Rep.
Allen West (R-FL) overstated the case when he recently declared “I believe there is about 78 to 81 members
of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party.” He clarified his
assertion by stating that he was actually referring to members of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus which, he contended, were Marxist in their orientation.
At least on that point he was absolutely right.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus which, as Rep.
Allen West claimed, includes about 78 members of Congress, maintains a direct
affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) which is the
American branch of Socialist International. This international group, Socialist
International, traces its origin to the First International which was established
in London, September 28, 1864. The First International included Karl Marx as a
member of its provisional General Council. The DSA, the American branch of
Socialist International, has a euphemistic and nuanced mission statement posted
on the website which says, among other things, that “To achieve a more just society, many
structures of our government must be transformed through greater economic and
social democracy.”
A cursory investigation of the DSA indicates that they stand
for principles that are antithetical to the American system of government and
the American way of life. While the congressmen who are members of the
Progressive Caucus, which is affiliated with the DSA, have done nothing illegal
by holding membership in such an organization, the ethics of their membership ought
to be called into question. Upon entering their office these congressmen took
an oath to uphold the US Constitution yet they are members of a political
organization that is headquartered in a foreign country and that calls for a
re-ordering of the American system. Each of them ought to be asked which part
of the US Constitution they would like to “transform.”
PBS commentator Bill Moyers offered a melodramatic
presentation on his TV program “Bill Moyers Journal” entitled “Allen West and
the ghost of McCarthy.” Like Rep. Allen West, Bill Moyers overstated the case. Ironically
Moyers worked as a media consultant in the Johnson Administration where one of
his duties was to dig up dirt on President Lyndon Johnson’s opponents. Senator
McCarthy actually was charged with investigating genuine communists and communist
sympathizers who were embedded within various agencies of the US Government.
Unlike the members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who are proud and
open members of a group that is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of
America, the government employees that Sen. McCarthy investigated kept their
association with Stalin secret.
Unlike the congressmen who are presently members of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is affiliated with a group that holds legal
but contrary opinions regarding the American form of government, the agents
that Joe McCarthy investigated were secretly aiding and abetting the Soviet
Union, an avowed enemy of their country. Indeed, many of the Stalinist agents
investigated by McCarthy were also spies that worked for both Stalin and Hitler
during the 1939-1941 Hitler-Stalin Pact years. The pro-Soviet subversives of
the post-war period were condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike, by both
Liberals and by Conservatives. As an example, liberal Democratic Senator Hubert
H. Humphrey filed a bill in Congress in 1950 that would’ve outlawed the
Communist Party, a bill that was opposed by Senator McCarthy who felt it went
too far.
While there is no reasonable comparison between the
activities of the Congressional Progressive Caucus today and that of the communist
KGB spies of the post-war period, it should be noted that unlike the attitude
back then, many of today’s liberals and Democrats have no problem with the
political stance taken by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and their
allies. Rep. Allen West should be congratulated for having the courage to call
them out.
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