It may be a good week to recall a time when one of America’s most notorious, feared political bullies was brought down by shame. Joseph McCarthy was a little-known junior senator in 1950 when the young demagogue on the make saw Americans primed to fear reds under the bed and sniffed opportunity. Read liberalism for communism and the similarities between then and now are uncanny.
McCarthy portrayed himself as the fearless underdog battling the “weak on communism” coastal establishment, the tireless tormentor of the “traitorous” deep state. He was the master of the shameless, evidence-free big lie, with a talent for feeding sensationalist headlines to the media just before their deadlines. His powerful platform as chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was used t
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