CP stuff

[Charles Brown <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

CB: This is just to dissent from the claim that the CP tied itself to the
Democratic Party in 1936. Or that "puppet" is the accurate way to describe
CPUSA relationship to the Comintern.

Of course, the CP, like anybody had made mistakes, (since nobody is
infallable :>) ), but to call the CP relationship to the DP the most serious
political error in US history is an error of exaggeration and leftwing
infantilist slander.  We can just as easily say that the CP made fewer and
lesser mistakes than all other left trends and parties in the U.S.

On relationship to the DP, the CPUSA has run a number of candidates for
President and other offices since 1936. During McCarthyism it was not
practical to run candidates, though in 1948 CP members played a big part in
the Wallace campaign. The relationship to the DP has been more like Manning
Marable's proposal in 2000 that the C of C have an "inside/outside" strategy
in relation to the DP.

Also, this criticism of the CP fails to take account of the fascist attacks
of McCarthyism , which make it incumbant upon a Communist Party in the U.S.
to retain sort of exaggerated legality and legitimacy, to protect itself. In
other words, the CP has to have a certain strategy of wrapping itself in
American "political culture and custom",so as not to be characterized as
UNAmerican.

As to "puppetry", the positive way to characterize that is internationalism
and respect for Marxists who had successfully carried out a revolution. It
also is a refreshing example of NON-chauvinism from Americans. What a great
thing that Americans took
 a lead from some other nationality, not acting like Americans are always
better than everybody else. The CP was not acting like typical Ugly
Americans in their self-subordination to the Communist International.

 I think it is to the CPUSA's everlasting credit that it was solid with the
Comintern and SU. The notion that the CP was _first_concerned with the
Comintern, and only secondarily concerned with its "base" in the U.S.
contradicts my study of the history of the Party. That's not the way Carl
Winter described it :>)The CP didn't just "worry" about the base. It was
born of and integrated with its base, the working class in the U.S. . It
might be good to have a research competition on that. I'll get my books and
tapes. The point is the term "worry" sounds like the CP didn't really or
genuinely care about the "base", but were just so enamored of the Comintern
or something that they just wanted to be puppets for the Comintern or
whatever. This whole tone is a mischaracterization of the mentality and
attitude of the CP toward these issues and their interrelationship. Rather
than this picture of the CP as bumbling opportunists and who had a crush on
the Comintern, it can as easily be characterized as courageous fighters for
socialism who faced many obstacles and contradictions, including that
between attitude toward the first socialist revolution/state and their
attitude toward the vicious capitalist state in which they lived and worked.

So, as to the relationship between the two issues, supporting the SU in the
face of McCarthyism is a principled, courageous stance. It was not a point
of agreement with the Democratic Party after WWII. Of course during WWII the
SU was a military ally of the U.S.


CC writes: >It _is_ worth noting, also, that different CPs around the world
differed
in how they implemented Comintern decisions within the context of
particular national struggles.<

right. It's important to remember that the CPs differed, that some of them
were "puppets" and others not. It depended on how bureaucratic the party
was, how much they had mass support, and how revolutionary the social
situation was. The CPs didn't simply respond to pressure from the Comintern;
they also had to worry about the base. This was made clear to the CPUSA when
the Hitler-Stalin pact hit (and the CP's line changed and many people quit
the CP) and in 1956, when Khrushchev made his speech (and the CP followed,
losing a lot more members).