Juan de Torquemada is smiling in his grave

Dalton Trumbo has long been a causes celebres  among the leftists. Named by the McCarthy House Un-American Activities Committee as a possible communist, Trumbo was blacklisted from working in Hollywood. Like others accused during the days of the Red Hysteria, they were guilty because they could not prove a negative claim -- " prove you do not harbor communist sympathies". 

Further back in history is the case of Sacco and Vanzetti. This pair of anarchists were executed for the killing of a guard and paymaster during a robbery. The evidence was slim and the judge in the case  stated in his charge to the jury that even if they were not guilty of the robbery and murder they were "morally culpable" because of their far-leftist politics and should be judged accordingly. Liberals and progressives around the world protested their conviction and subsequent execution, including future Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter.

Will future historians mark the "guilt by accusation" hysteria as beginning with the shameful Judicial Committee hearings yesterday? 

Most of us hoped the McCarthyism of yesteryear was a shameful event best left to the dustbin of history. I guess for Senate Democrats revenge really is a dish best served cold.