Defending membership in the Communist Party (then or now) is akin to defending membership in a neonazi organization.
The media refuses to concede this. Sees nothing wrong with the ideology and in fact attacks the critics of Communism as “witchhunters” persecuting non-Communists with the false charge of Communism. Except they are Communists in allegiance to a foreign power and the squawking hens knew it and know it and cannot rationally defend it.
Today these same fools defend Islam.
The face of the enemy may change but the Left’s love affair with totalitarianism remains as strong as ever.
So its more than of passing historical interest.