Talk:Gus Hall

Comment by 208.124.62.19

I notice that this article says that the Smith Act was overturned by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional, Wikipedia's own article on the Smith Act says that, while convictions under the act have been thrown out by the Supreme Court, the Smith Act itself still stands. Might be worthwhile to investigate this discrepancy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.124.62.19 (talk) 06:17, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Someone please do some additional research. This article seems POV in the pro-Gus Hall side. --Jiang 19:34, 13 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Please feel free to raise specific questions that concern you. Jose Ramos 19:54, 13 Aug 2003 (UTC)

There seem to a few small facts missing from this article - do the names Earl Browder, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev ring any bells? This is a People's Weekly World editorial at the moment: I will revisit some time and try to NPOV it a bit. Adam 15:03, 5 Nov 2003 (UTC)

I have never heard anything about Hall having any Jewish ancestry. Citations please? Prairie Dog 02:05, 10 Aug 2005 (UTC)

This all seems like anti-communist bias. "soviet-controlled", I call foul. Any person who actually reads about the history of the Soviet Union, the nature of the Soviet Union's international relations, and studies the history of the CPUSA can recognize bias against the CPUSA.

Anti-Christianism?

On several sites I came across with the quote below allegedely from Hall. Can anyone comment on this if it is really his quote? Particularly what was his view on Christianity?

"The Christians are always singing about the blood. Let us give them enough of it! Let us cut their throats and drag them over the altar! And let them drown in their own blood! I dream of the day when the last priest is strangled on the guts of the last preacher." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.223.128.227 (talk) 19:08, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Jewish?

I added that he was a finnish Jew and it was removed. For what reason? JJstroker 11:02, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

• Presumably because he was not jewish. --BluePlatypus 14:53, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Yeah... for yucks, check out JJstroker's comment on my user talk page, in which he assures me that he knows Hall is Jewish, so I shouldn't worry about a source for that claim. If you look at his contribution history, it's pretty much this hodgepodge of anti-semitism and anti-communism, and I think he doesn't want to go to the trouble of hating two different things, so he assumes they're the same. Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters 15:59, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, that seems to be the case. But FWIW, I'll adress that claim: "Halberg" is not a common Jewish name. I've never heard of a jewish person named that, and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find one. "Halberg" is an anglicized spelling variant of "Hallberg", a quite common Swedish name. "Gustav" is also a very common, distinctly Swedish name (although borrowed into French as "Gustave"). A Google search for "Gustav Hallberg" gives 160,000 hits, which gives you an idea of the commonality. "Arvo" is Finnish. So it's clearly a Finland-Swedish name. Then there's the fact that Finland barely even has a Jewish minority at all. According to this (course material from Åbo Akademi), they numbered a mere 700 persons in the late 19th century (out of 2.3 million). --BluePlatypus 17:48, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Just curious, is "Halberg" Hall's family name? It sounds plausible enough, but that's not in the article, is it? Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters 20:11, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it's in the article. That much doesn't seem to be disputed by anyone. --BluePlatypus 14:43, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Duh. I'm afflicted with hysterical blindness, I think :-). Of course it's right there in the article. Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters 18:05, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

• • • I grew up in Yonkers, NY. My best friend was "Gus's" neighbor. I saw him frequently. It's funny he didn't look Jewish. That's good enough for me. He sure didn't "act' jewish. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Azzoy (talk • contribs) 16:07, 20 February 2008 (UTC)
      • You mean he didn't go to synagogue and such? (No, he isn't Jewish, man. Calm down.) - 166.216.128.76 (talk) 06:36, 25 February 2009 (UTC)

• Being his grandson, I can assure you he was not Jewish. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rconway28 (talk • contribs) 02:22, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Timing of military service

Presumably he joined the army after Pearl Harbor (and so after Operation Barbarossa had started), therefore not when the Hitler-Stalin pact was still in force. The wording "when WW2 broke out" is ambiguous. AnonMoos 12:40, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

I dont see how it is ambiguous. Assuming that Hall joined after Pearl Harbor, at the same time that the rest of the United States entered the war, then, from an American point of view, Hall joined "when WW2 broke out". Marcus22 11:16, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Where are the citations for this page?

While most of the information on the Gus Hall article are correct, there is absolutely no citation for any of it, not even from his autobiography which is presumably the source of much of the info. Nor is there info from scholarly sources (neither pro or con). Can we address this? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ldellapiana (talk • contribs) 18:52, 21 April 2007 (UTC).

Driver's licence abuse?

I heard the US legal system was so much abused during the cold was that comrade Hall actually got banned from driving a car for life, because the FBI hoped the high cost of having a permanent chaffeur for every communist party official would bankrupt the CPUSA. I see no mention of this in the article. 82.131.210.162 (talk) 12:50, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

PS: I had not heard this, and, although I do not know about Hall's driving himself (he apparently had volunteer drivers who served double duty as body guard and applause-leader), I do know that other prominent members of the CPUSA had driver's licenses. Sussmanbern (talk) 19:55, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Hall's lifestyle and effect on the CPUSA

Although Gus Hall affected the appearance of being a blue collar kind of guy, his residence and private life was kept a secret even to the Party membership. Shortly after his death, however, it became known that he had an extremely expensive suburban home and a yacht and other creature comforts commonly associated with the ruling class. It was supposed that this lavish lifestyle was partly paid for by the USSR (notwithstanding Hall's pretences that the CPUSA was entirely American) and partly by the funds collected from the CPUSA members. This revelation had a profound effect on the Party membership, many of whom were living threadbare lives in their devotion to Hall's leadership. I wish the WIKI article had covered this matter. Sussmanbern (talk) 19:55, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

A yacht? Really? He was my grandfather and my family owned a small18 ft. fishing boat with an outboard motor for a few years. He owned a house in Yonkers that they bought in the 1950's. A good investment, yes. An extremely expensive suburban home?? He wrote dozens of books and had numerous speaking engagements worldwide every year. Rconway28 (talk) 02:31, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Alice Neels portrait of Hall

Practically the only thing available on google books on Gus Hall seems to be a book, which deals with a Alice Neel painting of Hall. Neel is an interesting painter and respected, I think, even if her aesthetics will be considered dated by the avant-garde.--Radh (talk) 10:30, 8 October 2009 (UTC)