Most leftists think of McCarthyism as the pinnacle of U.S. government harassment of peaceful political opponents. Now, even McCarthy, who directed his energy toward Communists above him in positions of great power -- as opposed to peaceful leftists making a living in Hollywood -- perhaps contributed to a hysterical Cold War atmosphere and thus bolstered the state. But his inquisitions were benign, even heroic, compared to the long history of persecution of dissenters.

Leftist radicals were in fact most endangered under Democratic, moderate left regimes. Wilson imprisoned them and had many of them deported to Bolshevik Russia. FDR had plans to round them up. He also planned to round up Old Right critics of his New Deal and war aims. The FBI under Johnson spied on the antiwar movement.

Oppression of political activists was hardly a creation of the Red Scare. People were imprisoned in the War of 1812 for criticizing Andrew Jackson's martial law, or even for issuing habeas corpus writs to protect peaceful critics. Lincoln imprisoned critics shamelessly. Under Reconstruction, those who spoke ill of the military rule of the South were locked up.

After the Cold War, we had the Clinton regime, which characterized rightwing populists collectively as de facto terrorist facilitators. Outspoken opponents were harassed through the IRS and others were fined thousands of dollars merely for expressing opinions against the welfare state. Now Obama is in power, and the left's cavalier attitudes toward the civil liberties of anyone who disagrees with them or is culturally alien to them (remember Waco?) are back, but it's post-9/11 and post-Wall Street collapse, so the stakes are higher, and the totalitarian instruments built up by Bush have been transferred to the statist left.

Rightwingers, or anyone who opposes the regime, have some legitimate concerns now. Will the no-fly list be expanded? Will it be used to strip people of gun rights? Will the radio be censored in the name of fairness? Will people be targeted merely for opposing fiat money, police-state nationalism, or attacks on their cultural values?

The left has never been nearly solid enough on persecution and witch hunts, but maybe a few who remember the Bush experience will, like liberals horrified by FDR who became the bulk of the Old Right, join the coalition for liberty and against the leviathan. But conservatives need to watch carefully and learn some lessons too. Every last threat to freedom you see has its roots in Bush and earlier nationalist presidents, and especially in war hysteria. Next time a Republican is in power, claiming you are either with us or against us, keep that in mind. Don't turn off your brain. Because who "us" is can change every four or eight years.