? Trust them with positions of power, authority, or influence? Well, it depends. Are they proposing things and doing a better job than the current turkeys? That's what actually matters--everything else is just branding.
adekok 11y ago
> McCarthy was a bit overzealous but honestly I don't see the issue with it. Some people are unable to learn from the lessons of others. Remind me to turn you in as a communist / whatever in the next round of inquisitions. The accusation doesn't need to be true. It just needs to be seen as "not an issue" by people like you.
elektromekatron 11y ago
A bit overzealous? "If you want to be against McCarthy, boys, you've got to be either a Communist or a cocksucker." - Senator Joseph McCarthy
- bobcostas55 11y ago
  Unfortunately McCarthy wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, the gay stuff was particularly silly. On the other hand he was 100% right about the CPUSA, about soviet spies infiltrating the government, etc. Between Venona and the Soviet intelligence archives we know that he was spot on. The much-maligned HUAC even found the Soviets' most valued asset, Alger Hiss. So yeah, a bit overzealous. The whole circus didn't last long, anyway.
  - elektromekatron 11y ago
    Again, silly isn't the word I'd use here, however I guess, given you are also busy slandering Ray Bradbury as a Stalin apologist based on not properly reading a very short article, it is a bit petty in context to be too annoyed about your continual abuse of serious understatement.
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    Fortunately! He could have done a lot more damage if he was sharper and it would have taken longer for his contemporaries to come to their senses. Ditto Hitler.
  - srean 11y ago
    you mean just like rape is a bit of surprise sex and typically doesn't last very long anyways, right ?

ptaipale 11y ago

Well, as they say, intelligence is not the same as wisdom. Many intelligent people may well belong to communist parties in Western countries, but I don't think they are very wise. (Just recently came back from a trip where visited Stalin's Canal. The GULAG killed there so many workers, intentionally, that they could be laid next to each other along the built-up parts of the canal, head next to the next body's toes, forming a linked chain of bodies buried in the embankments. This construction was where the Nazis visited to learn how to set up a forced labour camp and how to wear off people and kill them with hunger.)