Alcala 1958

norm for judgin g op ini on s ma y be sum­ ma riz ed thu s: It is per fec tlygoo d form to use the mo st irre sponsib le and fal lac iou s lan gu ag e in att ack ing con ser vat ive s and "Fascist s." 13 Bu t it is ent irel y impermissi blefor an yb od y to mis place a period , or eve n a comma ,in ref err ing to Commun ists and thei r sympa­ thi zer s. Th us the mere me ntion of the name of the late Sen . Jose ph R. McCarthy wi ll cau se the tota litar ian "L ibe ral " to see the wit h tota l rag e. But he will shr ug off wit h ind if­ fer ence the wild est act ion saga ins tconser v­ ati ves and "F asc ists." "Humansympat hy"an d a "sense of fa ir pla y" compel him to giv e part y pro pag and ­ ists the ben efit of eve ry doubt, no ma tter how slan derous or how sub ver siv e the ir dec lamatio nsma y sou nd to ord ina ryAme r­ ica ns. But let a per son eve n so mu ch as cen sur e one slig ht segme nt of the Mo scow lin e, and he will be sub jec ted to the shar p­ est scr uti ny, if not ful l-fl edg edvi lifica tio n. Al l of this is in perfectly goo d form, sin ce tota litarian"L ibe ral s" " know" that all gov ­ ernment inve stig ator sare at hea rt be de vil ed witc h-hunt ers. Th e stor y would be incomplete wit hout som e con side rat ionof the reac tion of the tota lita rian"L ibe ral "to the repent antCom­ mu nis t. Her e is whe re we see the "L ibe ra l" at hi s worst . He con dem nsBud enz ,Be ntl ey and Chambers . He de fen dsAlg er Hi ss. He che ers Hi ss— asif Hiss' per sist enc ein trea­ son were an act of vir tue. 14 Th e tota lita rian "Libe ral's"def ens eof Hi ss is the pa nic of a gu ilty con scie ncetry ing to rat ionali zeits bet ray al of our cou ntr y, ho pi ng to re ga in pea ce of soul by de str oy ingvirtue . In som e res pec ts the con dem nat ion of Whitta ker " Fas cist is the stand ard code word in pro- Communist circ les for anyb ody who dis ple ase s the Party . A pene trati ng exp ose of th is dis­ hon est anti-anti-Com munist use of the term appears in Daniel James ' "Th e Libe ralis m of Sui cid e," New Lead er 34:1 4-17 ,Aug . 27, 195 1. 14 Ralp h de Tole dan oand Vict or Lasky , See ds of Tre aso n (Ne w Yor k: Funk & Wa gnal ls,19 50 ). 41 io s - i e thus: f tly s n i le ious age ing vatives s." i ly ble o y l , , n ing ists an - thizers. i . l ia i ral" l . if- ce i s i t v- s ists." a hy" a l and- , s sive ations i ry - . e t te - tiny, l edged tion. l , ria i ral " "know" - t i tors viled ters. e l t t ration ti ri i l" t - i t. i ral" . n , le s. d . i s-as ' si tence - v tue. 14 l rian ral's e i i i nce i i lize al y, i g in c oying . ts nation ker 13 i i l l ases v. ting i - " uni t ' li e, 1 , . . 14 o , f n : , ). g

honor ca n ac crue from de fen din g the "ri gh ts"of Communi stsand from belongin g to fro nt org an iza tio ns. Th e iro ny is that the har dhear tedcomrad esdo no t them selv es pra ctic e thi s na iv e fa ith of the tota lita rian "L ibe ral." What he ne ve r see ms to und ers tan d is that tho se who de fen d Commun ists and the ir con spi rat ori alact ion sand dec eits are not me rel y gu ilt y by associ ati on,but also per son ally gu ilt y. 12 Howe ver , since the Realism It is the co nt inue d op press ion and ensla vem entof the peo ples of the sat elli te sta tes tha t is sowi ng the see ds of a bi g wa r. War is ho rr ib le to conte mp late, but the ho rro rs of war ha ve ne ver pre­ ven ted me n from fighti ng wh ere th eir ve ry lib er tie s are at sta ke— again st sla ve ryan d for huma nfre edom.Re alism comm an ds the Wes t to say fran kly to the Ru ssia ns that th ey are playing with fire , tha t th ey are engaging in act s of ag gressi onwh ich ,if not ab an do ne d,wil l in ev ita bl y lea d to a wo rld wa r. —DA VI D LAWRENCE . tota lita rian"L ibe ra l"ha s onl y the vag uest not ion s abou t per son al mor al resp ons ibili­ ties , we can ha rd ly expe ct him to adm it the ex ist en ce of per son al guilt, unle ss he hap pen sto su ffe rma ter ial dama gebec ause of it. Wh ere Commu nis tsare con cer ned , this ac cid ent is of cou rse imp oss ible ,sin ce the on ly cri me the yca n be gu ilt y of is the ent erta inmentof unp lea san ttho ugh ts. 8. Th e do ub le sta nd ar d for jud gin g op ini on s an d ac cu sa tio ns . Th is equivoca l 12 A situ atio n may ari se in whic h mili tant anti- Communists must remain in a party-l ine organ­ ization (for examp le, a labor uni on) to rescu e it from the clu tch es of the comra des. Such mili tant anti- Commun istswill mak e clea r the purpo se of the ir asso ciat ion with the organiz a­ tion and will not perm it their names to be used as bait for exp loitin g inno cents. ding ts o unists g t izations. earted es e selves cti e i e ri i ral." What he never tand that those d ists heir co torial i s ely i y tion, pe al y ilty. 12 r, lism i ued ion /, ent f f llite t t f r. lwr ible mp/,ate, rs f • t i ng ties - st /, ry n f edom. li ands t kly ssi ns /, i , t f ion i , if rw doned, itably l .-DA ID CE. l rian i ral" h i s t al l ibili- , ly t it ence al guilt, s r t ial ge nists e , e t ible, s l they i y i ent l s t ts. le ard i g o s sations. i i l t i i i i - le, ) uni ts ion - i i i g t . e l