When I first went into federal service, we had to pledge that we were not members of any Communist organization. Times have changed. We now live in a world where sitting U.S. Senators appear at Communist Party events and express their support for Communist ideals. On December 11, 2021, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut spoke at an awards ceremony for the Connecticut branch of the Communist Party USA.
Sen. Blumenthal offered his congratulations to winners of awards from the party and presented them with certificates of special recognition from the United States Senate. “I am really excited and honored to be with you today and share in this remarkable occasion,” Blumenthal said. Blumenthal added that he was there to acknowledge “the great tradition of activism and standing up for individual workers that is represented by the three honorees.”
The Communist Party of the USA was created in 1921 as part of a merger ordered by the Communist International (Comintern), an organization controlled entirely by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. On the occasion of its founding, the Communist Party of the USA announced the “inevitability of and necessity for violent revolution” and that the party would prepare for “armed insurrection as the only means of overthrowing the capitalist state.”
Until the fall of the Soviet Union, the Communist Party of the USA continued to take direct orders from Moscow and to support the foreign policy of the Soviet Union. Members of the party spied for the Soviet Union and the party received significant financial support from Soviet intelligence.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Communist Party of the USA has steered a more independent course but has continued to brand the United States as an evil, imperialistic nation and capitalism as an inherently oppressive economic system.
“All of humanity is faced with multiple, interlocking crises–in the economy, in our shared environment, in extreme weather disasters, in the growing danger of pandemics. These crises expose the rampant income inequality, the disparate impacts of these crises on those facing exploitation and oppression, and, in the U.S. especially, the inhumane lack of health care for all.
These are crises of capitalism, an inhumane, exploitative, oppressive economic system of greed. In the present, we struggle to improve the lives of workers and poor people, in our country and around the globe. Ultimately, to solve the challenges facing humanity, we need to replace capitalism with socialism, a system of cooperation, democracy, and equality.”
Communist Party USA
“As W. E. B. DuBois stated in his application to join the Communist Party USA, ‘Today I have reached my conclusion: Capitalism cannot reform itself; it is doomed to self-destruction. No universal selfishness can bring social good to all. Communism, the effort to give all men (and women) what they need and to ask of each the best they can contribute; this is the only way of human life. I want to help bring that day.’
We hope you will join with us to bring that day!”
“From its inception, the United States was built on racism. From the displacement and near genocide of Native people, to the enslavement of Africans, to the theft of huge sections of Mexico, to the racist exclusion of Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants, to the current xenophobic hysteria against Latinas/Latinos, Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians, racism has been a convenient tool for the maintenance of power and extra profits by the ruling class at the expense of oppressed people and all workers.”
https://cpusa.org/party_info/party-program/Communist Party USA
This radical Marxist organization also seeks to organize on college campuses and convince our young people to help in overthrowing the existing political, social and economic order. Its website includes guidelines and instructions for how to organize student groups on campuses and spread Communist ideology.
“We call on YOU to organize a Young Communist League chapter on your college campus. Contact youngcommunists@cpusa.org for more information and guidance.”
Not surprisingly Blumenthal has taken considerable criticism for having appeared at this Communist event. In classic Washington fashion, he has claimed ignorance saying he thought he was only appearing at a labor event. You can watch for yourself his introduction before his speech and make up your own mind as to how credible it is that he did not know where he was.
“My understanding was that this ceremony was strictly a labor event,’’ Blumenthal said Friday in a telephone interview. “If I had known the details, I wouldn’t have gone. … Let me just say very emphatically, I’m a Democrat and a strong believer in American capitalism. I have been consistently a Democrat and a strong supporter and believer in American capitalism.”
The reality is, of course, that the Democratic Party has steered so far to the left that Communism is no longer regarded as taboo or out of bounds. The party’s leadership regularly attacks the inherent racist nature of American society, the evils of capitalism, and the imperialist nature of American foreign policy. They may still get a little uncomfortable when the focus on their rhetoric becomes too intense, but there is increasingly little room between the positions of groups like the Communist Party USA and the Democratic Party.
Blumenthal wasn’t that far afield when he stood up and praised Communism. In many respects, he was just towing the Party line.
