"..... We Can Not Defend Freedom Abroad By Deserting It At Home" .....
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Track:Aunt Hager's Country Home
That's part of a quote from Edward R. Murrow, The full quote is actually this:"We proclaim ourselves as indeed we are: The defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."
This was a response to the epidemic of "Redbaiting" or "McCarthyism" that was occurring in the 50's.The "Red Scare" started a bit earlier, around 1947 with the creation of the Federal Loyalty and Security Program. In the years between '47 and '53 the program dismissed 212 federal employees and successfully prosecuted 12 leaders of the American Communist Party for their plans to overthrow the government. This "success" was due in part to the appointment of then Congressman Richard M. Nixon and Karl Mundt to the House Un-American Committee. When China fell to Communist control in 1949, civil liberties at home took a heavy hit, all in the name of national security. *Stop me now if this is starting to sound familiar.*
In 1953 Senator Joseph McCarthy was appointed Chairman of the Senate Permanent Investigations Subcommittee, in this capacity he tried to route Communist sympathizers from the federal government. The outcome of these investigations resulted in an epidemic of persecution of countless people who were later found to harbor NO connections to the Communist Party. These persecutions were known as "The Great Fear". In the Great Fear, Hollywood actors/actresses and writers writers were "blacklisted" because they refused to testify against friends or because they plead the 5th. Universities fired faculty because of suspected Communist leanings. It's safe to say many lives across this nation were ruined by false and reckless persecutions. I wrote this post for 2 reasons:1. My music selection tonite is from Jack Teagarden, who was appointed as the official State Department Ambassador in 1958. Through the efforts of American National Theatre and Academy and the State Dept, Teagarden actually toured those "Red" nations that frightened America so. This track was recorded in 1958 on Roulette Records. 2. I can't help but see similarities between then and now. Just substitute the word "Terrorist" for "Communist" and wonder who *our* McCarthy is.
This was a response to the epidemic of "Redbaiting" or "McCarthyism" that was occurring in the 50's.The "Red Scare" started a bit earlier, around 1947 with the creation of the Federal Loyalty and Security Program. In the years between '47 and '53 the program dismissed 212 federal employees and successfully prosecuted 12 leaders of the American Communist Party for their plans to overthrow the government. This "success" was due in part to the appointment of then Congressman Richard M. Nixon and Karl Mundt to the House Un-American Committee. When China fell to Communist control in 1949, civil liberties at home took a heavy hit, all in the name of national security. *Stop me now if this is starting to sound familiar.*
In 1953 Senator Joseph McCarthy was appointed Chairman of the Senate Permanent Investigations Subcommittee, in this capacity he tried to route Communist sympathizers from the federal government. The outcome of these investigations resulted in an epidemic of persecution of countless people who were later found to harbor NO connections to the Communist Party. These persecutions were known as "The Great Fear". In the Great Fear, Hollywood actors/actresses and writers writers were "blacklisted" because they refused to testify against friends or because they plead the 5th. Universities fired faculty because of suspected Communist leanings. It's safe to say many lives across this nation were ruined by false and reckless persecutions. I wrote this post for 2 reasons:1. My music selection tonite is from Jack Teagarden, who was appointed as the official State Department Ambassador in 1958. Through the efforts of American National Theatre and Academy and the State Dept, Teagarden actually toured those "Red" nations that frightened America so. This track was recorded in 1958 on Roulette Records. 2. I can't help but see similarities between then and now. Just substitute the word "Terrorist" for "Communist" and wonder who *our* McCarthy is.
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