In the thousands of years humans have existed, there have always been demagogs and their mislead followers, which always end up in destruction in some way shape or form. A demagog is a leader who obtains power by means of arousing the passions, appeals, emotions and prejudices of the populace. They destroy and exploit a small number of the populace to expand on the little power they already have. There are enormous amounts of cases that have existed in virtually every era of recorded history. .
Witch hunts are constantly being created and reconstructed, but a few of the more popular and publicized of these cases are the Red Scare, The Child Molestation cases, and the Salem Witch Trials. The Red Scare involved a United States Senator named Joseph McCarthy. He ruined the lives of many people just by listing their names and claiming them to Communists. This was finally put to an end when he accused the United States Military, and the military was able to prove him as a phony. The child molestation cases were started with the McMartin cases in Manhattan Beach, California. It started after a false accusation from a confused child and the mother of the child quickly sought "justice- for her child. The trial later escalated into children forced to speak against their child care takers and many lives were destroyed as the result. Lastly, the Event that gave rise to the name, there was The Salem Witch Trials. "Tormented- children spoke out against certain individuals of their village (usually a family enemy of some sort). Twenty were executed based solely on spectral evidence. Spectral evidence was the thought of someone casting a ghost or specter on the "inflicted- children. Soon the children were exposed for the frauds they really were, and an end was put to the event.
Quite a few witch hunts have developed from the September eleventh tragedy. Terrorists, from a radical group of Middle Eastern Moslems, hijacked four commercial planes and flew them into the symbolic Twin Towers of New York City, The Pentagon, and one unknown site (the airplane plane crew was able to take down their plane, saving many potential lives).