Letter to the editor: McCarthy was a patriot

In his op-ed “Free press, elections help debunk ‘official’ lies” (Jan. 12, TribLIVE), Joseph Sabino Mistick includes a typically sordid narrative portraying Joe McCarthy as a hoaxer. Unfortunately, it’s outdated.

M. Stanton Evans’ landmark 2009 “Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America’s Enemies” indicates that McCarthy was right in his documented charges of massive government coverup of communists and fellow travelers on the U.S. payroll.

Americans need to get the record straight on one of America’s greatest patriots who got silenced by the establishment.

Here’s what McCarthy recalled saying in his 1950 Wheeling, W.Va., speech: “I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card-carrying members, or certainly loyal, to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy.”

Mistick uses 205 instead of 57. I might not care much about that, but McCarthy-haters made a big issue of those numbers. McCarthy traveled the country after Wheeling, and the number 57 is consistent in many news reports. However, observers in the know agree that 205 appears in McCarthy’s written preparatory notes.

Long story short, the existence of such numbers as 284 and 205 start with State Department security investigators dating back to 1946. Another figure, 81, attributed to McCarthy’s and Sen. Pat McCarran’s efforts, is the number of security risks removed from the State Department by 1954. McCarthy used all those numbers in speeches during his career.

Peter B. Hrycenko

Allentown