http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/Rosenberg/RosenbergTrial.pdf

Although Zinn has written addendums to this books as recently as 2003, he could never bring himself to change his verdict of “innocent” in light of new evidence: like the 1995 release of Venona and the openning of the Soviet archives.

Zinn writes a weepy passage about Morton Sobell being thrown in Alcatraz to illustrate the lack of real justice in America–Yes, America has Show Trial and Gulag system, too, Howard.

“The case against Sobell seemed so weak that Sobell’s lawyers decided there was no need to provide a defense. But the jury found Sobell guilty, and Kaufman sentenced him to thirty years in prison.”

Most students eventually realize their textbooks were incomplete and inaccurate at best, slanted, or “full of lies” at worst…

One can only hope the students forced to read Zinn reach that conclusion sooner rather than later.

Peace_Sells… on September 17, 2008 at 2:20 PM

Sorry for inlining your entire post but I couldn’t trim a single word! Zinn owes the public an apology, the way that his book is being used uncritically in too many high schools (ugh).

By the way, Zinn’s book is not that bad if you take it with a grain of salt and have read many other history books [RD: or thinly disguised social tracts/polemics].

jim m on September 17, 2008 at 3:45 PM

What, like Mein Kampf?

Just kidding; comparing the two would be utterly wrong since one pretends to be a history book while the other one doesn’t.

At least you’re not contradicting the proposition that it’s a travesty for anyone to use the Zinn book in a high school curriculum. Good for you.

Looks like you and I were on the same wavelength. I apologize if that frightens you. :P

I liked this post but I disagree with your characterizationn of McCarthy. You said:

It’s equally true that McCarthy seriously undermined the effort to defend against it by making wild, unsupportable accusations. He turned the legitimate anti-Communist effort into a farcical witch hunt, and in doing so, made this country much less safe.

That seems to imply that McCarthy was wrong. He was not wrong and he was vindicated by Venona. His position was that suspected communists shouldn’t be working for the government (especially in sensitive positions). I think that characterizing McCarthy’s work as you have lends credence to the left’s view that McCarthy was not only wrong but that his efforts were ultimately discredited. That is not correct. Since the Venona cables were not available to him he could not prove the suspicions (this fact was was not his fault). With Soviet spies influencing the highest levels of government I don’t see that McCarthy had many options.

It’s equally true that McCarthy seriously undermined the effort to defend against it by making wild, unsupportable accusations. He turned the legitimate anti-Communist effort into a farcical witch hunt, and in doing so, made this country much less safe.

Selling out to the moderates or something? Joe batted 1000 and that is the fact.

He may have been showy, but he was foocking right, and don’t you or anyone else forget that.

This time make sure it sweeps up Jimmy Carter, Olberdouche, Michael Moore and all the America-hating Hollywood celebutards.

Deport them Canada where they’ll be happier. Or Iran – where they can dialog for peace with Ahmadinejad until the last Imam returns.

I’m for retroactive justice in their case…take Sobell to see Mr. Sparky…and sit Jonathan Pollard in his lap….

Puritan1648 on September 17, 2008 at 5:05 PM

Johnathan Pollard did not commit treason either. Israel has admitted he was employed as their spy. He served more time than any other Soviet spy. Why kill him? Oh that’s right, he’s a Jew!!!!

BTW, for you deep thinkers that are calling me a leftwing whacko etc., let’s get one thing clear: I’m not a hack, shill, or mouthpiece for any ideology, conservative or liberal. I’m an independent. I just happen to believe Ethel’s conviction was based on perjury and violation of the Constitution and to some extent anti-semitism. I have presented my case. I’m not convinced by yours. Though, Blake my have convinced me the death penalty was Constitutional. Either the laws of this country apply equally and consistently, or they don’t apply at all. Keep that in mind when you are on trial for your life.

If Ethel Rosenberg was guily and deserved the death penalty, then so did the Greenglasses. But they didn’t get the death penalty did they. So my point…is that Ethel to this day was falsely charged and convicted as a spy because she was a Jew. Ethel Rosenberg, meet Captain Dreyfuss.

Andy in Agoura Hills

…she was convicted, and the Greenglasses weren’t, because she was ratted out by David Greenglass…her brother. He was still pretty at peace with his actions a few years ago on 60 Minutes, if I recall…looked a smarmy little rodent….

Mind you, the trial was a bit dodgy, but we can always try her again, if it’d make you happy. Then again, there were enough lies and counter-lies then and since between the particulars in that cell — and it American communism as a whole from the ’30′s on — that it’d be hard to tell which smelled worse, the original trial or the defendents amongst themselves.

The whole “because they were Jewish” doesn’t wash. It’s like saying “they were communists because they were Jewish”. If that was the case, taking your premise, why weren’t Greenglass and Sobell seen off to well deserved rewards courtesty of Mr. Edisons electrified Laz-e-boy.

I’m for retroactive justice in their case…take Sobell to see Mr. Sparky…and sit Jonathan Pollard in his lap….

The sole ground stated was that the sentence may be governed by the Atomic Energy Act of August 1, 1946, instead of by the earlier Espionage Act. The crime here involved was commenced June 6, 1944. This was more than two years before the Atomic Energy Act was passed. All overt acts relating to atomic energy on which the Government relies took place as early as January, 1945.

The Constitution, art. I, § 9, prohibits passage of any ex post facto Act. If Congress had tried in 1946 to make transactions of 1944 and 1945 offenses, we would have been obliged to set such an Act aside. To open the door to retroactive criminal statutes would rightly be regarded as a most serious blow to one of the civil liberties protected by our Constitution.

Rosenberg v. United States (1953) 346 U.S. 273, 29-290 By MR. JUSTICE JACKSON, whom MR. CHIEF JUSTICE VINSON, MR. JUSTICE REED, MR. JUSTICE BURTON, MR. JUSTICE CLARK and MR. JUSTICE MINTON join.

End of discussion.

and

Morton Sobell’s “vacation” trip was sudden, indeed…

 
and here’s the TIME magazine article that came out in 1969 when he was released states his wife was on a 24/7 crusade to free and clear him. Sobell’s wife raised a spent over a million dollars on his behalf.
 
What kind of man could put their wife through this knowing it was all a lie? Probably the kind of man who sends out letters of solidarity to other “political prisoners” residing in US prisons.
 
Letter in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal
 
From Morton Sobell, 13 October 1995

 
Living a lie…keeping the lie alive at all costs, all for Stalin the beneficient.
 
The lie was more important to the Rosenbergs than their own children.
 
They chose death before giving up on the utopian delusion contained in John Lennon’s “Imagine”.
 
A sad commentary on the pathology of the left.

Andy in Agoura Hills on September 17, 2008 at 4:06 PM

you wacko leftists never give up do you? Hiss was a traitor, the rosenbergs were too…deal with it.

CC

emailnuevo on September 17, 2008 at 3:45 PM

Read my post from the Stephen Roth Institute. Ethel Rosenberg was not a traitor. SHE WAS CONVICTED FOR ESPIONAGE. That carries a different penalty. But as my post states, she did not commit treason. But they gave her the penalty for treason. Completely unconstitutional.

News flash (to the Left): Rosenbergs were spies
The case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg has for decades served as a
cautionary tale told by the Left about Communist hysteria. Executed as
Soviet spies, the popular mythology paints the pair as……

Is there anything in the Verona book that would prove that Ethel was in fact a spy?
jim m on September 17, 2008 at 3:45 PM

It’s not a book but soviet coded intercepts that took decades to only partially crack. I haven’t looked at it for ten years. I’m sure they are still working on it.