I don't think I am the only one who had to read The Crucible in high school and listen to their English teacher compare the play to McCarthyism in the 50s.  And I can't be the only one sitting here thinking that Google is on the same type of obsessive link buying witch hunt.  What do the Puritans, McCarthyism and Google all have in common?  And how could it lead to Google's downfall?  Let's explore:

Rise to Power through Confusion
The Puritans: New church, no clear leader
McCarthyism: America just finished one war, starting two more (Cold and Korean)
Google: Rose in the midst of the dot-bomb era to become the market leader

A Soapbox to Stand-On
The Puritans: The Pastor, the Church
McCarthyism: Senator McCarthy, the Senate
Google: Matt Cutts, Gadgets, Google, and SEO

A Superior Mentality
The Puritans: Find and punish witches to help fight the Devil
McCarthyism: Find and punish communists to protect America
Google: Find and punish link buyers to prevent index spam

Scared Snitches
The Puritans: No one wants to go to Hell – must report witches
McCarthyism: No one wants to be blacklisted or deported – must report communists
Google: No one wants to be banned from the index – must not buy links & must report other link buyers

The Dust Settles
The Puritans: Members were dead, the flock was broken
McCarthyism: People lost their jobs, their homes, and their reputations
Google:  Google is dethroned and loses considerable search market share.  Consumers & search marketers win because a superior service has been created.

There are plenty of people already covering the buying links is bad/buying links is good debate.  What I am pointing out is that Google's obsession with the detection, reporting, and devaluing of paid links is blinding their ability to create a superior search experience.  Google is stuck on creating a spam-free index, while competitors like Ask.com continue to innovate and redefine how a SERP can assist searchers, even if their index doesn't contain every nook-and-cranny of the web.