Having studied the McCarthy hearings, I understand you point of view.
McCarthy and company went too far, and ultimately got bad press, as they ended up "exposing" people who were only peripherally related to the real communists.
Communists, on the other hand, got scared and the smart ones rebranded themselves - like "progressive" or "liberal" or "politically aware."
The rebranded communists did not stop working in the background nor did they just simply go away. They decided on an incremental approach to their goals. One of their first big successes was removal of prayer from schools. Attack religious freedom and the fundamental make up of the country weakens.
We need to incrementally restore our freedoms (to avoid the regressive label) as they were lost.
We need to call out the rebranded communists accurately, as you have done.