Dictionary: McCarthyism

• The practice of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence.

• The use of unfair investigatory or accusatory methods in order to suppress opposition

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"...The McCarthy era is a low point in American history, but with the passage of time, it has also contributed to a national recognition and distrust of unfair and unsupported accusations. The label McCarthyism is now a deterrent. To attack people personally for their political beliefs and to brow-beat them for asserting their rights is no longer something which people want to be accused of doing.

History is a powerful teacher, and these documents offer many lessons on the importance of open government, due process and respect for individual rights. Democracy means people have a right to express peaceful dissent from the prevailing view of the government, and the government is obligated to permit and defend that right. The McCarthy hearings failed to teach these lessons, but that is why they are a part of our national past that we can neither afford to forget nor permit to recur.

- Lessons from McCarthyism, Senator Carl Levin