Pete Seeger (RIP)

For John, BLUF:  A great talent has moved on.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Over at the Dick Howe Blog Paul Marion has an appreciation of the late Pete Seeger.  There is a slightly longer appreciate over at the Althouse Blog.  Both link to a New York Times story on Mr Seeger.

I think Ms Althouse does a better job of addressing the fact that Mr Seeger was a small "c" and a big "C" Communist.  From the NYT article:

He would later criticize himself for having not left the party sooner, though he continued to describe himself as a “communist with a small ‘c.’ ”

These distinctions are important.  It turns out that Walter Duranty notwithstanding, Party Boss Joseph Stalin was a horrible man and the Rosenbergs were guilty.♠  Mr Seeger had a consistency in those areas that went to the People and not to some party.  As Althouse Commenter "West Virginia Rebel" wrote:

He did apologize, and performed for Solidarity supporters.  I think he, like many in his generation, was disillusioned by Stalin and the Soviet Union.

Mr Seeger was a wonderful talent who explored paths of demonstrating his humanity.  That he made some unfortunate detours does not detract from him as a human being or a talent.  On the other hand, no one benefits from whitewashing what is history.  There has been too much of that.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  And the Venona Papers were real.