In all cases the people at the top could have insisted there was a paranoid `witchhunt' or `hysteria' going on. But in all cases, there *were* some intensely subversive and corrupt conspiracies going on. In the 50's, the Rosenberg-Soviet espionage ring was in full circle, stealing pricelessly valuable Atom Bomb secrets. The Rosenbergs were executed as traitors despite massive public uproar and appeals all the way to the Supreme Court and President Eisenhower (who was unmoved). The problem with McCarthyism was not that it was completely illegitimate (it was fueled by some actual conspiracies), but that it was carried to extremes. In Watergate, we had a corruption to the very highest levels of our executive branch of government, and a grotesque coverup that has so deeply shakened and poisoned honest people's trust in government for decades. The probes by Congress were met with evasion, stonewalling, and counterattacks. Nixon has been viewed as one of the most damaging presidents (to the institution of the presidency) ever to have been elected. In the Kennedy Assassination, according to a recent Newsweek, again there were coverups, but only by our own government to try to suppress the leaking of any information that might upset the American public into calling for retaliation against e.g. Cuba or the Soviet Union. They tried to comfort the public with a rapid investigation with foregone conclusions, rather than any systematic inquiry into the Truth. It seems to me that all are examples of how evasion, stonewalling, and counterattacks on Truth-seeking probes, by high-ranking officials seeking to promote unsavory or criminal personal `agendas' and their own respectability at all costs, led to monstrous consequences that demolished public trust in their most delicate and hallowed institutions for decades. Truly black consequences. Cypherpunks, you call it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help@anon.penet.fi. Due to the double-blind, any mail replies to this message will be anonymized, and an anonymous id will be allocated automatically. You have been warned. Please report any problems, inappropriate use etc. to admin@anon.penet.fi.