News From The Celtic LeagueJoe McCarthy was a pretty nasty US Senator whose name became synonymous with the 1950s witch-hunts in the US Congress. His hearings were notorious for there intolerance and he crushed institutions and individuals before he was stopped.I was thinking about the McCarthy era as the storm broke yesterday around Zac Hall and ?Plaigergate?.Hall is one of the ?gang of four? who decided to register their opposition to the same-sex marriage legislation.All four are deluded if they think they can derail the proposal and I certainly hope that the legislation sails through and is the final settlement of gay rights on the Island.The only issue outstanding then is an apology, long over due, to the gay community for the disgusting treatment meted out to them in the decades before the law was reformed. Gay people were persecuted lives destroyed families traumatised – is ?sorry? such a big word for our government and police to utter?Returning to Hall who as one of the ?gang of four? delivered a speech in opposition which, depending on which narrative you subscribe to, was sourced from an Irish religious publication or a Tory MP or both. He was obviously a (as one pundit put it) a ?silly boy? as he simply had to preface his speech by saying ?I have drawn on etc?.But to be perfectly honest as I said in another post most politician, pundits even journalists (god bless them) plagiarise occasionally and please don?t suggest that an every occasion they acknowledge source ? I don?t for one.Does Hall?s ?terrible crime? warrant the ?McCarthyite? witch hunt waged against him which may force him into a grovelling apology. That?s just the sort of outcome Senator Joe McCarthy loved to see people humiliated and broken before him.Strangely that?s also what a lot of people on this Island three decades ago used to enjoy seeing happen to members of the gay community.For goodness sake we need to put public pillory, the stocks, and the witch-hunt behind us and grow up as a community. That?s the best answer to the gang of four and anyone else how still yearns for intolerance and bigotry.Photo: Senator Joe McCarthyBERNARD MOFFATTIssued by: The Celtic News12/02/16THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.The Celtic League established in 1961 has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It promotes cooperation between the countries and campaigns on a range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, military activity and socio-economic issues (voir le site) this!