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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the House Un-American Activities Committee.

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Yeah, that thing. The group responsible for planning

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Congress's taste-the-world party.

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[ singing ] We are the world. [ normal voice ] Yeah, sort of.

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All right, give this excerpt a look-see.

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[ mumbles ] Ooh. Not good.

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[ mumbling continues ] [ disgusted scoff ]

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And the question: Supporters of Joseph McCarthy would

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most likely prioritize which of the following?

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And here are your potential answers.

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[ donkey braying ] McCarthy, that guy. [ disgusted scoff ]

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All right. What was this McCarthy fella all about?

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Well, you've probably heard of McCarthyism.

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That refers to Senator Joe McCarthy's hunt for communists within the U.S. government.

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Now there were definitely some communist sympathizers working in Washington,

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but McCarthy saw the evil red force in

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every corner, nook, and cranny of D.C.

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And in those days, communists were, like, beyond evil.

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So let's see which answer describes something

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those McCarthy-ites would have loved to see happen.

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Would supporters of Joseph McCarthy have prioritized A -

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normalization of relations with China?

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Oh, boy, not in the least.

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China was a major communist power at the time,

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so McCarthy saw nothing normal about the dragon to the east.

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So it ain't A.

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Could McCarthy supporters have gotten behind B -

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transference of ownership of the Panama Canal to Panama?

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Huh? Well, for McCarthy, one of the largest threats

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to the U.S. security was the rise of

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leftist - like communist-ish -

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movements in Latin America.

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So handing over the Panama Canal

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would have amounted to at least narrow treason.

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That knocks out B, as well.

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Would McCarthy's liege of followers have been interested in C -

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greater foreign aid for non-communist nations?

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Hmm. Well, actually, McCarthy-ites would have wanted

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to contain the communist threat with greater foreign aid,

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but their primary concern was subversive activity

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inside of the United States.

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Sort of a better the devil you know kind of thing.

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Which means that supporters of Joseph McCarthy would most likely have prioritized

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D - fewer civil liberties for radical groups in the U.S.

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In order to purge the government of supposed communist sympathizers,

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McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee,

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or HUAC, investigated hundreds of citizens and radical groups,

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denying them many civil liberties in the process.

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So the answer is D.

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Many of the people McCarthy brought to trial were actually innocent,

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but that didn't stop him from handing out punishment left and right.

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Looks like justice really was blind.

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[ oww ]

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