https://monthlyreview.org/2024/01/01/judge-irving-kaufman-the-liberal-establishment-and-the-rosenberg-case/
I just read MM's article and recommend it for the insights it gives on US liberalism: "Liberal democracy is fine as long as the basis of the system is not threatened. When it is, well, liberals can always fall back on the cliché that the Constitution is not a suicide pact and make sure that the truly “dangerous” people—Communists and other leftists—are dealt with by any means necessary." That is a point that I made for a much different context in https://cryptpad.fr/file/#/2/file/WoRxrTa1qC1iMm5dt3k0uPzx/. MM's article also illustrates the general process of isolating the left by shifting the population to the right, leaving the activists with little popular support, and then persecuting them to eliminate the threat they pose to the system. That was the strategy developed by the trial judge, the prosecutors he met with secretly, the FBI, politicians, and key members of the US Supreme Court that drove the Rosenberg's prosecution. It illustrates that in the conflict between power and principle, power wins whenever the stakes are high enough. In reading about Kaufman and the Supreme Court, I'm reminded of another liberal who seemingly had a change of heart, Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren who led the court in unanimous decisions against Jim Crow, racism, and for the rights of the poor. This is the same Earl Warren who used his power as Attorney General of California to incarcerate the entire Japanese population of California in concentration camps. I don't know if Warren's political trajectory mirrors Kaufman's except that their ambition and opportunism led them to do horrible acts. Years ago, I watched an old interview with Earl Warren at the end of his career. Somewhat late in the interview, Warren was asked about the internment. He teared up and started crying. It seemed genuine, like he truly regretted it. But as MM's article notes, he was an agent of powerful social forces and not a person who made a mistake. There will always be an Earl Warren or an Irving Kaufman when they are needed. Mark -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#30214): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/30214 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/105906693/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
