BELLA DODD: https://archive.is/wip/cKpSD
In UA’s report, Re-Remembering the Mis-Remembered Left: The Left’s Strategy and Tactics To Transform America, the testimony of Dr. Bella Dodd to the House Un-American Committee (HUAC) in 1953 is frequently quoted and referenced.
Dr. Dodd was a lawyer, union activist and member of a the US Communist Party from 1932 to 1949, rising through its ranks in the national committee until 1949 when she was expelled during an internal purge of the Party. Interestingly and having parallels to the Left name-calling today on social media, the Party publicly denounced her by labeling her as being, “anti-Negro, anti-Puerto Rican, anti-Semitic, anti-labor, and the defender of a landlord.”
UA is making her complete 1953 testimony available for those who wish to read further into her remarkable testimony:
Testimony of Bella Dodd to HUAC in June 1953 in Columbus and November 1953 in Philadelphia (PDF) https://archive.is/o/cKpSD/https://unconstrainedanalytics.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Bella-Dodd-June-July-1953-HUAC-Testimony-1.pdf
“When we get ready to take the United States, we will not take it under the label of Communism; we will not take it under the label of Socialism. These labels are unpleasant to the American people, and have been smeared too much. We will take the United States under the labels we have made very lovable; we will take it under liberalism, under progressivism, under democracy. But, take it we will.”—Alexander Trachtenberg, member of the CPUSA’s Central Control Committee, at the Communist Parties National Convention, Madison Square Garden, 1944
“In New York State, we used them in the American Labor Party, and in the Progressive Party. There have been places where we sent them into the Democratic Party or the Republican Party to operate as Republicans and Democrats, you know, but to operate as Communists within their organizations.”
“We had men and women who were members of the State Legislature, over 100 men and women who were members of state legislature from Washington to New York. They were not elected on the Communist Party ticket, they were elected on the Republican ticket on the Democratic Ticket, the Farmer Labor Party ticket, Labor Party ticket.”
Now I saw this was only a facade placed there by the movement to create the illusion of the poor man’s party; it was in reality a device to control the “common man” they so raucously championed.” …
One is control over money, and two is control over words/language. They are fast taking over all the nice words, all the nice language of the Christian world, and they are taking them to themselves and giving them new connotation so that when they talk to the world they are saying one thing which is understood by their followers, but to our ears it sounds like the things which we should be saying.”
“The Communist’s theory of getting where it wants is through conflict—creating conflict. They will very often create an organization for the purpose of engendering conflict. If no conflict exists, they will engender the conflict and engender it in a certain position which drags the whole public opinion to the left in the direction of Communism….
Mr. SCHERER. That is “mild,” Doctor, anyone who opposes them is called a Fascist or an America Firster.
Dr. DODD. Or it becomes a McCarranite, or a McCarthyite. Let me assure you that these are just general smear words. They are emotional words. They are words which have no definition, and first you create a sense of fear and hatred and then you apply this word to everyone against you . . .
. . . The Communists do have representation in practically every key area in America . . . How do they promote this resolution? First, they will get someone to make a statement. They get a Communist not known as a Communist. Take a person, let say a person who is outstanding in religious fields or educational fields. He will write . . .