OK, that’s a little harsh, but it’s not inaccurate. Pete, the subject of innumerable hagiologies in the mainstream media, was a communist’s communist back in 1939, supporting the Nazi-Soviet Pact that led to World War II and fighting aggressively against FDR’s efforts to aid Great Britain and, ultimately, prepare for U.S. entry into the war itself. Pete naturally changed his tune in June 1941, when Hitler turned on his erstwhile buddy Josef and invaded the Soviet Union. At the time, Stalin complained about how unfair it all was, because he had worked so diligently to comply with every jot and tittle of the blood-soaked agreement, and surely Pete did as well.
The Daily Beast’s Michael Moynihan appropriately lowers the boom on Pete here: The Death of ‘Stalin’s Songbird’, pointing out that Pete was right to tell the House Un-American Activities that his political beliefs were none of their goddamn business but that those beliefs were also pretty goddamn awful.
Afterwords
Pete never really did get the commie thing out of his system, supporting North Vietnam (after a visit to Hanoi he had nothing but good words for the city, claiming that the streets were so clean you could eat off them) and the Sandinistas as well, in 1995 praising a book of poems published by Tomas Borge, head of the secret police back in the good old days. Rubber hoses and poetry—they go together so well!
