https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/15/mccarthyism-is-back-this-time-its-woke/
Ok, they are both basically saying the same thing, but they are broadly also in line with my own thoughts on today's radical culture change.
As what you might call 'an old film buff' that has since time immemorial been an avid viewer of all kinds of celluloid presentations of various quality from the dawn of cinema until the present [my favourite period being the 1930's] I have always spent my hard earned pocket-money and requested for birthdays, Christmas etc books, both glossy and informational about the world of entertainment, and chief among these of course were the 'Hollywood Golden Period Pantheons' of the 1930's onward which was an absolutely fascinating time both for it's undoubted glamour, skill and imagination. But also has to be noted for it's uncompromising insight into the general ethos and political doctrines of the day. And to cut a long story short, apart from the great works of art that many of the great Hollywood productions must be seen as, it is equally apparent that the practice of 'the inveigling of Joe and Jane Public's morals and social acceptance' by means of what can only be accurately termed as 'brainwashing' as been an enduring and still extant prime directive that has been "demanded of the many by the few" ... and any deviation from this [not so subtle] 'Prime Directive' will ultimately incur the mighty wrath of 'the powers that be' [studio basses, gossip columnists etc] ... and so on the whole the party line was towed and individualism was almost always sacrificed! [and deemed as Wrong Thought!] ... Hence the easy way in for that blight on humanity , AKA McCarthyism that scourged Hollywood [in particular] for a couple of decades! ...
.. Well thankfully by the swinging sixties this shameful era in Hollywood's history was practically obsolete [though vestiges of hyper-morality still remained in pockets of the entertainment industry] and skilled movie-makers were allowed the freedom they needed to be allowed to enable a new kind of cinematic mind food to flourish. And though the films themselves didn't get any bigger, they were definitely bolder. .... Yes it was a great weight lifted from the expert movie-maker's shoulders and continued for the next two or three decades unabated ... with the end product of there being an array of grittier more realistic films for our perusal , and the best thing was that we were 'allowed to think for ourselves' and decide whether or not the film that we had just watched was any good or not , morally acceptable etc by using the means of our own consciousness ... and not what we are told to think! ... But of course it's human nature that all good things must come to an end. ... and in my personal opinion, we have been slowly but inexorably sliding backward into 'the new McCarthy-type era' for at least a decade now. ... Yes a brand new McCarthyism in all but name!! ... only this time instead of communism it is being variously labelled as "WOKE, ANTISEMITISM, and just plain RACISM" all of which are often applied erroneously! ...
And we all know about the 'woke and racism' aspects of the new McCarthyism that these articles are referring to ... and presumably agree [which would kind of explain your attendance in this thread] ... but as agreeable as the two articles are to my mindset, but there is one aspect of this new fast-moving culture assault that doesn't get a mention at all, and that is in my opinion just as alarming , with the intent of creating a deep mind-control and a stifling of thought-freedom , and that is as I touched upon earlier , the vice-like grip that a small but powerful section of society is using a comparatively rare [nasty none the less] human abomination "Antisemitism" as the weapon-of-choice in order to cover very real wrongdoings being done by others that happen to share their religious beliefs. ... And while I agree that all forms of religious intolerance is abhorrent as any form of prejudice ... there has in all of my lifetime been special dispensation given to all things jewish and jew-related practices [ie. the male genital-mutilation of children, which is no more acceptable than the FGM practiced in other cultures in these supposed-enlightened days!] ... but it is plain to see that far from being an anomalous oversight in condemnation of such a barbaric cult-practice, but to oppose anything that would otherwise be deemed to be 'just plain wrong' in anything that they do or say it is increasingly difficult to criticize anything at all that is carried out under the safety of the 'antisemitism-umbrella'. ... And of course that pertains mainly to Knesset policy toward their neighbours, ... but also has very long tentacles that have reached out almost all over the world. ... And that plainly is demonstrated during elections in numerous countries around the world, including mine!
And it has reached the point where no-one with any sort of ambition can even mention the word 'Jewish' in all forms of society... and you do not even have to insult their practices or say anything derogatory or demeaning at all....
For instance, one of my favourite actors of recent times Gary Oldman actually sickened me when I saw him appearing on an American primetime show with the hopes of showing requisite amount of contrition by publicly displaying his sincere sackcloth and ashes by repeatedly apologising to some gobshite nobody nerd that was constantly shouting and berating him to the point of public humiliation for a throwaway comment that he had made previously in a nothing-interview in the 'Playboy Magazine' that "someone" decided to twist as being "ANTISEMITISM"! ... this is the exact quote that he was forced to publicly repent to avoid the ruination of his fine career...
"Mel Gibson is in a town that's run by Jews, and he said the wrong thing because he's actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him."
... now I ask you good folk at AE, ... "is that really antisemitism?" .. if so, then please explain to me just how stating an easily verifiable 'FACT' is in anyway antisemitism? ... Hollywood has always been predominantly run by Jewish people!! FACT! ... This is a single example of why I include 'antisemitism' in the New McCarthyism movement' ... there are many more that I could site, but the Whole .. 'Antisemitism vs AntiIsraelipolicy' debate deserves a thread unto itself ... [but please don't get me started on that septic can of worms here, because I am sick of idiotic-no-logic-arguments from argumentative-no-logic-idiots that think that they have righteously proven that I am a closet Nazi by means of simply labelling me an anti-Semite because I will never say that Israeli policy is acceptable to my conscience ! ... But I swear on my life that I am in no way 'AntiSemite' in the way that my accusers would have you believe! In actual fact I am Antireligious and 'Devoutly Anti-despotism toward any section of society!
... right, rant over thanks...
Cheers.
....