McCarthyism has returned to the United States – and this time it’s even more dangerous

‘The scope of this administration’s ambitions; its armies of enforcers; the technological and legal tools at its disposal; and the dearth of principled actors to obstruct it make this McCarthyism far more dangerous.’ Photograph: Byron Rollins/AP

There are many parallels between the first McCarthy era, roughly 1946 to 1956, and Trump’s campaign of political repression, his own updated McCarthyism.

Both regimes crafted a monster of quasi-facts and innuendo and fed it with fear: an enemy within, well-organized and financed, secretive and violent, allied with evil foreigners and bent on overthrowing capitalism, democracy and Christian morality. Both used flagrantly unconstitutional means to cleanse the nation of the spectral menace.