McCarthy was right, and the criticism based on his conjuring daemons that weren't there, as popular as it has been, is misguided. If anything, as the archives open after all these years, they show the Soviet threat and the extent of infiltration was far greater than anybody even imagined.
Watergate was a quaint bespoke little operation. Much wider unconstrained eavesdropping capability is available to grunts like Snowden on tap. And all the perpetrators were indicted or jailed[0]. A president even was made to resign.
If anything, the magnitude of the threat the Un-American Activities Committee dealt with, and the constrains Nixon faced (both technical during, and legal after the fact) provide a contrast to the post-PATRIOT-Act reality of threats and constrains, all imaginary at best.
The list of rationalized extensions of the US Government into what becomes in retrospect a blatant abuse of power would be an interesting one.