Kerry supporters

[honeychile]

Kerry and the Democratic party have received the support of an unlikely source: the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). This is from the cover of the St. Augustine Record, and you can read the full article here.

The author, after hearing about this, wrote to the CPUSA, and includes further information, such as where Kerry got his "Let America be America Again":

"Next, I discovered that one of Kerry's campaign themes is " Let America be America Again." This slogan was borrowed from a Communist poet, Langston Hughes. This is not common knowledge to the average American."

[The1calledTKE]

So what? We shouldn't vote for Kerry now even though he is not communist and doesn't believe in the communist ideals?

So if the Fascist support Bush we should think different of him?

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by The1calledTKE
So if the Fascist support Bush we should think different of him?

Or, more likely, the Council of Conservative Citizens or the Ku Klux Klan.

Of the three biographies I have of Langston Hughes---one quite critical--not one has said that he was a Communist; in fact, he refused membership and didn't even consider himself a sympathizer. He testified to HUAC in order to avoid being blacklisted. One also has to remember, during Hughes's time, the Communist party was the only major political group pressing for equal treatment of African-Americans. So, the right wing's alignment of him with Communism--then and now--isn't that surprising.

[honeychile]

Don't shoot the messenger when you don't like the news!

[IowaStatePhiPsi]

Nice to see the political right is trying to bring back the work of McCarthy.

Now, if you look at the time period in which Communism appeared pleasing to Hughes, you'd note it was a time of severe racial inequality in the United States.

http://www.galegroup.com/free_resour...o/hughes_l.htm

In 1932, Hughes went to Russia with a group of African Americans to assist with a film project that never bore fruit. When the project dissolved, most of the participants returned to the United States, but Hughes set off to explore the Soviet Union. In his own observations of the Soviet Union, Hughes saw many reasons to appreciate communism. Thus, while many other American writers were attracted to socialistic perspectives during the depression years, Hughes openly praised practices he had observed in the Soviet Union: no "Jim Crow," no anti-semitism, and education and medical care for everyone. He wrote numerous poems to capture those travels, and later, in both his Chicago Defender column and in his second autobiography, I Wonder As I Wander (1956), he recorded impressions of his travels. Following the journey to the Soviet Union, Hughes completed work on his first volume of short stories, The Ways of White Folks (1934).

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I didn't think that Langston Hughes was a communist or a sympathizer.

How credible a source is the St. Augustine Record? I have never heard of it, but how is it regarded in Florida? This article clearly has an agenda. It just doesn't pass the sniff test for me.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by honeychile
Don't shoot the messenger when you don't like the news!

I'm not shooting. This article doesn't read like news. It's full of propaganda. As I posted earlier, there is clearly an agenda here.

[honeychile]

I am willing to delete the thread, if it is simply propaganda.

[The1calledTKE]

Originally posted by honeychile
Don't shoot the messenger when you don't like the news!

I am just trying to determine if you think this is a reason not to vote for Kerry even though he is not communist. Or just posting a random fact that the communist party of America support Kerry over Bush.

[honeychile]

One of my favorite movies is "Reds".

I was posting it for the informational value, just as I would want to know if the John Birch Society or the KKK endorsed a candidate.

[Munchkin03]

It was in the Opinions section a few days ago. I like hearing various opinions on current events, but not under the guise of "news."

I knew to take it with a grain of salt when I realized it was Op-Ed.

[KSigkid]

I wouldn't say that these people represent the political right - that's a rather large generalization to make, in my opinion.

Eh, the source is questionable, but hell there's been enough questionable sources on both sides in this forum regarding the presidential race.

[cuaphi]

Uh oh! My school has a fountain named after Dalton Trumbo (he was blacklisted during the McCarthy era.) My whole school must be over run by communists. Wait, maybe I'm a communist. AAAAA!

Seriously though, I'm sure there are some questionable organizations that endorse both candidates. That doesn't mean that either of those candidates appreciate or reciprocate the endorsement.

[IowaStatePhiPsi]

also you gotta question the political right on this one:

"John Kerry is RICH!"

"John Kerry is tied to COMMUNISM!"

Wouldnt the ideologies of Communism and Marxism regarding equality and redistribution of wealth take away his money? hmmm.... one must be a lie. And the other? A hypocratic comment.

Side note: Nixon used whisper campaigns in his Congressional races... ("psst...did you know that Jerry Voorhis is a Communist?" "psst...did you know that Helen Douglas is Jewish?")

[moe.ron]

Hey, the association of strip teasers owners support Kerry. That is ok in my book.