Not that George W. Bush needs much encouragement, but Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a new target for the administration's domestic operations -- Fifth Columnists, supposedly disloyal Americans who sympathize and collaborate with the enemy.

"The administration has not only the right, but the duty, in my opinion, to pursue Fifth Column movements," Graham, R-S.C., told Gonzales during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Feb. 6.

"I stand by this President's ability, inherent to being Commander in Chief, to find out about Fifth Column movements, and I don't think you need a warrant to do that," Graham added, volunteering to work with the administration to draft guidelines for how best to neutralize this alleged threat.

"Senator," a smiling Gonzales responded, "the President already said we'd be happy to listen to your ideas."

In less paranoid times, Graham's comments might be viewed by many Americans as a Republican trying to have it both ways - ingratiating himself to an administration of his own party while seeking some credit from Washington centrists for suggesting Congress should have at least a tiny say in how Bush runs the War on Terror.

But recent developments suggest that the Bush administration may already be contemplating what to do with Americans who are deemed insufficiently loyal or who disseminate information that may be considered helpful to the enemy.

Top U.S. officials have cited the need to challenge news that undercuts Bush's actions as a key front in defeating the terrorists, who are aided by "news informers" in the words of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. [For details, see Consortiumnews.com "Upside-Down Media" ]

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Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 ­ May 2, 1957) was a Republican Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957. McCarthy organized a destructive campaign through the establishment of the "House Unamerican Activities Committee" through which countless civilians, government workers and even members of the military were brought before the committee to answer unsubstantiated charges of involvement with Communism, usually based on hearsay or general paranoid convictions held by the right-wing establishment. McCarthy employed tactics such as...

* Guilt by association

* Publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence

* The use of unfair investigatory or accusatory methods in order to suppress opposition

Ultimately, McCarthy managed to destroy the lives and reputations of scores of businessmen, actors, writers, attorneys, military personnel and government workers by the sheer weight of accusation alone at a time when Communism was hyped by the government as "The Red Menace," even resulting in black-lists in Hollywood and other industries where many could not find jobs, for fear of being associated with "suspect Communists." This despite the fact that Constitutionally, any citizen of the United States of America had every legal right to be a member of a Communist party. McCarthyism ended in shame, disgrace and hopefully a lesson learned about unbridled abuse of powers and the use of the media to generate fear, especially for a single political party currently in power.