barn32
08-12-2017, 12:17 PM
A lot of people, many in show business, were persecuted (wrongly) during the McCarthy hearings. Lives were ruined. Panic set in. There seemed to be a communist under every bush.
My father was so afraid of communists he got a new dead bolt lock for the front door. (No kidding.) He said they were going to come and take everything away. They would tell you what to do, what to eat, what to say.
"In a communist country you don't have any rights," he would say. "How would you like it if someone told you that you had to eat mush for dinner?"
Every Saturday morning, no matter what was on television, we had to sit and be quiet while the fifteen minute "Dan Smoot" show was on. If we were watching cartoons, off they would go.
"You kids shut the hell up! Dan smoot is on!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewJyuXSW5nA
The best thing about the Dan Smoot show was the sponsor. Dr. Ross Dog Food.
My brother and I would sing along with the commercial, "Dr. Ross Dog Food is Dog Gone Good!--Woof!" And then we would laugh our asses off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQoalfbT2W0
The show would come back on and again we would hear, "Shut the hell up you kids, Dan Smoot is on!" Dan Smoot was probably a little bit to the right of John Birch.
So here is something I've been thinking about. If I were called before the committee I would have simply said the following:
"Gentlemen, I will answer every question you ask of me, but first you must answer one question of mine first. Is it against the law to be a communist?"
My father was so afraid of communists he got a new dead bolt lock for the front door. (No kidding.) He said they were going to come and take everything away. They would tell you what to do, what to eat, what to say.
"In a communist country you don't have any rights," he would say. "How would you like it if someone told you that you had to eat mush for dinner?"
Every Saturday morning, no matter what was on television, we had to sit and be quiet while the fifteen minute "Dan Smoot" show was on. If we were watching cartoons, off they would go.
"You kids shut the hell up! Dan smoot is on!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewJyuXSW5nA
The best thing about the Dan Smoot show was the sponsor. Dr. Ross Dog Food.
My brother and I would sing along with the commercial, "Dr. Ross Dog Food is Dog Gone Good!--Woof!" And then we would laugh our asses off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQoalfbT2W0
The show would come back on and again we would hear, "Shut the hell up you kids, Dan Smoot is on!" Dan Smoot was probably a little bit to the right of John Birch.
So here is something I've been thinking about. If I were called before the committee I would have simply said the following:
"Gentlemen, I will answer every question you ask of me, but first you must answer one question of mine first. Is it against the law to be a communist?"