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McCarthyism was primarily a political thing by politicians. The FBI chief being discussed here, Wray, is a political appointment but not an elected politician
by eatonphil 4y ago
McCarthyism was primarily a political thing by politicians.
The FBI chief being discussed here, Wray, is a political appointment but not an elected politician so hopefully the appointment shields them from politics. Nevermind that the DoJ tries pretty hard to be independent of the President. But beyond that, this particular chief was appointed during the previous administration of a different party. And has served in both party's administrations.
I have no position on TikTok, but Wray saying this is not really comparable to McCarthy.
- cwkoss 4y agoI feel like the FBI has politicized quite a bit since Comey.
- advisedwang 4y agoThe FBI chief is and has always been highly political. J Edgar Hoover was a extreme anti-communist and was investigating suspected communists, infiltrating CPUSA and creating blacklists at the exact same time that McCarthy was conducting his hearings. In fact the McCarthyism acticle on Wikipedia has a whole section about the FBI. The FBI was deeply involved in McCarthyism.
- lehi 4y agoSomething being political does not require it to be partisan. Joseph McCarthy worked hand in hand with then-FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, and Wray was appointed by a president who also tried to ban TikTok.
- eatonphil 4y agoSure, but being kept on by an administration of the opposing party goes a bit to show that he is also not particularly partisan.