Talk:Earl Browder: Difference between revisions

Biography: Politics and Government Unassessed

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Does anyone know where an audio recording of the debate mentioned in this article is avaible?

The text reads "led the CPUSA's tactic of expressing cautious support for the New Deal" in a context after 1940. This is a little bit late in time, seeing New Deal programs generally stem from the period before the 1937 recession. By 1940 many programs were not that popular anymore and international events overtook the public dialogue. perhaps that phrase should be moved up in time. Nobs01 19:59, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I added links to some of the articles referenced in the text, like the Duclous (sic) letter and the Shachtman debate. I compacted the Venona stuff into one paragraph chonologically placed within his tenure as general secretary. The article now ends with his death in 1973. I also added archival information and the audio link to the speech excerpt because it is interesting. I deleted the reference to 'entering the Democratic Party as a left-wing faction'. Its clear that the CPA was supporting Roosevelt, but not in any formal way from 'within the party'. American parties have very lax membership rules and they don't recognize factions. Anyone can speak and work as thought they are in the Democratic or Republician Parties (Lyndon LaRouche and David Duke, for example). I moderated, but did not eliminate, the sentence on McCarthites being proved right in interest of NPOV. DJ Silverfish 21:37, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Nobs/Nobs01 appears to be burying a "soviet illegal apparatus" narrative into the body of the Browder text. The level of detail contained in this paragraph introduces allegations regarding individuals who appear out of the blue and would be better handled somewhere else.

In November 1943 Browder turned control of the Perlo group of Soviet spies over to Jacob Golos two months before his death and it subsequently was taken over by his girl friend, Elizabeth Bentley. Venona decrypt #588 April 29 1944 sent by Ishkak Akhmerov, head of Soviet illegal apparatus, from New York to Moscow stated that “for more than a year Zubilin (station chief of "Resident") and I tried to get in touch with Victor Perlo and Charles Flato. For some reason Browder did not come to the meeting and just decided to put Bentley in touch with the whole group. All occupy responsible positions in Washington, D.C.”

The sentence in quotes seems to contradict the first half. As a whole the sentences seem very disconnected. I suspect that if you were to cram in the detail necessary to explain who all these people were, it would be a reproduction of the Victor Perlo article, not a Browder biography.

During this period he became one of the KGB's most important spies in America, successfully recruiting dozens of operatives from amongst his associates.

Who "he"? Browder, Akhmerov, Zublin ("Resident"), Golos, "his girlfriend, Elizabeth Bentley", Perelo, or Flato?

Release of Cold War KGB files by the federal Russian government in the 1990s led to revelations that Browder actually was heavily involved as a go-between the KGB and the Communist Party USA, and that espionage accusations made against him by the McCarthyites were in part true.

You could leave this last sentence, inserting a link to Victor Perlo and have a much clearer article. DJ Silverfish 18:36, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

All valid criticism and it may perhaps be reduced in size for clarity.

During this period Browder successfully recruited dozens of operatives from amongst his associates for Soviet intelligence. In November 1943 Browder turned control of the Perlo group over to Jacob Golos and it subsequently was taken over by Elizabeth Bentley after Golos death. Venona decrypt #588 April 29 1944 from the KGB New York office states “for more than a year Zubilin (station chief) and I tried to get in touch with Victor Perlo and Charles Flato. For some reason Browder did not come to the meeting and just decided to put Bentley in touch with the whole group. All occupy responsible positions in Washington, D.C.”

may achieve the economy of space we are looking for. Point is, the direct Venona quote may be necessary to show his level of involvement in espionage activities; it was not one of mere passivity. Nobs01 18:57, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The revised paragraph is greatly improved. Thanks. DJ Silverfish 20:06, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

DJSilverfish: I would like to talk with you about the possibility of expanding the Earl Browder bio. I know it was presumptuos on my part to insert the covert evidence under "CPUSA Leadership", but I was trying to keep a timeline with the evidence. I didn't mean to interupt your hard work. It does seem out of place. There are many things I'd like to discuss, but here's a preliminary outline. Browder it appears, has three faces, (1) the public face as head of the CPUSA (2) a covert face running the secret apparatus (3) an international face in relation to the Comintern & Soviet Union. In writng the History of Soviet espionage in the United States it seems the 1920s & 1930's apparatus consists largely or Earl Browder, J. Peters & Jacob Golos. They are all at the center of it, and Browder particularly. Later it appears, some of the accused spies in the administration claim they thought they were stealing information for use by Earl Browder, not for transmission to the Soviet Union; whether this is true or not I'd like to establish, or at least to whom it might be applied (it may just be a convenient defense). Also, the Venona insertion could be used to back Browders claim of Communism with an American face, but there are more damning transcripts that come later. There is another interesting story here, the fact that the FBI in 1940 when investigating World Tourist was starring the espionage ring in the face & didn't know it (somewhat reminiscent of FBI failures prior 9/11) that has not been written about. But the big question right now is the murder of Juliet Poyntz in 1938 cause Jacob Golos & Joseph Katz almost certainly were involved. When the researcher encounters a situation of murder, one must proceed with caution before branding a person complicite; as well as take into consideration the sensitivities of surving victims family and descendents of the one is making such allegations about. If Browder had any foreknowledge of Poyntz murder, then his entire character & bio must be re-reviewed. (One can't claim the CPUSA was fighting Hitler in 1938 by killing Poyntz, etc). I propose perhaps moving the espionage info out the Leadership section and creating another ==Secret apparatus== (tentative title) covering the period 1921-1943, which is what I'm working on right now. That doesnt cover all the possibilities, but I hope we can work together on it. Thanks. Nobs01 19:47, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

OK, I give up. I've tried to expand the Browder bio to include the now thoroughly documented-evidence (not just from former KGB officer memoirs, not just from former Soviet agents, and not just from former colleagues, but also transcripts of official Soviet KGB files and VENONA decrypts) that Browder, his niece, and his younger sister faithfully served Soviet intelligence as a transmitter of information and as a recruiter of intelligence agents/sources. I've been supplying references for constant rewrites of my contributions, now up to one or two references every couple of sentences, so that this small bio now takes up lots and lots of pagewidth, and now reads like a Byzantine novel. But I'm done. If the spy chapter takes a dive in future b/c someone still thinks this stuff is in dispute, just go read the VENONA decrypts and the books by Vassiliev, Haynes, or other historians (together with the declassified Soviet memoranda) - it's all in there. -TIM 25 SEP 2006