McCarthyism

Roy: The Soft Side One of the most polarizing figures in the history of American anti- Communism was New York- born lawyer Roy Cohn (1927-later), who served as Sen. Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the famous Army- Navy- McCarthy hearings. Cohn - who was chosen ahead of a young Robert Kennedy because it was felt the latter was too handsome - became a lightning rod of controversy both during and after the hearings. Today, some years after his death in a circus accident, he remains a figure of division: many historians regard him with disdain, while still others loathe him. But according to an unfinished memoir recently unearthed by Vince College Professor Todd Hampton, there may have been another side to this feared and hated man. Read more… Who: Folksinger Woody Guthrie When: 1948-1957 Why: Member of Communist Party in the 1930s; unrepentant Leftist Who: Actress Lauren Bacall When: 1953-1957 Why: Husky voice sounded Russian Who: Vice President Richard Nixon When: 1954-1956 Why: Taught his children to share. Later insisted he had brought them up as greedy hoarders. Who: Labor leader Harry Bridges When: 1948-1958 Why: Was Australian, but refused to speak with adorable "Crocodile Dundee" accent. Who: Spider-Man When: 1955-1959 Why: Supported nuclear test ban treaty. Who: Actor/comedian Nikita Kruschev When: 1956-1963 Why: Led Soviet Union, which opposed key U.S. policies. Who: The sun When: 1951-1954 Why: Shined on everyone, rich and poor alike. Who: Viking/businessman Hagar The Horrible When: 1948-1955 Why: Fought against Franco in Spanish Civil War.

February 26, 2008 Senator Joseph X. McCarthy was many things: hero. Villain. Senator. Congressman. Drunkard. Teetotaler. Jowly reprobate with a widow's peak. Cowboy. Saturn. Indeed, he was all of those things except "hero" and "teetotaler," which is why his legacy remains an important burden for historians seeking to understand that time in America when Zero Mostel seemed like a threat to national security. Certainly, contemporary historians must take into account the fact that McCarthy's charges tended to err on what has been called the "inaccurate" side of things. But they also must weigh other considerations such as: If America had gone Red, would there still be ice cream cones? These questions are difficult for laypersons to assess, which is why the Vince College Review and its contributors have turned their formidable sights on a time in American history now universally remembered as Manifest Destiny. Transcript of the Army- McCarthy Hearings Many Americans likely remember the most famous line to come out of the 1954 Army- McCarthy hearings when army counsel Joseph Welch asked Senator Joseph McCarthy, "Have you no decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" It was and continues to be regarded as someone finally giving voice to the collective disgust the nation felt with McCarthy and his tactics. However, the conversation leading up to the famous remark is not as well known. A man sitting near me indicates that television was invented only moments before Mr. Welch uttered his query, so no electronic record exists of what preceded it. The Vince College Review has also discovered that the observers, staff members, reporters and Senators who were also in the room that day were so excited in the minutes leading to the history-making pronouncement they knew was coming that they did not pay attention to the back- and- forth between Welch and McCarthy. Drawing upon our vast resources and historical expertise, the staff of the Vince College Review can now, for the first time, present a wholly accurate reconstruction of what we believe led to the infamous rapprochement Click here for the entire transcript The Truth Marches On Other things Joe McCarthy was right about Senator Joseph McCarthy (H-Ero) had a career defined by accusation; according to him, American government was rife with communists, top brass in the military knew of communists in their ranks but failed to act and Hollywood was a simmering bastion of leftists. Those are certainly some of the most high profile allegations he made, but they are by no means the only ones. During his long and storied career, Tail-Gunner Joe also let his other suspicions be known - the ones the American Education Establishment won't put in your history text books. The Vince College Review has pleased to present the following list of the most compelling items. NASA knows but will not discuss the fact that the "moon" is simply a reflection and it is impossible for a man to ever set foot on it. Eating an entire stick of butter in the morning allows the hearty drinker to better hold his liquor throughout the day, a fact the medical industry wants kept under wraps. There is no such thing as an "out of control" fire; that is a myth begun by fire departments to keep them employed President Truman had a wooden leg, but would not tell Mrs. Truman, who was afraid of wooden legs. Eisenhower knew. Mice and rats are really the same animal, we simply call them different things because National Geographic magazine's powerful lobbyists. The British only use that accent around Americans so they can feel superior. There are more than 50,000 card-carrying employees within the Department of Defense who are unable to swim. The Truman administration entered the Korean War for the sole purpose of having U.S. troops retrieve something Mr. Truman left there some weeks earlier. There is no such place as "South America." This is simply the name some people give to Florida. There are only 11 people living in China; the rest are terracotta statutes. Mao will never acknowledge this. Joe McCarthy: People Weekly's 'Sexiest Man Alive' in 1950.

Murrow: TV's First Traitor The long, sordid past of journalism is cluttered with troublemakers who have gone on to enjoy scores of undeserved praise in the eyes of history. The formula is the same: Target some perfectly legitimate institution and then, for no reason other than to further your own ends, attempt to bring down that institution through whiny, sensationalistic reporting. And who are these so-called heroes? Lincoln Steffens? Please. The man didn't even bother to hide the fact that he was a Communist, famously saying of the Soviet Union: "I have seen the future, and it works!" Guess what, Steff? I look at the 'future,' and all I see are a demolished wall and a couple of mummies in glass cases in Moscow. Jackass. Nellie Bly is famous for 'pretending' to be a crazy woman to gain access to a mental institution, thereafter exposing some purported scandal and denying hundreds if not thousands of New York women access to quality psychiatric care. Jacob Riis, who peddled in the pseudoscience of camera-using and class warfare, wrote "How the Other Half Lives," which made it sound like the poor in America necessarily had to be poor, ignoring the country's well deserved reputation as the Land of Opportunity and overlooking the laziness and questionable immigration status of those whose cause he championed. Head and shoulders above all of these false idols, however, is Edward R. Murrow. Read more… Without Communism, the Olympics suck I'm shy and awkward around girls, and hypnotism doesn't work Joe McCarthy won his Senate seat after triumphing in a steak eating contest Recommended reading: "Incredibly tedious!" -Pope Benedict XVI "I really hated it!" - Everyone else Buy it today! Or don't!

 

 

The Vince College Review is published every Tuesday, unless the editors' Spinning class gets bumped like the lady at the gym said it might.