<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2919.6307" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Nice try, but wrong. The use of anti-sedition laws against fascists during what is called the "Brown-Scare" paved the way for the use of the laws against the left.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>See:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Leo P. Ribuffo, The <I>Old Christian Right: The Protestant Hard Right from the Great Depression to the Cold War</I>, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1983).</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A href="mailto:gbfoto@best.com" title=gbfoto@best.com>Gary Bramstedt</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A href="mailto:lbo-talk@lists.panix.com" title=lbo-talk@lists.panix.com>lbo-talk@lists.panix.com</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, February 22, 2000 10:49 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: CNN on CPUSA</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>Chris Burford wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE="CITE">The follow report from the CNN website does not look wholly unfair or <BR>inaccurate even though it ends in a patronising fashion. <P>The biggest weakness I could see is it does not mention McCarthyism. <P>Is it obviously incorrect on any point? <P>Chris Burford <P><I>London</I><I></I> <P><I>Congress passed the Smith Act in 1940 -- making it unlawful to advocate the</I> <BR><I>violent overthrow of the U.S. government. That statute was used against</I> <BR><I>leaders of the Socialist Workers Party and fascist organizations before</I> <BR><I>World War II -- and against the CPUSA during the postwar years.</I></P></BLOCKQUOTE>glb: <P>Was the Smith Act ever used retroactively? <P>It certainly was not applied to the attempt to "nulify" the FDR presidency in the '30's. Congress investigated but they found that the DuPont family, Morgan Bank, and others of that kind, were some of the main instigators. The DuPonts, with their contol of Remington Arms, were willing to supply the weapons. End of investigation; George Seldes (if I remember correctly my reading of "Plot to Seize the White House" by Jules Archer) salvaged the  hearing's records, which were to be destroyed. <P>If I may opine, I would guess that the Smith Act was not used very often against fascist activities. </P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>