Anyone who believes that this video is "slanted to the left" needs to have his or her head examined. This video is nothing more than excerpts from the Army-McCarthy Hearings which demonstrate the impact of the fear of communism -- the Red Scare -- at home. Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy -- McCarthyism -- was the ultimate result.
McCarthy's desire to find "communists," real or imagined, destroyed reputations and careers. It also angered his contemporaries, including members of his own party. President Harry Truman, a Democrat, said that McCarthy was the best weapon the communists had because McCarthy was dividing Americans against each other. Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican and Truman's successor, said, "I will not get into a pissing contest with that skunk." Yet trying to bring McCarthy and those who thought like him under control was very difficult. To have come out against McCarthy and those like him would have made McCarthy's attackers look "weak" against communism, which could hurt them politically. Even Eisenhower, despite his contempt for McCarthy, refused to denounce the senator publicly, in part because he feared the impact it could have upon the Republican Party.
"Point of Order" does more than simply show how McCarthyism, by not being brought under control, could place reputations in jeopardy and bring into question the loyalty of individuals and institutions, such as the U.S. Army. It also points to the danger of allowing suspicion, hatred, and fear go unchecked; failure to restrain such emotions opens the door to tyranny. The message presented in "Point of Order," therefore, was not just relevant to Americans in the early Cold War, but remains relevant to them in the post-Cold War era.
