I've been away from the computer for a few days, so forgive me if I say a few things that others have said on this grumpy/Venona thread.
Though it is a difficult position to defend given the ideological trajectory of some of the more notable anti-Stalinist leftists from the 30's on into neo-conservatism, the original impulse to be simultaneously anti-capitalist and anti-Stalinist I think is still valid. My hesitations post-1989 in fully subscribing to the Schactman/Harrington analysis re:the Soviet Question, and ancillary matters pertaining to the stance to be taken vis. a vis. the Democratic party and the AFL-CIO can be briefly answered this way.
Given the absence of the counter-hegemon as represented by the fSU has given the U.S. the power to do to the third world, what Soviet military aid and other support was able to counter. The U.S. killed 2.8 million Vietnamese, for example, I shudder to think what the toll would have been, if the Vietnamese had not had the level of support that was given by the Soviet Union, and to a lesser(???) extent, China. All this verbiage, only to show that my questioning of certain dogmas that have gotten pretty crusty about the Cold War and espionage wasn't meant to let the American Empire off the hook. Like all lefties, I've long been able to recite the long list of U.S. military and CIA interventions and their deleterious effects.
Now on to what the main topic of this thread:espionage. When the Radosh/Milton book on the Rosenbergs was published, I followed the controversy in the pages of The Nation, the New Republic and In These Times, avidly, even remember Nightline did a show on the New York Town Hall debate. I agree with James Weinstein's (of In These Times) comments, that (and I paraphrase) most Communists, back then, would have, if approached, considered it an honorable duty to pass information to the Soviet Union esp. given the sacrifices made by the Soviet people in fighting Nazism and the Comintern's support for national liberation movements. (Although a reading of Harold Isaacs classic, The Tragedy of the Chinese Revolution, modulates one's view of the relations between the CPSU and CCP. If anyone wants to dust off the Isaacs, find the first edition, written when he still a Trotskyist.)
Ken mentions the Sobell event, and his respect for those present. I share that feeling, having met and worked with a few ex-CPUSA folks myself over the years, and always looking forward to the yearly Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade banquets. However, I try to seperate out how I feel about the individuals, almost always warm, vibrant folks, from the movement that they devoted their lives to.( The reason for those prefatory remarks on Stalinism)
Being born post-New Left, I think, makes me less emotionally invested in the battles that animated the splits of the past, although whether it makes me any more objective, well I welcome the help of my fellow lbo'ers, including Ken, in navigating the shoals.
Just a final comment on the Venona transcripts. Of course, they are used in an attempt to paint the left with a broadbrush as traitors, spies, etc. and further quaranteen any radical dissent from the "ways things are" Likewise, other documentary troves being published by Yale Univ. Press and the Courtois and Furet books reviewed by Daniel Singer in the latest edition of The Nation. I second Singer's observations re:the ideological equation of Marx= Gulag and his accounting that if one added up Indonesia, 1965 and, and, and........the corpses of capitalism=millions esp. if one factors in infant mortality, pollution, lack of health care and/or the commodification/HMOization of same, etc. Well, I think y'all get the point, and again, since in one of the lbo talk digests, that piled up in my e-mail box, in my brief respite from staring at the screen, I see many other posts re:grumpism and Venona, again my apologies, if I restated what others have already said.
And still working up that top 10 list btw. Here are a few hints of some my current favs: Neutral Milk Hotel, Gomez, Giant Sand, Wire, the Dream Sydicate, the Velvet Underground, Grin, the Clash, Television, Patti Smith, The Mekons, Mojave 3, Jon Langford of the Mekons solo, Kristen Hersh, The Fall, Spiritualized, the Palace Brothers, Richard Buckner, Uncle Tupelo, the Flaming Lips, the Flaming Groovies, the Gun Club, Built To Spill, Johnny Dowd, Calexico, Mark Lanegan, Bardo Pond, Sixteen Horsepower, Badfinger, Delaney & Bonnie, Catpower, Willard Grant Conspiracy, the Silos. Whew, looks like I just typed more than a hint... oh well. (Oops, forgot Alex Chilton and Big Star and...)My tastes run from alt.country to post-punk, psychedic, and the singer/songwriter crowd, Bob Christgau, I'm not, if anyone wants my version of a rock critic e-mail me off list and I'll be happy to give my imitation of one, if any of these bands are unknown to y'all.
Michael Pugliese