The issue is that being a communist isn't - and shouldn't be - a crime. Collaborating with a hostile foreign power is - and should be - a crime. McCarthy made

The issue is that being a communist isn't - and shouldn't be - a crime. Collaborating with a hostile foreign power is - and should be - a crime. McCarthy made no distinction between these two ends of the spectrum. Collaboration requires intent, which McCarthy often failed to provide evidence of. In those failures, he discredited himself and his enterprise.