I've been reading the newly released transcripts of closed-door hearings held during the "Red Scare" by Joseph McCarthy and his cronies. Really scary. And definite echoes for the present. (Read them here) Here are a few excerpts from the interrogation of a Mr. David Ayman, who was in the Signal Corps and as of this session (Friday, October 23, 1953), teaches at Samuel Tilden High School. He also served as a "teacher-advisor" for the Teachers Union of New York that was itself under investigation for having Communist leanings. Here we pick up the questioning before the Committee on Government Operations Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations with "The Chairman" (Joseph McCarthy R-WI); Roy Cohn, General Counsel to the Subcommittee; and Robert Jones, Research Assistant to Senator Charles Potter (R-MI) asking him about his views on Communism in the public schools and other things. Just read this and think about what's happening today:

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Mr. COHN. You don’t think somebody who refuses to answer the question of whether or not they are a Communist, you don’t think that furnishes reasonable grounds to believe that person is a Communist?
Mr. AYMAN. It is hard for me to make a judgment of a thing like that. There are things a person may believe in. He may feel this type of thing doesn’t involve this type of activity.
Mr. COHN. Do you believe Communists should teach in the New York school system?
Mr. AYMAN. I believe a person ought to be judged.
Mr. COHN. Do you believe a Communist party member should teach in the New York City school system? That is a very simple question. Just answer ‘‘yes’’ or ‘‘no.’’
Mr. AYMAN. Well, my own feeling about this, that answer is not quite as simple as you put it.
Mr. COHN. Answer ‘‘yes’’ or ‘‘no,’’ then you can make any explanation you care to give us.
Mr. AYMAN. My answer would be ‘‘yes,’’ provided, of course, this person did not engage in activities in the school system in which he used his position to officially propagandize for the Communist party or any other group.
Mr. COHN. Do you think that a member of the Communist party would not use any position he held to propagandize and attempt in every way to aid the cause of the Communist party?
Mr. AYMAN. Well, I would say this. Any person who believed strongly in any position he held, it might be possible for him, not necessarily and I believe necessarily that he would not actually use his position to do that. It is possible for him to do that.
Mr. COHN. Do you believe it is possible for a Communist party member not to use any position he holds?
Mr. AYMAN. I wouldn’t be in a position to answer that?
Mr. COHN. I think you should be. You are teaching children in the public schools in New York.
Mr. AYMAN. My function as advisor was to see that these people don’t get rattled. I am not legal counsel. I can give them no legal advice. They wanted somebody to go up there and make sure they were represented.
The CHAIRMAN. Is it your position that a man who is a member of the Communist party should not be barred from a teaching job unless it is first proven that he is using his membership-unless it is proved he is teaching communism to his students?
Mr. AYMAN. No, sir. That was not my position.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you think that mere membership in the Communist party and nothing else should bar him from teaching?
Mr. AYMAN. Off-hand, I would say no.
The CHAIRMAN. You would say it takes more than that?
Mr. AYMAN. That is my opinion. My feeling is this.
The CHAIRMAN. What more would it take?
Mr. AYMAN. Some act, some either technical act as a teacher in the classroom or in connection with the school system which he used to actually propagandize in one form or another about this proposition that should cause him to be eliminated.
The CHAIRMAN. You realize the more clever the Communist is, the less possibility of catching him in the acts?
Mr. AYMAN. That is possible.
The CHAIRMAN. You might catch the dumb ones, but the clever ones you wouldn’t catch. You would say that unless you catch the Communist, know that he attended Communist meetings, unless you catch him in the overt act of propagandizing, unless you catch him doing something like that, you should keep him on as a teacher?
Mr. AYMAN. Not only Communist, anybody else. Fascists. I believe in some other kinds of systems, the same thing is true about those individuals as well.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you know anything about the Communist movement?
Mr. AYMAN. Not enough to make judgment about it.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you know what is meant by being under Communist party discipline?
Mr. AYMAN. Well, in my mind, under discipline, he accepts the dictates from the Communist party. I assume it means——
The CHAIRMAN. Do you mean in good standing of the party and must obey orders?
Mr. AYMAN. I can’t make such a statement. I am not a member.
The CHAIRMAN. If you were told now—witnesses have testified over and over, witnesses the government considers reliable men, who were active in the Communist party—Bella Dodd whom you knew testified such is the case; that a member in good standing is under Communist discipline and obeys orders. Would you have any reason to doubt that? Do you have any information to the contrary?
Mr. AYMAN. No, sir. I do not have information to the contrary.
The CHAIRMAN. Don’t you think a teacher, regardless of how good a teacher he might be, should be a free agent and should not be under the discipline of any organizations, particularly the Communist party dominated by Moscow?
Mr. AYMAN. Yes, sir. I believe that not only about those but everybody else.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you still say someone under Communist party discipline should be allowed to teach, realizing they are not free agents, no freedom of expression but expression of the Communist line. Do you still say you think such a man should be teaching our children unless he is caught in the overt act?
Mr. AYMAN. My own feeling is, as I said before, that is a belief I have. Whether it is a good belief or a bad one, it would be a question of somebody besides myself to be able to answer.
The CHAIRMAN We are not trying to change your beliefs. We are just curious as to what your beliefs are on communism. We are not concerned with your other beliefs. We are concerned with your belief or attitude toward the international conspiracy.
Mr. AYMAN. The international conspiracy, I am not in a position to make judgment. I am not sufficiently well acquainted with it. It is not in my field. If it is, I think government officials knowing these facts, being aware of it, they ought to take appropriate action. If they can show that persons have performed acts as part of this conspiracy, well, obviously they ought to do something about it.
Mr. JONES. Are you married?
Mr. AYMAN. No, not now.
Mr. JONES. You were before?
Mr. AYMAN. Yes.
Mr. JONES. Was your wife a member of the Communist party?
Mr. AYMAN. I have no way of knowing.
Mr. JONES. Do you have any children?
Mr. AYMAN. No, sir.
Mr. JONES. I assume if you did have children you would not object to them receiving their entire education under a Communist teacher?
Mr. AYMAN. I wouldn’t say that.
Mr. JONES. You said it.
Mr. AYMAN. If these people were Communists and if they did not use their position to propagandize for their beliefs, I would have no objection to them any more than a person who is a Fascist not using his position. I would say it was perfectly all right, American principal. If they were using that position, then I would say that person should not be permitted to teach my children or anybody else’s.
The CHAIRMAN. In other words, you wouldn’t object to having a Communist teacher teach your children?
Mr. AYMAN. No.
The CHAIRMAN Would you have any objection to having a man convicted of rape a number of times, even though be was not caught committing rape in the classroom——
Mr. AYMAN. I don’t think you can make that comparison. I assume a man convicted of rape would be sentenced to jail for a number of years and not permitted to get a license. I don’t see how those two things are relevant.
The CHAIRMAN. Suppose he did not advocate rape in the classroom, but had been convicted several times; that he was not in jail. Would you have any objection?
Mr. AYMAN. I don’t know how he would get a license. If he didn’t use his position in the classroom, I don’t see what the objection would be.
The CHAIRMAN. If you were looking for a babysitter, you and your wife were going out——
Mr. AYMAN. I would think twice before using him as a babysitter.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you still have a reserve commission in the army?

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Inquiry continues to go all over the map.