Like I said, "denial and bluster".
Re: Oppenheimer...just google around for or read the other books on Soviet Spying in the USA. It is not reasonable to assume I can't replicate the output of books into a Slashdot discussion! It's not like his wife and brother being communists is a secret.
This link covers much of what knew:
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/Father%20of%20the%20A%20Bomb.htm
Here is a link to a discussion that goes much further on Oppenheimer then I was willing to go:
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?doc_id=43900&fuseaction=topics.publications&group_id=13349&topic_id=1409
"His own party (the Democrats by the way - did you not even known that much?)"
I lost track of who you are refering to with "His"
If you mean Oppenheimer...I have no idea if he affiliated with the democrats or republicans. When he was younger (pre-WWII) he certainly identified as a communist for at least some time. For how long and to what degree that affiliation occurred, that is one of the questions at hand.
If you mean McCarthy...he was Republican Senator from Wisconsin.
"Communism was just the excuse for the populist witch hunt because..."
More bluster and denial. The Soviet threat was real. The Soviets were pretty good at espionage and institutional infiltration. Are you denying this? Perhaps, I am just misunderstanding what you are saying. Is it just McCarthy's efforts/effects that were wrong? McCarthy sure does come across as a clown. The American left has used that to try to pretend that real Soviet activity was not going on.
I have no idea if McCarthy correctly named any of the following types in USGOV: prior communists, secret communists, Soviet Agents/Spies, Soviet Agents of Influence. I say this because I don't who he named. He does seem clownish, so I imagine he made many mistakes. 100% mistakes? I have no idea. Blanket general assertions by left-leaning journalist, historians and movie makers (remember: "bluster and denial") do not convince me. I also don't have the time to do the research to see who he accused, and then to cross check that with what is known now. Some historian or journalist should. Heck, give me a grant fo r 6 months and I'll do it.