“Red-baiting” — accusing someone of being “soft on communism” or having murky “connections” to communist groups or individuals — has been an effective tactic for Republicans for nearly a century. It’s a simple way to put opponents on the defensive, forcing them to try to disprove the charge even if there is little evidence behind it.

Cumulatively, it has done great damage to political, business, and artistic careers.

In 1919, after there were several attempts to kill government officials with bombs, the soon-to-be FBI, led by young J. Edgar Hoover, planned raids across the country to arrest suspected socialists, communists and anarchists. The raids went poorly, but the bureau did launch a “red ark” bound for Russia, filled with noncitizens suspected of seditious activities. The strategy became so popular that it soon developed its own slang: a “pinko” (a lighter shade of red) was a person favoring communism.

The same approach worked well in the early 1950s for now-discredited Sen. Joe McCarthy and supporters such as Richard Nixon and Roy Cohn. In 1964, Republican candidate Barry Goldwater charged that LBJ and other opponents were “soft on communism.” Even though Goldwater lost by the greatest margin in history, Nixon’s political camp continued using the same attacks, and Hoover backed the FBI’s “anti-communist” crusade right up to his death in 1972.

Ronald Reagan rode the coattails of the anti-communists into national prominence, beginning with a commercial against “socialized medicine,” although Medicare soon became one of the most popular government programs in history. Later, he challenged a wavering Soviet Union in Berlin, imploring Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”

After the USSR dissolved in 1989, red-baiting became less common and effective since the worldwide threat from communism seemed diminished.

But the fear of “communism” and “socialism” lived on. Hard-liners and moderates were expected to unequivocally support all military budget requests, fueling an arms race that now costs us nearly a trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000) each year, three times more than our closest rival. They also needed to support all U.S. military actions, from the Korean War through Vietnam, since Russia was seen as behind most worldwide conflicts.

The same fear also translated into opposition to nearly all social welfare programs in the U.S., since they could be lumped in with a communist ideology (which was far from the communist reality) that attempted to provide equality for all at the expense of the rich. Even Social Security was hammered in its earliest days as a “communist program” that might destroy the Constitution.

Other programs like food stamps, welfare assistance, and expanded government health care were strongly opposed by many “anti-communists.” (I do give grudging credit to Nixon for his support of Social Security, and improved health insurance and Medicare.)

I don’t believe red-baiting or name-calling is a positive approach in a democracy. Labeling someone a “war hawk” or “tree hugger” erases all nuances and makes conversation or investigation of political positions a waste of time. But after so many years of Republicans insinuating or charging Democrats with communist leanings, I find it the ultimate irony that they might be, to use a fine Shakespearean phrase, “hoisted by their own petard.” (I was surprised to learn that a petard was a bomb, not a lance or long weapon, and “hoisted” meant “blown up.”)

Donald Trump has proven himself immune to ideology while fawning over dictators, expressing admiration for authoritarian leaders in North Korea, Hungary, China, Turkey, the Philippines, and Russia. He has described them as “tough,” “smart,” even “amazing,” especially after using force to expand or maintain their power, while insulting many democratically elected leaders.

His embrace of dictator Vladimir Putin and attempted coercion of Ukraine’s elected Zelensky is, to use one of his favorite adjectives, “amazing,” with photos of him beaming at Putin in Helsinki in 2018 (as investigations indicated Russian influence in the previous election) worth more than a thousand words.

Putin’s attempt to create an empire has followed a script laid out by Adolf Hitler’s Polish invasion in 1939: he claimed Germans had ancestral rights to Poland and that Germans were being persecuted there. Today, Ukraine fights for its life, and congressional Republicans have followed Trump’s lead in trying to block aid to Ukraine. Their obstruction provides support for the supposedly communist regime in Russia.

As I said, I know stereotypes and name-calling aren’t an appropriate approach to politics in a democracy, but the irony is too delicious, and I’m weak: currently, Donald Trump and his followers in Congress are “soft on communism.”

Allen Woods is a freelance writer, author of the Revolutionary-era historical fiction novel “The Sword and Scabbard,” and Greenfield resident. His column appears regularly on Saturdays. Comments are welcome here or at awoods2846@gmail.com.