Point of Order

For many Americans, the memory of Senator Joseph McCarthy cannot fade fast enough. In his native Wisconsin, though, a loyal few meet each spring in fond remembrance of the good old days. The 15th anniversary of McCarthy's death was marked last week with a Requiem High Mass in Milwaukee followed by a graveside service and a luncheon in Appleton the next day. About 40 members of the Joseph McCarthy Foundation gathered to hear the Rev. Raymond Vint avow that "history will unerringly find him his proper place in the estimation of the nation he served."

As a sort of counter-memorial, another Mass was offered in Appleton by a different group of 125 McCarthy friends headed by the Senator's widow Jean, now Mrs. G. Joseph Minetti of Washington, D.C. She disavowed any connection with the McCarthy Foundation, sniffing: "Who are they? Birchers?" A more intriguing question: What would the old Red-baiter say if he knew that his memorial fell between a presidential visit to China and a summit meeting in Russia--and nearly coincided with a U.S. assault on a Communist enemy in North Viet Nam? "Point of order, Mr. Chairman," no doubt.

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