Did you see the movie Good Night, and Good Luck

[fintstone]

Here is a commentary on the movie that I agree with. The movie was billed as historically accurate. It seems to me that they took a bit too much literary license to be even remotely fair. What do you guys think?

Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been A Second-Rate Filmmaker?

As noted here previously, George Clooney's movie "Good Night, and Good Luck," about pious parson Edward R. Murrow and Sen. Joseph McCarthy, failed to produce one person unjustly accused by McCarthy. Since I described McCarthy as a great American patriot defamed by liberals in my 2003 book, "Treason," liberals have had two more years to produce a person – just one person – falsely accused by McCarthy. They still can't do it.

Meanwhile, I can prove that Murrow's good friend Lawrence Duggan was a Soviet spy responsible for having innocent people murdered. The brilliant and perceptive journalist Murrow was not only unaware of the hundreds of Soviet spies running loose in the U.S. government, he was also unaware that his own dear friend Duggan was a Soviet spy – his friend on whose behalf corpses littered the Swiss landscape.

Contrary to the image of the Black Night of Fascism (BNOF) under McCarthy leading to mass suicide with bodies constantly falling on the heads of pedestrians in Manhattan, Duggan was the only suicide. After being questioned by the FBI, Duggan leapt from a window. Of course, given the people he was doing business with, he may have been pushed.

After Duggan's death, Murrow, along with the rest of the howling establishment, angrily denounced the idea that Duggan could possibly have been disloyal to America.

Well, now we know the truth. Decrypted Soviet cables and mountains of documents from Soviet archives prove beyond doubt that Lawrence Duggan was one of Stalin's most important spies. "McCarthyism" didn't kill him; his guilt did.

During the height of the Soviet purges in the mid-'30s, as millions of innocents were being tortured, exiled and killed on Stalin's orders, Murrow's good pal Duggan was using his position at the State Department to pass important documents to the Soviets. The documents were so sensitive, Duggan had to return the originals to the State Department before the end of the day. Some were so important, they were sent directly to Stalin and Molotov.

On at least one occasion, Murrow's dear friend Duggan sat with his Soviet handler for an hour as the handler photographed 60 documents for the motherland. In other words, Duggan was the kind of disloyal, two-faced, back-stabbing weasel you rarely see outside of the entertainment industry. (He certainly was perceptive, that Murrow.)

All this time, people Duggan knew personally were being falsely accused and executed back in the Soviet Union. Duggan expressed concern about Stalin's purges with his Soviet handler, but he didn't stop spying. As Allen Weinstein describes it in "The Haunted Wood," Duggan was mostly concerned about being falsely accused by Stalin himself someday.

Because of Murrow's good buddy Duggan, innocent people were killed. Not just the millions murdered during the purges while Duggan was earning "employee of the month" awards from Stalin. At least one man was murdered solely to protect Duggan's identity as a Soviet spy.

Ignatz Reiss had been the head of Soviet secret police in Europe. As such, he was aware of Soviet agents in the United States, including Duggan. But unlike Duggan, Reiss was stunned by Stalin's bloody purges. In 1937, Reiss defected from the Soviet Union, threatening to expose Duggan if they came after him. It was his death warrant.

Two months later, Soviet secret police tracked Reiss to a restaurant in Switzerland. According to the official memo describing Reiss' murder, Soviet agents dragged Reiss out of the restaurant, shoved him in a car, shot him and dumped his body by the side of the road. (Or, in Soviet parlance, he was "debriefed.")

Soviet officials later happily informed Duggan's handler in America: "[Reiss] is liquidated, [but] not yet his wife ... Now the danger that [Duggan] will be exposed because of [Reiss] is considerably decreased." Despite all Clooney's double-sourced fact-checking, he missed the part about Murrow's good friend Duggan being an accomplice to murder.

To hear these liberals carry on, "McCarthyism" was the worst thing that ever happened in the history of the universe. No one has ever been so persecuted or so heroic as Hollywood actors in the '50s.

At the exact same time as these crybabies were wailing about McCarthyism, there was much worse going on in the parts of the world so admired by the Hollywood left. It's not as if we have to go back to the Peloponnesian War to find greater suffering than that of Hollywood drama queens during the BNOF under McCarthyism.

I believe anyone would find it preferable to have been a "target" of McCarthy in the '50s than to have been an ordinary citizen living in the Soviet Union, Hungary, Poland, the Ukraine or any nation infected by the Red Plague.

Thanks to McCarthy, and no thanks to Murrow, the worst horror to befall an American citizen in the '50s was the dire prospect of losing a movie credit – although, since then, I suppose having to watch a George Clooney movie would run a close second.
Ann Coulter

[2.7RACER]

Tail Gunner Joe was an abberation of his time. He saw mere attendance at any left leaning meeting during the depression as proof of Communist membership and proof these people were not "Loyal Americans"
The hysteria over communism in the fifties allowed McCarthy to run rough shod over the Constitution and specifically the Bill of Rights.
There is no doubt the Soviet Union and Stalin had spies in our government. I don't see where any evidence was produced that any of the Hollywood directors, producers or actors were actively sending any info to old Joe in the USSR.
Fifty years has not been enough time for you or any of your ilk to polish up the Jr. Senator from Wisconsin.
Americans from the right or left still have the right to meet and discuss ideas, except in your narrow world.
God Bless America

[dd74]

Fint - first of all, what was the movie about? Murrow as a newsman/human profile, or a focus of Murrow on McCarthy. I thought the movie concentrated on Murrow as a person, not on his fight with McCarthy.

However, I've only seen trailers, but have read no reviews.

As an aside, a very interesting account of McCarthy is William F. Buckley's "The Redhunter," because Buckley brings some humanity to the man in addition to his efforts.

[fintstone]

Originally posted by 2.7RACER
....
Fifty years has not been enough time for you or any of your ilk to polish up the Jr. Senator from Wisconsin.
Americans from the right or left still have the right to meet and discuss ideas, except in your narrow world.
God Bless America

But you are wrong. A great deal of evidence has be uncovered that proved that Joe was absolutely correct. 50 years of you and your ilk covering up the truth is far too much maligning of an American hero. The reason Americans can still meet and discuss ideas freely is directly attributable to patriots like Joe McCarthy. Too bad you prefer your version of propaganda to the facts. God bless America, our President, and our troops in harms way.

[fintstone]

Originally posted by dd74
Fint - first of all, what was the movie about? Murrow as a newsman/human profile, or a focus of Murrow on McCarthy. I thought the movie concentrated on Murrow as a person, not on his fight with McCarthy.

However, I've only seen trailers, but have read no reviews.

As an aside, a very interesting account of McCarthy is William F. Buckley's "The Redhunter," because Buckley brings some humanity to the man in addition to his efforts.

Seems to me that it is a thinly veiled attempt to put the genie back into the bottle now that the truth about some of McCarthy's "victims" has been uncovered. Clearly the American public is moire likely to see Hollywood's version than the actual facts. The post above is a perfect example. God bless America.

[Jamie79SC]

Flint,

Did YOU see the movie or just read the review?

[techweenie]

The tragedy is that virtuous Joe McCarthy was slammed down by pinkos in the media, allowing the sneaky communists to fully infiltrate and take over the US and ultimately the world.

Whoa, wait. Looks like I was channeling Ann Coulter for a minute.

[RKC]

It's the commies we know about now that make me writhe in pain for all that Joe could have accomplished had he been allowed to. For goodness sakes, there were bigger fish to fry than the movie stars and school teachers, such as:

1. Winston Churchill, who introduced the WELFARE STATE to the UK. Who then made a DEAL with the murderous Stalin to fight together on the SAME SIDE of a war!!! Then sent him intelligence, war material and money!!! And then, after the war, when the Soviets started to seem like enemies again, and when Klaus Fuchs was found to have stolen Los Alamos secrets, simply had Fuchs prosecuted and sent to jail rather than beginning a frantic hunt for commies in high office. What a stinkin, pinko, commie, bastard.....

2. Douglas MacArthur, who revealed his pinko commie ways by demanding that the Japanese introduce agrarian reforms, labor unions and women's rights! That they RENOUNCE WAR.....Obviously, a commie through and through.

3. Eisenhower, who secretly tried to limit Joe's power, and did nothing to support him (and, while we're at it, wasn't very supportive of his VP Nixon either).

Three obvious commies; God help us, I hope the truth shall someday see the light of day.

Or maybe, just maybe, it is true - there are giants and pygmies in politics, and McCarthy was a pygmy. Or, in Churchill's famous phrase, "A modest man, with much to be modest about."

[Howard Agency]

Or maybe, just maybe, it is true - there are giants and pygmies in politics, and McCarthy was a pygmy. Or, in Churchill's famous phrase, "A modest man, with much to be modest about."

Well said!!!

I'm just old enough to remember this disgrace. I'll bet someone can produce 'facts' to show the Salem Witch Trials were justified if just one real witch was outed, but Joe had the country running around looking for the boogy man.

Had red hair then (grey now and not much) but hated the nickname 'Red'. When someone called me that once, I said, "What, Commie". That got me a one day suspension from school in liberal New York

[Superman]

Rhetoric and propaganda will, it seems, always reign supreme in America. You taking over for Mul today, Fint?

[Flatbutt1]

Geez I really cannot stand Coulter. Something in her writing just bugs the heck out of me.

[Jamie79SC]

Super,

I don't think Flint saw the movie.

A central vignette in the film was a scene where the Junior Senator from Wisconsin suddenly had to leave the room when it was patently obvious that the committee had a perfectly innocent person before them.

[Rodeo]

Every time I think I understand the extent of the far right's depravity, this board proves me wrong.

Has McCarthy become some sort of hero-patriot to these people? How did I miss this?

Have they no decency?

[Howard Agency]

Originally posted by Rodeo
Every time I think I understand the extent of the far right's depravity, this board proves me wrong.

Has McCarthy become some sort of hero-patriot to these people? How did I miss this?

Have they no decency?

As a depraved member of the far right, I resent your implication

Have they no decency?

[Jamie79SC]

I'm with Flatbutt. Shrill as it is, Ann Coulter’s essay misses an important point. Just because there were communists in and around government, does not make McCarthy a hero.

As far as the Duggan’s treatment in the film, you will note (if you see the movie Flint), that the Morrow character is not willing to back Duggan up or defend him. Yes, it turns out that Duggan was a spy in real life, but those around him would have had no way to have known that at the time. How would you handle the story if you were telling it through the eyes of those who were there in the newsroom?

You can’t give the real McCarthy much credit for Duggen either; the FBI was closing in on him without McCarthy’s help.

No one can deny that there were plenty of people who were, (or once were) communists in and around government. Some were spies, most were not. The point of the film was to illustrate one man’s reaction to the excesses of McCarthy. Because there were communists around does not make McCarthy a saint. He was a drunken, rude, has been who thought he found a way to extend an otherwise short and unremarkable political career.