SkipCaptcha, Automoderated users, edit
7,178
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 123:
Line 123: − − =Joe McCarthy= − The Army's Special Counsel Joseph Welch had a problem: his assistant, Frederick Fisher, whom Welch had brought to Washington from Welch's New York law firm to work on the Army-McCarthy case, was a former member of the National Lawyers Guild, U.S. affiliate of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers,<ref>"[http://ia360638.us.archive.org/2/items/reportonnational1950unit/reportonnational1950unit.pdf Report on the National Lawyers Guild, legal bulwark of the Communist Party]," Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, United States Congress (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1950), p. 11-12 (PDF pp. 17-18). Cf. János Radványi , ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=DUZJcDOUKtsC Psychological Operations and Political Warfare in Long-term Strategic Planning]'' (ABC-CLIO, 1990) ISBN 0275936236, p. 48; Harvey Klehr, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=8YSmiFins9sC Far Left of Center: The American Radical Left Today]'' (New Brunswick , N.J.: Transaction Books, 1988), p. 161</ref> which operated under the control of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.<ref>David Horowitz, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=CYqZjtVp00AC The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America]'' (Washington: Regnery Publishing, 2006) ISBN 0895260034, p. 160</ref> Under the Truman loyalty order, such a background could have disqualified Fisher from Federal employment; to have such a person working on the Army's legal team—on a case involving Communist infiltration of the Army, during a war in Korea in which Communists had already killed tens of thousands of Americans—could ruin Welch's case. − − According to Cohn, Welch had him agree "not to bring up Fred Fisher in return for Welch's promise not to explore Cohn's military record."<ref>Robert Griffith, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=ViXaw6NSkrYC The Politics of Fear: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Senate]'' (University of Massachusetts Press, 1987) ISBN 0870235559, p. 259, n. 46</ref> [[Hollywood]] liberal<ref>When CNN talk-show host Larry King asked Clooney, “do you think when people say Hollywood's out of touch with ordinary Americans they have a point?” Clooney responded, “in general we tend to be, you know, is there a liberal bend, sure. I don't make any apologies about that. I'm a liberal, you know. I believe in it.” [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0602/16/lkl.01.html Interview With George Clooney], “Larry King Live,” CNN, February 16, 2006. Likewise, when Clooney made his acceptance speech at the 2006 Academy Awards, he said, “you know, we are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while. I think it's probably a good thing.” (Eric Olsen, [http://blogcritics.org/politics/article/notable-quotables-32006/ Oscar 2006 Quotes for Posterity], Blogcritics, March 20, 2006) Clooney emphasized the point: “I'm proud to be a part of this Academy. Proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch.” Miguel Marquez, [http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=1694017 Is Clooney Right About Hollywood's Social Agenda?], ABC News, March 6, 2006. For this speech, Clooney caught flak not only from conservatives, but from [[Hollywood]] director Spike Lee (“[http://ecentral.my/movies/buzz/buzz.asp?file=archives/buzz/2006/3/22SpikeLeecr&date=3/22/2006 Spike Lee criticises Clooney’s Oscar speech],” ''Malaysia Star'', March 22, 2006) and Comedy Central's ''South Park'' ([http://www.southparkstuff.com/season_10/episode_1002/epi1002script/ Script from “Smug Alert!]” ''South Park'', Season 10, Episode 1002)</ref> George Clooney, director and co-writer of the 2005 anti-McCarthy movie ''Good Night and Good Luck'', suggests that this was actually a veiled blackmail threat to “out” Cohn as a homosexual on national television if he mentioned Fisher. As Clooney put it, Welch told Cohn, “you leave this young lawyer at my firm alone [by not calling him a Communist], and we'll leave this [homosexual] issue out.”<ref>Anne Stockwell, “Clooney vs. the far right,” [http://books.google.com/books?id=P2UEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56 ''The Advocate'', December 6, 2005, p. 56]</ref> − − After Senator John McClellan, a segregationist Democrat,<ref>Sheldon Goldman, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=EIN4HFLG6eMC Picking Federal Judges: Lower Court Selection from Roosevelt Through Reagan]'' (Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300080735, p. 128. Cf. Dean L. Yarwood, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Ea4Udz3vbCIC When Congress Makes a Joke: Congressional Humor Then and Now]'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004) ISBN 0742530434, p. 71</ref> pressed Cohn on whether there was something “unusual” in his relationship with Schine, according to Herman, “Welch had his sport with him.” − − Welch had earlier badgered McCarthy staffer Jim Juliana, an ex-FBI agent—insinuating that Cohn had cropped a photograph of Schine and Stevens—asking Juliana where the photo had come from. Juliana told him he didn't know, upon which Welch asked, "Did you think this came from a pixie?” − − When McCarthy asked Welch to define “pixie,” Welch replied pointedly, “a pixie is a close relative of a fairy.” − − The camera panned to Schine, Cohn and McCarthy. The whole audience burst into laughter. Obviously furious at Welch's blatant gay-baiting, according to LBJ advisor Eric F. Goldman, Cohn's lips “hardened into angry lines.”<ref>Eric F. Goldman, ''[http://ia311540.us.archive.org/1/items/crucialdecadeame006464mbp/crucialdecadeame006464mbp.pdf The Crucial Decade: America, 1945-1955]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956), p. 274</ref> − − “Shall I proceed, sir?” said Welch. “Have I enlightened you?" − − Welch was now continuing in this vein, toying with Cohn: “May I add my small voice, sir, and say whenever you know about a subversive or a Communist spy, please hurry,” he taunted. “Will you remember these words?” − − It was this taunt that finally provoked McCarthy to come to the defense of his 26-year old subcommittee counsel, saying, “in view of Mr. Welch's request that information be given once we know of anyone who might be performing work for the Communist Party, I think we should tell him that he has in his law firm a young man named Fisher...” − − McCarthy outlined Fisher's background in the NLG, − − “Mr. Welch talks about this being cruel and reckless,” said McCarthy. “He was just baiting; he has been baiting Mr. Cohn here for hours...”<ref>Erik A. Bruun and Jay Crosby, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=scHi0mVNoS8C Our Nation's Archive: The History of the United States in Documents]'' (Black Dog Publishing, 1999) ISBN 1579120679, p. 698</ref> − − Welch turned to Cohn: “I did you, I think, no personal injury, Mr. Cohn?’ − Cohn replied: ‘No, sir.’ − − Cohn later confessed that in fact he found Welch's remark "malicious," "wicked," and "indecent."<ref>Neil Miller, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=SGSGAAAAIAAJ Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present]'' (Advocate Books, 2005) ISBN 1555838707, p. 147</ref> Even former Soviet agent Michael Straight admitted in the ''New Republic'': “As law the comment was improper; as humor it was unjust...” “That was Welch's technique,” according to radical, left-wing<ref>Sam Szurek , [http://www.reverseshot.com/article/emile_de_antonio_interview An Interview with Emile de Antonio], Reverse Shot, Issue 19</ref> filmmaker Emile de Antonio, whose cinematic attack on McCarthy predated Clooney's by decades. − − In researching his movie, Clooney boasted, “we had to go back to the actual initial footage of the Army-McCarthy hearings and watch them all the way through. And we did, all of them, 36 days' worth.” From these 36 days of hearings, Antonio cherry-picked the 97 minutes of footage that put McCarthy in the worst light for ''Point of Order,'' a documentary that became the main source of the principal surviving image of McCarthy.<ref>Robert D. Novak, “[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/360baygp.asp McCarthy=Bad],” ''The Weekly Standard'', Vol. 13, No. 11 (November 26, 2007)</ref> (This film in turn was edited still further into a 47-minute version, ''Charge and Countercharge'', for exhibition in public-school classrooms—thus forming an entire generation's view of McCarthy.)<ref>As late as 2006, the teachers' guide to the popular American History textbook ''The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society'' recommends both films as enrichment materials. (Mark Simon, ''[http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~rbrooki1/Kennesaw%20State/Fall%202008%202112/American%20People%20Instructor%27s%20Guide.pdf Teaching ''The American People'': A Guide for Instructors]'' (Pearson Education, Inc., 2006) ISBN 0-321-39894-7, p. 138. Cf. </ref> − − Bursting into tears, Welch fled the Senate caucus room to the applause of the reporters and cameramen packing the gallery.<ref>Paul F. Boller, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=cA8Q1Ev7ol4C Not so!: popular myths about America from Columbus to Clinton]'' (Oxford University Press US, 1996) ISBN 0195109724, p. 165. Cf. Robert Griffith, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=ViXaw6NSkrYC The Politics of Fear: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Senate]'' (University of Massachusetts Press, 1987) ISBN 0870235559, p. 259</ref> Tears still coursing, according to liberal pundit Nicholas Von Hoffman, Welch winked at reporter John Newhouse,<ref>Nicholas Von Hoffman, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=cwesxAPx4RkC Citizen Cohn]'' (Doubleday, 1988) ISBN 0385236905, p. 237</ref> best known today as the author of ''Imperial America: The Bush Assault on the World Order''. Once safely beyond reach of the TV cameras, Welch turned to his assistant and asked, 'Well, how did it go?'”<ref>Richard M. Fried, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=pVatMuvNTsoC Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective]'' (Oxford University Press US, 1991) ISBN 0195043618, p. 216. Cf. Arthur Herman, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=DIibZoDyADEC Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator]'' (Simon and Schuster, 2000) ISBN 0684836254, p. 276; Tom Wicker, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=XZlMJehEbIAC Shooting Star: The Brief Arc of Joe McCarthy]'' (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006) ISBN 015101082X, p. 163</ref> − − McCarthy had “already gone after the Army and accused 'em of being traitors,” according to Clooney. “So Secretary [of the Army Robert T.] Stevens and those guys were like, ''[Expletive deleted] you, we're going to get you any way we can.''” (Italics in original.) − − ==References== − <references/>
→Joe McCarthy
===Notes===
===Notes===
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}