McCarthyism

The new PBS documentary “McCarthy,” airing tonight, draws eerie parallels between the senator’s anti-communist witch-hunt and our 45th president.

During the same summer that he wrote “The Amiable Fleas,” now published in English for the first time, the American author also appears to have been gathering intel for the Agency.

The only training she ever got as a spy was from her lover. But Elizabeth Bentley managed to manipulate the most feared secret police agency in the world—and intimidate the FBI.

The long-time head of the FBI take not take insults well, and most people were too intimidated to try. But the creator of Philip Marlowe was made of tougher stuff.

“The line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one… We must remember that accusation is not proof.”

The president patiently but methodically helped engineer the downfall of the demagogic senator, who so resembles Donald Trump, right down to methods and friends like Roy Cohn.

The notion of the lone gunman standing off a town of cowards and a vengeful bully was appealing in the ’50s and still resonates today. It’s time we buried that idea.