Greg:

What is the parallel you are drawing? The war against terrorism is analagous to McCarthyism and the atmosphere it generated?

I think the parallel is somewhat stretched in terms of the actions taken by the communists that McCarthy claimed to see under every bed, compared to the very real slaughter of 3,000 a year ago last September, the U.S.S. Cole, the first attack against the WTCs, and similar assaults.

That said, the mass-think that accompanies the times is similar in many ways, and I think the Crucible is as vital a warning against hysteria and knee-jerk thinking as it ever was. And thanks, too, for a really interesting article! What an articulate and thoughtful man.

A