Quote:
Originally Posted by 2nd trick op
"Conservatism" as either lionized or demonized in popular culture, is a relatively new phenomenon; its origins can be traced to a umber of events and trends, but as the most prominent I would cite:
(1) The Cold War: In 1945, it was widely assumed that the American nuclear monopoly would endure, or at least dominate, for decades. That belief was dispelled in a little over four years, "thanks" in part to the Fuchs / Greenglass / Rosenberg spy ring which, in turn, provoked the reaction which came to be known as the "Red Scare" with repercussions throughout American culture -- entertainment far from the least among them.
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McCarthy was proven right in the end.
As Soviet documents revealed, the Rosenbergs really were spies and they really were spying for the Soviet Union. They were also part of a vast espionage network that was larger than what US intelligence agencies suspected.
Something McCarthy didn't understand is that bureaucracies -- and governments are bureaucracies -- have a tremendous disdain for embarrassment.
When a situate arises that will expose the bureaucracy to embarrassment, it will close ranks and march in lock-step and make every possible attempt to shut down anything that would expose the embarrassment.
The Rosenbergs were caught, and as far as the US government was concerned, that was the end of it.
There was never going to be any further investigation, because to uncover additional spies would be an embarrassment to the US government and may potentially damage relationships with its Allies, and make the US government appear weak and incompetent.
Right? Why would the Brits, French and Germans tell the US anything if telling the US is the same as telling the Soviets in person?
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