At the same time, when I thought about it, I agreed with Molly. I believed it was the duty of the government to investigate the Communist movement in our country. I couldn’t behave as if my old “comrades” didn’t exist and didn’t have an active political program. There was no way I could go along with their crap that the CP was nothing but another political party, like the Republicans and the Democrats. I knew very well what it was, a thoroughly organized, worldwide conspiracy. This conviction separated me from many of my old friends.

So I was in the clutch of a dilemma, between two emotions, swaying one way, then the other, and the squeeze was just beginning. I didn’t want to cooperate with this committee. On the other hand, I didn’t want to defend the Party by a silence on critical points of their inquiry.