It was a little over 59 years ago that Edward R. Murrow publicly criticized Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy, who had alleged the federal government was full of Communists.

Now, I was very young then, but I do remember the McCarthy hearings, which were televised, in which McCarthy accused anybody and everybody, it seemed, of being subversive.

Of course, it was a different time. In post-World War II America, there was fear of Communists and fear that they would take over the world, the US included. McCarthy played on that fear and exploited it, even if he had nothing to back up his accusations.

Eventually, McCarthy was repudiated and he died of cancer.

But on March 9, 1954, Edward R. Murrow took the Wisconsin Senator to task on "See It Now" with some of the most effective words I've ever heard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anNEJJYLU8M

 

 

 

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