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Comment by 5tefan | Hacker News Reader

Seems full fledged McCarthyism is back. Hope we're not blind to everything history taught us.

I wouldn't call this McCarthyism. How is being a tax cheat being put on trial equate to McCarthyism unless all you are trying to do with that post is gaslight the conversation with pro-communism sympathies (i.e. china funding this guy).

I am far more suspect of your using the term mccarthyism when not related whatsoever.

Emphasis is put on the fact it's money from China and involvement with China. Combined with unrelated other news stories during the last years, months, weeks we see clearly a blind rage when it is about Russia and China. US media (and politics) is running on fear and completely stopped investigating or analyzing when it is about Russia and China. And this is to me the essence of McCarthyism. Replacing analysis with fear and accusations. If tax evasion would be the real driver here a lot of other stories about high profile tax crimes should brake. But that is not the case either.

I think what is notable about this case vs other tax cheats that makes it less mccarthyism and more public interest. This is the head of one of the most prestigious universities chem department hiding over $500000 usd per year from being taxed and lied to the FBI.

Mccarthyism is making up BS on people about their supposed communist leanings and raking them over the coals in public sham hearings / blacklisting them from working (ie hollywood).

What makes it worse for the professor is that he took those funds from a country with which his own government has a very fraught relationship and whom is actively trying to espionage technology. Theres more to break on this i would wager but don't call it mccarthyism.

McCarthy was mostly right in his accusations, though. He is mocked because the commies did actually take over the us government.

Yes, that's famously why we had Nixon, Reagan, Bush, another Bush, and Trump.

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