6.11.2009

Sonia's Princeton Yearbook


So she quotes a Socialist? Hertzberg shows why that's not a bad thing:
Norman Thomas, a Presbyterian minister before he became the Presidential nominee of the Socialist Party in every election from 1928 through 1948, was a champion of many causes that had not yet been won—e.g., social security, unemployment compensation, equal civil rights for African-Americans, access to birth control, and labor’s right to organize—plus a few that still haven’t been won, such as universal health care. He was a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, though he later accused the A.C.L.U. of “dereliction of duty” for its failure to join him (and precious few other prominent Americans) in opposing the internment of Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. He ran against F.D.R. four times, yet he was a welcome visitor to President Roosevelt at the White House and a close friend of and adviser to Mrs. Roosevelt. He was a passionate anti-Communist. As I’ve noted before, he was one of the most clear-eyed opponents of the Vietnam War, famously advising young protesters to wash the flag, not burn it.

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