anti-communism the way other people might buy a car. trump rode the birther conspiracy to prominence, mccarthy rode anti-communism to prominence. there were early voices, far too lonely, making the case against them. one of the things that many members of congress and members of the senate are going to have to ask themselves down the years is, why weren't they margaret chase smith, the republican senator from maine, who stood up in 1950 and said that this, as president bush would say in a different context, this will not stand. giving a speech called the declaration of conscience. she got -- only got six senators to join her in that, in 1950, by 1954, the senate would central mccarthy. but it took four years. and mccarthy understood the media of the age. he understood how to manipulate