Communist scare that led to the Joe McCarthy era that devastated citizens and freedom. A lot of artists at that time were marginalized by the media as being sympathizers whether they were or not and vilified to the point of suicide. Most truly creative people tend to be of the socialist bent. The propaganda of fear that was used by the people in power in that day is being used today. Redistribution is what is done with taxes. It's Civics 101. But the right uses the propaganda of fear to control the simple minded easily led percentage of the populace who doesn't understand that there is more than one definition of most words in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.

Politics and political consulting magnifies all social issues. Both in different ways. The consultant loses nothing by making the candidate lie. It's just another job.