> However, the people on his list were not in fact spies or communists and there was no good reason for him to believe they were.
The "list" he was holding wasn't a list at all. It was completely fake, made up for his own political grandstanding purposes.
Oh, sure, they eventually did come up with a real list after the witch-hunt got started but make no mistake that our problem with McCarthy was the witch-hunt itself, and the hysteria it generated. Oh sure, we all agree on "better dead than Red" but that wasn't what the HUAC ended up turning into.
The "list" he was holding wasn't a list at all. It was completely fake, made up for his own political grandstanding purposes.
Oh, sure, they eventually did come up with a real list after the witch-hunt got started but make no mistake that our problem with McCarthy was the witch-hunt itself, and the hysteria it generated. Oh sure, we all agree on "better dead than Red" but that wasn't what the HUAC ended up turning into.