Didn't we electocute the Rosenbergs for about the same...

[TreasonousBastard]

thing our ex-President is accused of?

Two years in Sing Sing thinking about your lack of future seems like a punishment in itself.

Makes the electric chair almost anticlimactic.

[Sogo]

1. In the days when America was "great."

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217031359

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Missed that, sorry. But we did think nuclear "anything"...

was important back then.

It seems we have fogetten Hiroshima. Shit, we don't even think much about the bombing of Dresden any more.

[Meadowoak]

3. Hey Donald, I hope they use solar power when they fry your fat ass.

[relayerbob]

5. I'm thinking this sort of solar power

[NameAlreadyTaken]

4. And one of the prosecuting attorneys was, in fact,

none other than ROY COHN, who later worked for Trump early in Trump's career.

[TheBlackAdder]

6. Remember the Walker Family. I bet there are a lot of Putin lovers in the military now.

Last edited Thu Aug 11, 2022, 11:57 PM - Edit history (1)

.

They were providing Russia with daily sub positions, agendas, and radio frequencies and codes from 1967 to 1985.


All while we were watching how badass the navy was in Hunt for Red October, the book was written during these times. Russia said that the naval information provided allowed the one part of the Military Triad to be compromised with Russia saying they had a winnable advantage.

John Anthony Walker Jr. (July 28, 1937 – August 28, 2014) was a United States Navy chief warrant officer and communications specialist convicted of spying for the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1985 and sentenced to life in prison.[2]

In late 1985, Walker made a plea bargain with federal prosecutors, which required him to provide full details of his espionage activities and testify against his co-conspirator, former senior chief petty officer Jerry Whitworth. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to a lesser sentence for Walker's son, former Seaman Michael Walker, who was also involved in the spy ring.[2] During his time as a Soviet spy, Walker helped the Soviets decipher more than one million encrypted naval messages,[3] organizing a spy operation that The New York Times reported in 1987 "is sometimes described as the most damaging Soviet spy ring in history."[4]

After Walker's arrest, Caspar Weinberger, President Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Defense, concluded that the Soviet Union made significant gains in naval warfare attributable to Walker's spying. Weinberger stated that the information Walker gave Moscow allowed the Soviets "access to weapons and sensor data and naval tactics, terrorist threats, and surface, submarine, and airborne training, readiness and tactics."[5] John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy during the Reagan Administration, stated in an interview that Walker's activities enabled the Soviets to know where U.S. submarines were at all times. Lehman said the Walker espionage would have resulted in huge loss of American lives in the event of war.[citation needed]

In the June 2010 issue of Naval History Magazine, John Prados, a senior fellow with the National Security Archive in Washington, D.C., pointed out that after Walker introduced himself to Soviet officials, North Korean forces seized USS Pueblo in order to make better use of Walker's spying. Prados added that North Korea subsequently shared information gleaned from the spy ship with the Soviets, enabling them to build replicas and gain access to the U.S. naval communications system, which continued until the system was completely revamped in the late 1980s.[6] It has emerged in recent years that North Korea acted alone and the incident actually harmed North Korea's relations with most of the Eastern Bloc.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anthony_Walker

.

[Frances]

7. That thought entered my mind too

[kskiska]

8. The legal charge of which the Rosenbergs were convicted was vague:

“Conspiracy to Commit Espionage.” Because the charge was conspiracy, the Rosenbergs’ conviction required no tangible evidence that they had stolen anything or given it to anybody.

Years later, many Atomic scientists agreed with a colleague’s assessment that the Greenglass material was, “too incomplete, ambiguous and even incorrect to be of any service or value to the Russians in shortening the time required to develop their nuclear bombs.”

[TreasonousBastard]

9. I am aware that even during the trial there were doubts, but...

sometimes truth and sense get lost in the politics of the day.

It is hysterical that rightwingers those days interrupted "under the desk" exercises to repeat the red scare while today they promote Russia as our best friend. One day they might get it right.

[Deminpenn]

16. Years ago, watching a documentary about the Rosenbergs

it was said that Ethel Rosenberg was arrested more to put pressure on her husband to talk than for anything she herself knew or did. It was implied an actually innocent woman was executed.

[kskiska]

17. Yes, that appears to be true.

[Xolodno]

14. President Harry Truman once stated;

"I can tell you when the Soviets will get the bomb. NEVER!". And that was the hubris that permeated in the beau acracy, military and politicians.

Then in August 29th, 1949 they detonated their first test. Given it resembled our "Fat Man" design, it was assumed they stole the technology and we had a spy or spies.

What everyone didn't know, the Soviets already had preliminary plans for atomic weapons back in the 1930's. But were facing hurdles with fission, uranium enrichment, etc. So they were in a round about way, ahead of the Germans. But couldn't muster the needed resources and Stalin was a bit skeptical at first. And with Germany invading, they had to focus on a conventional war.

They did have spies in the USA keeping tabs on the Manhattan project. Hence why Stalin was not surprised by Truman inferring to it in Yalta. The main part of their spying was to make sure they were going the "right way" and often the info they got, they already solved.

The way I see it, sure at least one Rosenberg passed off info to the Soviet Union, but was it death penalty worthy? Absolutely not. The Soviet Union was well on its way to getting atomic weapons, but certain elements needed a scape goat to erroneous thinking the Soviet Union was too backward and too far away tech wise to build a nuke. And the myth that the Soviets "stole" ALL the technology continues today.

[usonian]

10. IMO, The Rosenbergs were killed for being Jewish

Sacco and Vanzetti (false murder charge) for being Italian.

Wikipedia:
On August 23, 1977—the 50th anniversary of the executions—Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried and convicted and that "any disgrace should be forever removed from their names".

"Speedy justice". I don't think they returned from the dead.

Can't comment on the Rosenbergs at this time. Swamped with chores. Others should know more.

The system works.
For white qristians. Italians were not considered white.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/12/opinion/columbus-day-italian-american-racism.html
How Italians became White

Not paywalled for me.

To this day, Jews are hated by white qristians.

I recall a recent quote here that they are running the FBI.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. That was a big reason, and a lot of people were happy that the.

traitors we went after just happened to be Jewish ones.

But, ragging on the Soviets was still the big thing

[usonian]

12. LOL! A treasonous bastard otta know about treason.

I'll see your treason and raise you .... lower you!

[Behind the Aegis]

13. Yup.

[no_hypocrisy]

15. Roy Cohn said his only regret was that he didn't get the throw the Switch.