Senator McCarthy was right in many/all of his accusations

An interesting response that seems to pick and choose the arguments that you feel that you can refute while simultaneously ignoring the rest of them. Nevertheless, I'm glad you considered my alternate debate topic and I'm glad that you have broadened to encompass not only the validity of his accusations but his overall merit to American politics. I'll start from the top: "The problem, however, is that I DON'T believe McCarthy had a positive impact on America." This is an interesting comment to make because with your introduction you implied that McCarthy's efforts in regard to combatting communism within the federal government was a just and worthwhile cause. This is certainly a position adopted by Anne Coulter and other right wing pundits. From my perspective this concession even contradicts your most fundamental assertions about McCarthy and his policies. But thats just me. Do you care to defend and perhaps praise his work throughout the debate? Because it is incumbent upon the Pro in this debate to prove that McCarthy was "right" both in his accusations, goals, and in some degree his pursuit of the goals (or at least offer some hypothetically correct method of ridding Soviet spies from the government). "He could have, conceivably, but his hardheaded methods and crucifixion by the media" This also struck me as odd because McCarthy was often accused of using the media and the "Red Scare" ideology of the time to advance his cause. I find it odd that you are now trying to claim he is a victim of the same media that he employed to combat the perceived communist threat. "McCarthyism" the term actually in part references to use publicized media outlets to rally with demagogic themes including the noble fight against communism. Perhaps eventually the media discredited him because of the fact he was censored in Senate (by an overwhelming vote) but for five years he used the media to his own advantage. It was only until people saw the consequences of his actions and the damage it was causing that his popularity plummeted and he was picked apart by the media. Now to Annie Lee Moss (Interesting that you didn't address my two other examples of unjustly targeted victims): I've heard you claim that she was indeed a communist because she subscribed to a communist newspaper (which is socialist by nature) but this has already been addressed in my first response. Her ideology is not proof in itself that she was aiding the Soviets nor that she was unpatriotic. This is a free country if she chooses to associate herself with the Communist Party of America she shouldn't have to be considered a Russian Spy (quite the jump if you ask me). I think you are dwelling on the fact that she had a communist influenced ideology because there is no concrete evidence suggesting that she was in any way linked to the kind of "Soviet conspiracy" that McCarthy accused her of. So I continue to maintain that in this example she was still unjustly accused of being a threat to the United States. "McCarthy "went after" her out of the fear that her Communist affiliation made her do exactly that." I'm glad that you can recognize that this zealous pursuit was fear driven which is fundamental to the notion of "McCarthyism". It describes on an approach that focuses on fears and emotions to rally support. Also this fear in itself isn't proof that she did or even had the intention of spying for the Russians. You're going to have to do better then that. -connor