By that reasoning, McCarthyism was profoundly liberal: Communism was a direct, unequivocal threat to society, so hounding it out was perfectly justified. (Or ev

By that reasoning, McCarthyism was profoundly liberal: Communism was a direct, unequivocal threat to society, so hounding it out was perfectly justified. (Or even if it wasn't, lots of people strongly believed it was, with justification!) To me, that's a pretty scary conclusion which puts some real doubt on the initial premise.