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Brian Boyd on VN & McCarthy and Lolita's street addresses.
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Date
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Boyd (FOA ENG)" <b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz>
To: "'D. Barton Johnson '" <chtodel@cox.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2004 10:10 AM
Subject: RE: Fw: bravura passage has Nabokov speaking very much in his own
voice ...
> Responses to Rodney and Corinne:
>
> Nabokov was perfectly aware that Joe McCarthy was a dangerous demagogue
and
> liar; Vera Nabokov in particular was incensed by him, because his very
> phoniness discredited the real need to take seriously and non-hysterically
> the risks arising from the loyalty to Stalin's Moscow that Communism then
> required. But Nabokov as always is careful with his words. He did not
think
> there was "a McCarthy era," which implies a whole nation was under the
> Senator's sway. He was aware of American diversity of thought, including
the
> contempt in which McCarthy was held by many, even during the brief period
> when he panicked some.
>
> Thanks to Corinne for that wonderful flash about Phoenix. By evoking New
> York's system of Avenues running across numbered Streets Nabokov can
conceal
> this joke right under the eyes of non-Phoenicians and perhaps imply that
> Humbert and Lolita had a row at infinity, where parallel lines meet. How
> many more pearls of surprise has he scattered?
>
> Brian Boyd
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Barton Johnson
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Sent: 1/10/2004 1:12 PM
> Subject: Fw: Fw: bravura passage has Nabokov speaking very much in his own
> voice ...
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rodney Welch" <rodney41@mindspring.com>
> .
> >
> > ---------------- Message requiring your approval (273
> lines) ------------------
> > The problem isn't the review; the problem is the quote -- one of the
> crankiest Nabokov ever wrote. For one thing, it puts Nabokov's own
> anti-anti-American views in Kinbote's mouth, the very thing he hated
> when
> other writers did it. Also, much as I appreciate Nabokov's personal and
> painful experience with the Soviet Union, I've always found it
> unsettling
> the way he just shrugs off Joe McCarthy. I'm not naive about the reality
> of
> spying and Communist infiltration during the 1950s, but there seems to
> me
> little question that there really was a McCarthy Era, and that the
> fascistic
> fathead at its center did reckless damage.
> >
> > Rodney Welch
> > Columbia, SC
> -----------------------------
> EDNOTE. All true but my point was merely the bizarre use that the
> Nabokov/Kinbote quote had been put to.
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> > Sent: Jan 9, 2004 1:02 PM
> > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > Subject: Fw: bravura passage has Nabokov speaking very much in his own
> voice ...
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Kenny, Glenn" <gkenny@hfmus.com>
> > To: "'Vladimir Nabokov Forum'" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > >
> > > ---------------- Message requiring your approval (208
> > lines) ------------------
> > > That's a real "huh?" moment for sure. The fact that such nonsense
> saw
> > print
> > > is further evidence that the arts editors over at the Times are all
> on
> > > crack.
> > >
> > > > ----------
> > > > From: D. Barton Johnson
> > > > Reply To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > > > Sent: Thursday, January 8, 2004 10:19 PM
> > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > Subject: Fw: bravura passage has Nabokov speaking very much in his
> > > > own voice ...
> > > >
> > > > EDNOTE: AMong the stranger uses VN's work has been put to is the
> > following
> > > > review intro.
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: Sandy P. Klein
> > > >
> > > > The New York Times On The Web
> > > >
> > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/04/books/review/04WHEATCT.html
> > > >
> > > > The New York Times
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > January 4, 2004
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 'Reds': Point of Order
> > > >
> > > > By GEOFFREY WHEATCROFT
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Ted Morgan, the author of "Reds."
> > > >
> > > > REDS
> > > > McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America.
> > > > By Ted Morgan.
> > > > 685 pp. New York: Random House. $35.
> > > >
> > > > He was ''a so-called Pink,'' Kinbote says of a campus colleague,
> 'who
> > > > believed in what so-called Pinks believe in (Progressive
> Education,
> the
> > > > Integrity of anyone spying for Russia, Fallouts occasioned solely
> by
> > > > U.S.-made bombs, the existence in the near past of a McCarthy Era,
> > Soviet
> > > > achievements including 'Dr. Zhivago' and so forth).'' Although
> ''Pale
> > > > Fire'' is part satire, that bravura passage has Nabokov speaking
> very
> > much
> > > > in his own voice; little did he guess that, 40 years later, the
> McCarthy
> > > > era would still haunt America.
> > > >
> > > > From Richard Rovere's admirable 1959 ''Senator Joe McCarthy''
> onward,
> > very
> > > > many books about the era and its protagonist have appeared. In the
> > latest,
> > > > the long, detailed, interesting but puzzling ''Reds,'' Ted Morgan,
> a
> > > > biographer of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and
> Somerset
> > > > Maugham, covers the ground with some fresh material and, as he
> hopes,
> > with
> > > > a new angle. The result is really more than one book, and they
> don't
> > quite
> > > > hang together: McCarthy enters (stage right) only after more than
> 320
> > > > pages, or well over halfway through, and no more than 4 out of 15
> > chapters
> > > > are devoted to him.
> > > >
> > > > His story remains fascinating, and hair-raising. Born in
> Wisconsin,
> Joe
> > > > McCarthy displayed application and ability at school and college.
> He
> > also
> > > > displayed from a young age a tendency to embroider the record. As
> Morgan
> > > > says, McCarthy learned early that ''he could lie and get away with
> it.''
> > > > In 1939, partly by means of mendacious attacks on his opponent, he
> > became
> > > > the youngest circuit judge ever elected in Wisconsin. Soon he was
> > > > propelled into national politics, by way of war service in the
> Pacific
> > and
> > > > by way of more fabulizing. McCarthy allowed the people of
> Wisconsin to
> > > > believe that he had been wounded in action (or, still more
> inventively,
> > > > ''while helping to remove a pregnant woman from off a
> submarine''),
> when
> > > > actually he had injured himself in a prank during the traditional
> > > > festivities crossing the Equator.
> > > >
> > > > He was an obscure figure when he reached Washington in December
> 1946,
> > and
> > > > not much better known in 1950 when he jumped on the anti-Communist
> > > > bandwagon with his explosive ''I have in my hand'' speech at
> Wheeling,
> > > > W.Va., claiming that the State Department was a nest of
> Communists.
> Thus
> > > > began the McCarthy era, although Morgan rightly stresses that
> > > > anti-Communist purges and Communist espionage both predated
> McCarthy's
> > own
> > > > demagogic career.
> > > >
> > > > However often told, the story never palls: the increasingly wild
> > charges,
> > > > the atmosphere of suspicion and dread, the attack on Gen. George
> C.
> > > > Marshall and then the whole United States Army, the televised
> hearings,
> > > > the breaking of a malign spell over American political life with
> Joseph
> > > > Welch's superbly theatrical riposte -- ''Little did I dream you
> could
> be
> > > > so reckless and so cruel. . . . Have you no sense of decency, sir,
> at
> > long
> > > > last?'' -- and McCarthy's censure by the Senate in 1954. Less than
> three
> > > > years later he was dead.
> > > >
> > > > Along with his bullying and braggadocio, there was a huge
> > self-destructive
> > > > streak in McCarthy's makeup. It showed in the easily demonstrable
> lies
> > he
> > > > told, it showed in the drinking that polished him off at only 48,
> it
> > > > showed in his patronage of the odious if preposterous Roy Cohn and
> his
> > > > boyfriend David Schine, whose cavorting around Europe made a
> > laughingstock
> > > > of America and much aided the Communist cause. But then so did the
> whole
> > > > McCarthy era.
> > > >
> > > > Those who come out of this story worst aren't so much McCarthy and
> his
> > > > acolytes as the politicians who recognized him for what he was but
> > lacked
> > > > the courage to stand up to him. ''Joe's just a loudmouthed
> drunk,''
> > Lyndon
> > > > Johnson told Bobby Baker. Other senators knew that, and in his
> last
> > years
> > > > they got up and left the dining room when he entered. But that was
> only
> > > > after his star had fallen. Until then, Democrats as well as
> Republicans
> > > > had lined up behind him, or at least refused to call his bluff.
> > > >
> > > > But telling the immediate story of the McCarthy era is only one
> part
> of
> > > > this book. Its subtitle is ''McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century
> America,''
> > > > and it can't quite make up its mind what its theme is supposed to
> be.
> > > > Morgan begins with what he thinks is the provocative claim that
> ''the
> > cold
> > > > war began in 1917,'' but this is a truism. A. J. P. Taylor's
> history
> of
> > > > European international relations from 1848 to 1918, written 50
> years
> > ago,
> > > > ended with the words that ''Europe was superseded'' after World
> War I
> by
> > > > the ''competition between Communism and liberal democracy.''
> > > >
> > > > In Morgan's account, the conflict had taken shape with American
> > > > involvement in the Russian Revolution, and the abortive military
> > > > intervention against the Bolsheviks. Following that episode, he
> plunges
> > > > headfirst into the murky world of espionage. From the arrival of
> the
> > first
> > > > Soviet trade mission in 1924, the Russians established a large spy
> > network
> > > > in America, in some ways connected with the official and open
> Communist
> > > > Party, but also with the larger sway that Communism held over
> cultural
> > and
> > > > intellectual life in the 1930's and 40's.
> > > >
> > > > The evidence of Venona, the transcripts of the Soviet secret
> signal
> > > > traffic intercepted and decrypted by American intelligence, is
> > conclusive
> > > > about the extent of that operation: with a strange irony, one
> could
> say
> > > > that McCarthy didn't know the half of it. All the same, to write,
> as
> > > > Morgan does, that if only Venona had been released at the time,
> ''the
> > > > swing of the pendulum to hysterical anti-Communism could perhaps
> have
> > been
> > > > avoided,'' is idle; of course the transcripts could not have been
> made
> > > > public then.
> > > >
> > > > Morgan devotes the last part of his book to a feverish gallop
> through
> > > > events since McCarthy: the F.B.I.'s ever more frantic pursuit of
> an
> ever
> > > > tinier Communist Party, the sex lives of John F. Kennedy and
> Martin
> > Luther
> > > > King Jr., the birth of the New Left, Vietnam, Watergate,
> Iran-contra,
> > > > whatever. All this is designed somehow or other to illustrate the
> thesis
> > > > that ''just as McCarthyism began long before McCarthy, it endured
> long
> > > > after him.''
> > > >
> > > > Does this mean anything? ''McCarthyism'' could have a truly useful
> > > > definition: the calculated and unprincipled use of mendacious
> > allegations
> > > > for political purposes. But if it comes to be used (as it too
> often
> is)
> > to
> > > > mean any charge uncomfortably near the bone, or if alternatively
> it
> > covers
> > > > any kind of demagoguery, falsehood and trickery, then the very
> concept
> > is
> > > > rendered empty and meaningless.
> > > >
> > > > As to Morgan's peroration -- or concluding rant -- about George W.
> Bush,
> > > > 9/11, African uranium and the ''pattern of deceit'' behind the
> White
> > > > House's case for war with Iraq, one can (as it happens) share the
> > author's
> > > > inclination on these subjects while wondering whether
> ''McCarthyite
> > > > methods'' is in any sense a helpful way of describing the debate
> over
> > the
> > > > current war. It did not require McCarthy, after all, to teach
> > politicians
> > > > the uses of misrepresentation.
> > > >
> > > > All of which leaves ''Reds'' looking curiouser and curiouser.
> Despite
> > > > being quite unillusioned about Communism, Morgan misses the point.
> > > > McCarthy did huge damage to American life, but a large part of the
> > damage
> > > > was done to the honorable anti-Communist cause -- and to honesty
> on
> the
> > > > left. Nearly 50 years ago, when the senator was still at large,
> the
> > > > journalist Dwight Macdonald pointed out that ''the liberals have
> never
> > > > honestly confronted their illusions in the 30's and 40's about
> Communism
> > > > but have instead merely counterposed a disingenuous defense, a
> blanket
> > > > denial to McCarthy's equally sweeping attack.''
> > > >
> > > > Before the McCarthy era began, and then after it ended, two
> politically
> > > > very different Englishmen said what needed to be said. George
> Orwell
> > > > almost certainly never heard of Joe McCarthy: the Wheeling speech
> came
> a
> > > > matter of weeks after his death. But not long before he died,
> Orwell
> had
> > > > specifically warned the Americans about the danger of fighting
> Communism
> > > > with the kinds of methods Communists themselves used.
> > > >
> > > > Then in 1960, William F. Buckley Jr. tried to persuade Evelyn
> Waugh to
> > > > contribute to National Review, and sent him ''McCarthy and His
> > Enemies,''
> > > > the apologia he had written with L. Brent Bozell. But Buckley got
> an
> > > > elegant flea in his ear. Most Englishmen regarded McCarthy as a
> > > > regrettable figure, Waugh replied, and the book ''will not go far
> to
> > clear
> > > > his reputation.'' Plainly there had been need for an investigation
> into
> > > > Soviet espionage, but it was just as clear that McCarthy was not a
> > > > suitable man to undertake it, Waugh said, and those who
> sympathized
> with
> > > > the anti-Communist cause ''must deplore his championship of it.''
> > Despite
> > > > all the bitterness of the McCarthy era and its residue, that
> remains
> > > > something like the last word.
> > > >
> > > > Geoffrey Wheatcroft's books include ''The Controversy of Zion''
> and,
> > most
> > > > recently, ''Le Tour: A History of the Tour de France.''
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > The New York Times
> > > >
> > > > New York Times
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _____
> > > >
> > > > Take advantage of our limited-time introductory offer for dial-up
> > Internet
> > > > access.
> > > >
> >
> >
> >
From: "Brian Boyd (FOA ENG)" <b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz>
To: "'D. Barton Johnson '" <chtodel@cox.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2004 10:10 AM
Subject: RE: Fw: bravura passage has Nabokov speaking very much in his own
voice ...
> Responses to Rodney and Corinne:
>
> Nabokov was perfectly aware that Joe McCarthy was a dangerous demagogue
and
> liar; Vera Nabokov in particular was incensed by him, because his very
> phoniness discredited the real need to take seriously and non-hysterically
> the risks arising from the loyalty to Stalin's Moscow that Communism then
> required. But Nabokov as always is careful with his words. He did not
think
> there was "a McCarthy era," which implies a whole nation was under the
> Senator's sway. He was aware of American diversity of thought, including
the
> contempt in which McCarthy was held by many, even during the brief period
> when he panicked some.
>
> Thanks to Corinne for that wonderful flash about Phoenix. By evoking New
> York's system of Avenues running across numbered Streets Nabokov can
conceal
> this joke right under the eyes of non-Phoenicians and perhaps imply that
> Humbert and Lolita had a row at infinity, where parallel lines meet. How
> many more pearls of surprise has he scattered?
>
> Brian Boyd
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Barton Johnson
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Sent: 1/10/2004 1:12 PM
> Subject: Fw: Fw: bravura passage has Nabokov speaking very much in his own
> voice ...
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rodney Welch" <rodney41@mindspring.com>
> .
> >
> > ---------------- Message requiring your approval (273
> lines) ------------------
> > The problem isn't the review; the problem is the quote -- one of the
> crankiest Nabokov ever wrote. For one thing, it puts Nabokov's own
> anti-anti-American views in Kinbote's mouth, the very thing he hated
> when
> other writers did it. Also, much as I appreciate Nabokov's personal and
> painful experience with the Soviet Union, I've always found it
> unsettling
> the way he just shrugs off Joe McCarthy. I'm not naive about the reality
> of
> spying and Communist infiltration during the 1950s, but there seems to
> me
> little question that there really was a McCarthy Era, and that the
> fascistic
> fathead at its center did reckless damage.
> >
> > Rodney Welch
> > Columbia, SC
> -----------------------------
> EDNOTE. All true but my point was merely the bizarre use that the
> Nabokov/Kinbote quote had been put to.
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> > Sent: Jan 9, 2004 1:02 PM
> > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > Subject: Fw: bravura passage has Nabokov speaking very much in his own
> voice ...
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Kenny, Glenn" <gkenny@hfmus.com>
> > To: "'Vladimir Nabokov Forum'" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > >
> > > ---------------- Message requiring your approval (208
> > lines) ------------------
> > > That's a real "huh?" moment for sure. The fact that such nonsense
> saw
> > > is further evidence that the arts editors over at the Times are all
> on
> > > crack.
> > >
> > > > ----------
> > > > From: D. Barton Johnson
> > > > Reply To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > > > Sent: Thursday, January 8, 2004 10:19 PM
> > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > Subject: Fw: bravura passage has Nabokov speaking very much in his
> > > > own voice ...
> > > >
> > > > EDNOTE: AMong the stranger uses VN's work has been put to is the
> > following
> > > > review intro.
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: Sandy P. Klein
> > > >
> > > > The New York Times On The Web
> > > >
> > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/04/books/review/04WHEATCT.html
> > > >
> > > > The New York Times
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > January 4, 2004
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 'Reds': Point of Order
> > > >
> > > > By GEOFFREY WHEATCROFT
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Ted Morgan, the author of "Reds."
> > > >
> > > > REDS
> > > > McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America.
> > > > By Ted Morgan.
> > > > 685 pp. New York: Random House. $35.
> > > >
> > > > He was ''a so-called Pink,'' Kinbote says of a campus colleague,
> 'who
> > > > believed in what so-called Pinks believe in (Progressive
> Education,
> the
> > > > Integrity of anyone spying for Russia, Fallouts occasioned solely
> by
> > > > U.S.-made bombs, the existence in the near past of a McCarthy Era,
> > Soviet
> > > > achievements including 'Dr. Zhivago' and so forth).'' Although
> ''Pale
> > > > Fire'' is part satire, that bravura passage has Nabokov speaking
> very
> > much
> > > > in his own voice; little did he guess that, 40 years later, the
> McCarthy
> > > > era would still haunt America.
> > > >
> > > > From Richard Rovere's admirable 1959 ''Senator Joe McCarthy''
> onward,
> > very
> > > > many books about the era and its protagonist have appeared. In the
> > latest,
> > > > the long, detailed, interesting but puzzling ''Reds,'' Ted Morgan,
> a
> > > > biographer of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and
> Somerset
> > > > Maugham, covers the ground with some fresh material and, as he
> hopes,
> > with
> > > > a new angle. The result is really more than one book, and they
> don't
> > quite
> > > > hang together: McCarthy enters (stage right) only after more than
> 320
> > > > pages, or well over halfway through, and no more than 4 out of 15
> > chapters
> > > > are devoted to him.
> > > >
> > > > His story remains fascinating, and hair-raising. Born in
> Wisconsin,
> Joe
> > > > McCarthy displayed application and ability at school and college.
> He
> > also
> > > > displayed from a young age a tendency to embroider the record. As
> Morgan
> > > > says, McCarthy learned early that ''he could lie and get away with
> it.''
> > > > In 1939, partly by means of mendacious attacks on his opponent, he
> > became
> > > > the youngest circuit judge ever elected in Wisconsin. Soon he was
> > > > propelled into national politics, by way of war service in the
> Pacific
> > and
> > > > by way of more fabulizing. McCarthy allowed the people of
> Wisconsin to
> > > > believe that he had been wounded in action (or, still more
> inventively,
> > > > ''while helping to remove a pregnant woman from off a
> submarine''),
> when
> > > > actually he had injured himself in a prank during the traditional
> > > > festivities crossing the Equator.
> > > >
> > > > He was an obscure figure when he reached Washington in December
> 1946,
> > and
> > > > not much better known in 1950 when he jumped on the anti-Communist
> > > > bandwagon with his explosive ''I have in my hand'' speech at
> Wheeling,
> > > > W.Va., claiming that the State Department was a nest of
> Communists.
> Thus
> > > > began the McCarthy era, although Morgan rightly stresses that
> > > > anti-Communist purges and Communist espionage both predated
> McCarthy's
> > own
> > > > demagogic career.
> > > >
> > > > However often told, the story never palls: the increasingly wild
> > charges,
> > > > the atmosphere of suspicion and dread, the attack on Gen. George
> C.
> > > > Marshall and then the whole United States Army, the televised
> hearings,
> > > > the breaking of a malign spell over American political life with
> Joseph
> > > > Welch's superbly theatrical riposte -- ''Little did I dream you
> could
> be
> > > > so reckless and so cruel. . . . Have you no sense of decency, sir,
> at
> > long
> > > > last?'' -- and McCarthy's censure by the Senate in 1954. Less than
> three
> > > > years later he was dead.
> > > >
> > > > Along with his bullying and braggadocio, there was a huge
> > self-destructive
> > > > streak in McCarthy's makeup. It showed in the easily demonstrable
> lies
> > he
> > > > told, it showed in the drinking that polished him off at only 48,
> it
> > > > showed in his patronage of the odious if preposterous Roy Cohn and
> his
> > > > boyfriend David Schine, whose cavorting around Europe made a
> > laughingstock
> > > > of America and much aided the Communist cause. But then so did the
> whole
> > > > McCarthy era.
> > > >
> > > > Those who come out of this story worst aren't so much McCarthy and
> his
> > > > acolytes as the politicians who recognized him for what he was but
> > lacked
> > > > the courage to stand up to him. ''Joe's just a loudmouthed
> drunk,''
> > Lyndon
> > > > Johnson told Bobby Baker. Other senators knew that, and in his
> last
> > years
> > > > they got up and left the dining room when he entered. But that was
> only
> > > > after his star had fallen. Until then, Democrats as well as
> Republicans
> > > > had lined up behind him, or at least refused to call his bluff.
> > > >
> > > > But telling the immediate story of the McCarthy era is only one
> part
> of
> > > > this book. Its subtitle is ''McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century
> America,''
> > > > and it can't quite make up its mind what its theme is supposed to
> be.
> > > > Morgan begins with what he thinks is the provocative claim that
> ''the
> > cold
> > > > war began in 1917,'' but this is a truism. A. J. P. Taylor's
> history
> of
> > > > European international relations from 1848 to 1918, written 50
> years
> > ago,
> > > > ended with the words that ''Europe was superseded'' after World
> War I
> by
> > > > the ''competition between Communism and liberal democracy.''
> > > >
> > > > In Morgan's account, the conflict had taken shape with American
> > > > involvement in the Russian Revolution, and the abortive military
> > > > intervention against the Bolsheviks. Following that episode, he
> plunges
> > > > headfirst into the murky world of espionage. From the arrival of
> the
> > first
> > > > Soviet trade mission in 1924, the Russians established a large spy
> > network
> > > > in America, in some ways connected with the official and open
> Communist
> > > > Party, but also with the larger sway that Communism held over
> cultural
> > and
> > > > intellectual life in the 1930's and 40's.
> > > >
> > > > The evidence of Venona, the transcripts of the Soviet secret
> signal
> > > > traffic intercepted and decrypted by American intelligence, is
> > conclusive
> > > > about the extent of that operation: with a strange irony, one
> could
> say
> > > > that McCarthy didn't know the half of it. All the same, to write,
> as
> > > > Morgan does, that if only Venona had been released at the time,
> ''the
> > > > swing of the pendulum to hysterical anti-Communism could perhaps
> have
> > been
> > > > avoided,'' is idle; of course the transcripts could not have been
> made
> > > > public then.
> > > >
> > > > Morgan devotes the last part of his book to a feverish gallop
> through
> > > > events since McCarthy: the F.B.I.'s ever more frantic pursuit of
> an
> ever
> > > > tinier Communist Party, the sex lives of John F. Kennedy and
> Martin
> > Luther
> > > > King Jr., the birth of the New Left, Vietnam, Watergate,
> Iran-contra,
> > > > whatever. All this is designed somehow or other to illustrate the
> thesis
> > > > that ''just as McCarthyism began long before McCarthy, it endured
> long
> > > > after him.''
> > > >
> > > > Does this mean anything? ''McCarthyism'' could have a truly useful
> > > > definition: the calculated and unprincipled use of mendacious
> > allegations
> > > > for political purposes. But if it comes to be used (as it too
> often
> is)
> > to
> > > > mean any charge uncomfortably near the bone, or if alternatively
> it
> > covers
> > > > any kind of demagoguery, falsehood and trickery, then the very
> concept
> > is
> > > > rendered empty and meaningless.
> > > >
> > > > As to Morgan's peroration -- or concluding rant -- about George W.
> Bush,
> > > > 9/11, African uranium and the ''pattern of deceit'' behind the
> White
> > > > House's case for war with Iraq, one can (as it happens) share the
> > author's
> > > > inclination on these subjects while wondering whether
> ''McCarthyite
> > > > methods'' is in any sense a helpful way of describing the debate
> over
> > the
> > > > current war. It did not require McCarthy, after all, to teach
> > politicians
> > > > the uses of misrepresentation.
> > > >
> > > > All of which leaves ''Reds'' looking curiouser and curiouser.
> Despite
> > > > being quite unillusioned about Communism, Morgan misses the point.
> > > > McCarthy did huge damage to American life, but a large part of the
> > damage
> > > > was done to the honorable anti-Communist cause -- and to honesty
> on
> the
> > > > left. Nearly 50 years ago, when the senator was still at large,
> the
> > > > journalist Dwight Macdonald pointed out that ''the liberals have
> never
> > > > honestly confronted their illusions in the 30's and 40's about
> Communism
> > > > but have instead merely counterposed a disingenuous defense, a
> blanket
> > > > denial to McCarthy's equally sweeping attack.''
> > > >
> > > > Before the McCarthy era began, and then after it ended, two
> politically
> > > > very different Englishmen said what needed to be said. George
> Orwell
> > > > almost certainly never heard of Joe McCarthy: the Wheeling speech
> came
> a
> > > > matter of weeks after his death. But not long before he died,
> Orwell
> had
> > > > specifically warned the Americans about the danger of fighting
> Communism
> > > > with the kinds of methods Communists themselves used.
> > > >
> > > > Then in 1960, William F. Buckley Jr. tried to persuade Evelyn
> Waugh to
> > > > contribute to National Review, and sent him ''McCarthy and His
> > Enemies,''
> > > > the apologia he had written with L. Brent Bozell. But Buckley got
> an
> > > > elegant flea in his ear. Most Englishmen regarded McCarthy as a
> > > > regrettable figure, Waugh replied, and the book ''will not go far
> to
> > clear
> > > > his reputation.'' Plainly there had been need for an investigation
> into
> > > > Soviet espionage, but it was just as clear that McCarthy was not a
> > > > suitable man to undertake it, Waugh said, and those who
> sympathized
> with
> > > > the anti-Communist cause ''must deplore his championship of it.''
> > Despite
> > > > all the bitterness of the McCarthy era and its residue, that
> remains
> > > > something like the last word.
> > > >
> > > > Geoffrey Wheatcroft's books include ''The Controversy of Zion''
> and,
> > most
> > > > recently, ''Le Tour: A History of the Tour de France.''
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > The New York Times
> > > >
> > > > New York Times
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _____
> > > >
> > > > Take advantage of our limited-time introductory offer for dial-up
> > Internet
> > > > access.
> > > >
> >
> >
> >