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In reply to the discussion: Interview with blacklisted comedian, Mort Sahl, 1968 quotes and warnings after JFK's death. [View all]Archae
(46,301 posts)Not talent driven.
People lost their livelihoods based on if they flirted with being a "commie," or if they wouldn't name names of those HUAC and McCarthy claimed were commies.
HUAC went downhill after their chairman was shown to be so corrupt he stank on ice. (J. Parnell Thomas)
McCarthy destroyed himself, especially on Murrow's program and in the Army hearings.
"Red Channels," the publication that was touted to be *THE* authority on who was a commie in Hollywood and who wasn't, went down in flames during John Henry Faulk's lawsuit against them, their sloppy "research" and mistakes were exposed.
Mort Sahl wasn't on a political "blacklist," the word got around that he was simply BORING.
People went to see comedians to get a laugh.
Not be lectured about the comedian's pet politics or cause.