Joseph McCarthy and the ‘Martyrdom’ of Hollywood: Rceczpospolita, Poland

Is Hollywood being too hard on America’s one-time anti-communist crusader, Senator Joseph McCarthy? Furthermore, is the ‘factory of dreams’ too kind to those whose lives the late senator ruined?

In the newspaper Rceczpospolita, Poland’s very own anti-communist crusader, journalist Bronislaw Wildstein, writes in part:

“In recent years, American movie screens, and in consequence, Polish, too, have been showing movies that glorify the victimization of America’s creative world during the ‘horrific’ era of Joseph McCarthy. Such well-known films as Good Night and Good Luck tell the stories of progressive journalists and filmmakers standing up to the nightmarish terror of the Wisconsin senator and show how they were persecuted for their heroism.

“The McCarthy case could be considered fairly typical democratic overreach at a time of emergency. It could also be seen as a symptom of the overall health of the United States, which dealt with McCarthyism without much of a cost. … Communist infiltration of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration has been a repeatedly confirmed fact, as was sympathy for communism within American creative circles. … defenses had to be erected against the enemy; exposing communists in public office was not for the purpose of persecuting people for their political views, but a reasonable and all-out defense against the threat of a totalitarian state.”

By Bronislaw Wildstein*

Translated by Halszka Czarnocka

August 17, 2009

Poland – Rzeczpospolita – Original Article (Polish)

In recent years, American movie screens, and in consequence, Polish, too, have been showing movies that glorify the victimization of America’s creative world during the “horrific” era of Joseph McCarthy. Such well-known films as Good Night and Good Luck tell the stories of progressive journalists and filmmakers standing up to the nightmarish terror of the Wisconsin senator and show how they were persecuted for their heroism.

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