While I cannot take the time to name all the men in the State Department who have been named Communist Party members and members of an espionage ring, I have here in my hand a list of 205 who were known to the Secretary of State as members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless continue to work and shape State Department policy. (Bayley, 1981, p.17) This history is held responsible for the beginning of the era of McCarthyism. The incidents that followed represent a journalistic period parallel to the Christian views of the Spanish Inquisition; a time of embarrassment and horror never forgotten. McCarthy later said that the number he gave in his speech was not 205 but 57. The fact is that Desmond had a written copy of the speech before McCarthy gave it, but he could have changed the number to 57 when he actually presented the speech. In any case, 57 would have been just as shocking as 205. The reporter's ethics and/or practices were questionable in handling this story. Why didn't you ask to see the list of 205 communists? If he had, the story might have been different, because as McCarthy himself said, "what he had in his hand was Byrnes' letter, not a list." (Bayley, 1981, p.24) If Desmond had reported that McCarthy was holding a letter, not a list, the newspapers would have covered the story very differently. A letter from one person to another, suggesting unsuitable employees, would have made far less news than the illusion of a real list of names. This lack of verification was one of many press blunders that followed in the following weeks. In general, the bad practice of the press will be continued for the next five years. "I have here in my hand,..." was a phrase that "became more popular than a famous toothpaste slogan," (Belfrage, 1973, p.117) which he used on countless occasions to refer to documents he had pulled out of his briefcase to make wild accusations. The legitimacy of the documents, as well as that of the accusations, did not appear to have ever been verified visually by journalists. The Byrnes letter that McCarthy dug up on February 9, 1950, was one such uncontrolled document. The contents of the letter give us insight into McCarthy's ability to manipulate the facts and cover his tracks just long enough for an unambitious and careless journalist to help him spread his word. The letter from which the number 205 is extracted is dated July 26, 1946, from Secretary of State James F.