This document summarizes a lecture on Western political thought covering several topics: 1) The first and second Red Scares in the US after World War I and World War II, where communist sympathizers were persecuted. 2) Speeches by Attorney General Mitchell Palmer and Senator Joseph McCarthy accusing people of disloyalty and promoting fear of communism. 3) Theories of how elites control and manipulate information flow and public opinion through propaganda and controlling the media narrative. Examples of propaganda films from the Cold War era are discussed.

1. Western Political Thought
John Paul Tabakian, Ed.D.
Political Science 5
Fall 2014 – Power Point #6

2. COURSE LECTURE: WEEK #6
Today’s Lecture Covers The Following:
• The Red Scare #1
• Mitchell Palmer’s “The Case Against The Reds”
• William Allen White’s “The Red Scare Is Un-American”
• The Red Scare #2
• Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Accusations of Disloyalty –
Speech”
• Information Flows Top Down
• Messages And Manipulation
• Mirror Myth

3. THE RED SCARE #1
•The first “Red Scare” takes place after the labor strikes and race
riots of 1919. In 1917 the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia inspired
leftists who believed that a “world” revolution would be possible.
Formation of the Third International (later dissolved by Stalin during
WWII). In fact, as a result of the success of the Bolsheviks, some
American radicals moved away from the Socialist Party and became
active in the American Communist Party.
In 1919, the post office intercepted 40 bombs, and a bomb exploded
in front of the house of Attorney-General A. Mitchell Palmer.
•This was the beginning of a series of “witch hunts” by the
government against radicals and aliens. Raids were conducted and
many people were deported. In 1920, a police sweep took 5000
suspects into custody, many without arrest warrants..Dampened
Progressive reforms which grew out of the grassroots reform
movements of the 19th century.

4. MITCHELL PALMER’S “THE CASE AGAINST THE REDS” (1)
Notice the first phrase (“Like a prairie fire…”) is meant to underscore the
spreading danger that the radicals posed. This phrase, ironically, was
later used in the 1960s to promote the revolutionary causes of the
radicals of the New Left. Rhetoric of Demagogues:
• {Discourse Analysis}No doubt, Palmer’s argument is based on the
rhetoric of pathos, the use a language of fear and patriotic emotion.
To the public, the “Reds” are the enemy, whether anarchist, socialists
or communist, and Palmer makes no distinction among the various
radical political philosophies. In fact, Palmer equates the politics of the
left with criminal activity, “the degenerate factor in society.”
He establishes his own “facts”: (“the Reds are criminal aliens”) and by
the government fighting the Reds, the government is fighting crime
(“there could be no nice distinctions drawn between the theoretical ideas
of the radicals and their actual violations of our national laws”).

5. MITCHELL PALMER’S “THE CASE AGAINST THE REDS” (2)
Notice the choice of words (connotative meanings) and
characterizations he makes: (“clique of outcasts”);
(“organization of thousands of aliens”); (“promises of
lawlessness, of criminal autocracy to Americans”); (“purpose of
communism appears to be a mass formation of the criminals of
the world to overthrow the decencies of private life”).
•Palmer groups all the radicals together including individuals
he calls “moral perverts” and “hysterical neurasthenic
women.”

6. WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE’S “THE RED SCARE IS UN-
AMERICAN”
•A liberal response of a progressive reformer attacking
Palmer’s position.
•There is a Constitution and there are certain rights that
permit debate, expression of unpopular ideas, and the right
to politically dissent.

7. THE RED SCARE #2
The second Red Scare took place after the Second World
War as the Cold War began. America had an enemy: the
Soviet Communists.
•By the end of the 1940s, “loyalty oaths” were becoming
common for people who worked in the government.
•Hysteria arose about the possible presence of spies working
within the U.S. In some cases people’s reputations and
careers were ruined when they were accused of belonging to
or sympathizing with the Communist Party.

8. THE RED SCARE #3
During the 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy began a one-
man crusade to root out the “Commies”. He used “name-
calling” and “smear tactics” to attack people who disagreed
with him, claiming they were unpatriotic or worse, agents of
foreign governments. “McCarthyism” is the term we still use
to describe this type of political attack. We also refer to such
political campaigns to investigate adversaries as “witch-
hunts”.

9. •Reading this speech accusing individuals of un-American
activities, one becomes aware of the same use of the rhetoric
of pathos that was apparent in Palmer’s 1920 statement
about the aliens in our midst.
•The appeal of McCarthy’s attack is to characterize an
individual’s political position as irreligious (“engaged in a final
all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity”)
and unpatriotic (describing the greatness of the nation and
promoting America as the great “beacon”).
•McCarthy makes the wild claim that the government is
“thoroughly infested with Communists.”
SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY’S ACCUSATIONS
OF DISLOYALTY – SPEECH”

10. ELITISM – HOW INFORMATION FLOWS
Elite theory also argues that information
flows from opinion elites down to opinion
leaders who are looked to the public for
information. News is first “created” by
opinion elites and then sent to opinion
leaders to help disseminate the
information. Those at the very top of the
elite network decide what information is
deemed as necessary to offer society.
These elites may be news makers
themselves or in charge of large media
corporations. Opinion leaders may be
thought of as journalists, news anchors,
expert pundits or even celebrities who
possess legitimacy among those in
society.

11. MANIPULATION EXAMPLE: DUCK AND COVER
Governmental elites find it
necessary to manipulate
the masses if doing so
serves a vested interest.
Here is a great example of
how a safety video can
serve as a tool for
manipulating the masses
from childhood. Who does
the monkey represent?

12. Duck And Cover

13. MANIPULATION & MIRROR MYTH
News media outlets possess a
great power. They are able to
“decide what will be decided”. Bias
is exhibited throughout the
mainstream press. This is also true
for nontraditional news sources as
everyone is biased in some way.
Many in the news media stress that
they are nonbiased since they only
reflect reality. Even if the news is
merely reflected or reported, it is
their choice of subjects that proves
their bias. All news is biased. This is
the “Mirror Myth”.

14. BIOLOGICAL WARFARE - MANIPULATION
How can we protect
ourselves against the threats
of germs and toxins? Cold
War America gears up to
fend off threats from
unconventional bioweapons.
This is another example of
how propaganda is utilized to
foster fear within society.
Enjoy the video.

15. Biological Warfare

16. PROPAGANDA – CINEMOCRACY
Governmental elites may believe that
their national policies are so concrete
that it is necessary to utilize various
forms of propaganda gage in
propaganda to incite specific
reactions from its citizens. Various
forms of propaganda have been
utilized to drum up mass support to
better assure elite legitimacy.
Cinemocracy, the relationship
between motion pictures and
government is one way governmental
elites sell their agenda. Enjoy this
classic cartoon, “The Ducktators”.

18. COLD WAR PROPAGANDA
Elite manipulation has existed in
our country even prior to the days
of our founding. Masses are
susceptible to manipulation as they
are highly emotional. Elites utilize
symbolism to pull these emotional
heartstrings at will. Enjoy this 1952
government sponsored film vilifying
communism.

19. Communism

20. SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
Spheres consist of individuals who
share a common set of interests and/or
belief systems. Individual participants
are the absolute micro-level of every
sphere. Here are some examples of
spheres: family, work, school, political
parties, and religion. Different spheres
of influence communicate with one
another through the individual who is a
member of those same spheres.
Various societal interactions influence
individual behavior.