Sunday, May 3, 2009

Only the wrong survive (Pete Seeger edition)

"Today Pete Seeger turns 90. He is a relic of the Old Left, a specimen who, when the time comes, might be embalmed and put on display in the Smithsonian as representative of the breed. He was a party-line Communist and Soviet apologist.

Seeger's most famous record -- the Almanac Singers' very first album -- Songs for John Doe. Released during the week in June 1941 when Hitler broke the pact with Stalin and invaded the USSR, the antiwar album was filled with hard-hitting songs that called for no intervention in European battles on behalf of British imperialism, and condemned Roosevelt as a warmongering fascist who worked for J.P. Morgan...The reason so few people know of the album's existence is easily explained: In true Communist fashion, Pete and his comrades had to respond immediately to the change in the party line that occurred when Hitler invaded the USSR. That meant a recall of the album just beginning to be introduced. All pressings were destoryed, leaving only a few for posterity." [Power Line]

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