Stalinists cheer Obama

In 1941, the Hitler-Stalin pact caused American left split into two groups. One group thought Nazism so evil that the pact required them to break from Stalin. The other group continued supporting Stalin and, because of the pact, so it as their duty to side with Nazi Germany against the democracies. Singer Pete Seeger, the Hollywood ten, and Alger Hiss were in the latter group. Last night, Pete Seeger was honored at Madison Square Garden and a funny thing happened: everyone cheered for Obama:

On Sunday night Pete Seeger's 90th birthday was celebrated with a concert at Madison Square Garden.....

But here's the amazing thing. In my life, I have never been to a concert (let alone a lefty concert) at which the name of the President of the United States was cheered. At previous concerts I've been to over the decades, the names of Kennedy, Johnson, Carter or Clinton were no more likely to be cheered than those of Reagan or Bush.

I mean, who cheers Presidents at concerts? Traditionally, names of Presidents go unmentioned. Or they are booed.

Springsteen said that he never saw Seeger more happy than at Obama's inauguration, noting that Seeger saw Obama's ascendancy as proof that he, Seeger, had "outlived the bastards."

To complete the circle, Obama is reportedly using Nazi tactics to extract money from US banks for the benefit of Democratic campaign contributors.