Changes

"'''Comsymp'''" (Communist sympathizer<ref>American Dialect Society (1991). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fifty_Years_Among_the_New_Words/3x-umCIwEYQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=john+birch+society+comsymp&pg=PA27&printsec=frontcover Fifty Years Among the New Words: A Dictionary of Neologisms 1941-1991], p. 34. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 16, 2023.</ref>) is a neologism referring to an individual who either openly extols Communism, individual Communists, or attempts to dismiss and discredit [[anti-Communism]]. During the [[Cold War]], the term became popularized by [[movement conservative]]s such as the [[John Birch Society]] as a polemic against leftists, although the concept long predates the word itself. Ever since the outbreak of Communism in the world, sympathizers of various stripes have conspired to undermine opposition.

"'''Comsymp'''" (Communist sympathizer<ref>American Dialect Society (1991). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fifty_Years_Among_the_New_Words/3x-umCIwEYQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=john+birch+society+comsymp&pg=PA27&printsec=frontcover Fifty Years Among the New Words: A Dictionary of Neologisms 1941-1991], p. 34. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 16, 2023.</ref>) is a [[neologism]] from around the 1940s<ref name=moynihanappendix>March 3, 1997. [https://sgp.fas.org/library/moynihan/appa7.html Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy – Appendix A – 7. The Cold War]. ''Federation of American Scientists''. Retrieved May 16, 2023.</ref> referring to an individual who either openly extols Communism, individual Communists, or attempts to dismiss and discredit [[anti-Communism]]. During the [[Cold War]], the term became popularized by [[movement conservative]]s such as the [[John Birch Society]] as a polemic against leftists, although the concept long predates the word itself. Ever since the outbreak of Communism in the world, sympathizers of various stripes have conspired to undermine opposition.

The [[Nazis]] during the 1920s were a notable Comsymping movement, and [[Adolf Hitler]] himself remarked, "I have learned a great deal from [[Marxism]], as I do not hesitate to admit."<ref>Watson, George (November 22, 1998). [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/hitler-and-the-socialist-dream-1186455.html Hitler and the socialist dream]. ''The Independent''. Retrieved May 16, 2023.</ref>

The [[Nazis]] during the 1920s were a notable Comsymping movement, and [[Adolf Hitler]] himself remarked, "I have learned a great deal from [[Marxism]], as I do not hesitate to admit."<ref>Watson, George (November 22, 1998). [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/hitler-and-the-socialist-dream-1186455.html Hitler and the socialist dream]. ''The Independent''. Retrieved May 16, 2023.</ref>

==History==

==History==

[[File:DanielPatrickMoynihan.jpg|thumb|right|The report of the Moynihan Commission made reference to "comsymps."]]

[[File:DanielPatrickMoynihan.jpg|thumb|right|The report of the Moynihan Commission made reference to "comsymps."]]

Usage of the word "Comsymp" likely gained traction in the earliest phases of the Cold War. According to the bipartisan [[Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy]], chaired by Moderate Democratic U.S. senator [[Daniel P. Moynihan]] of [[New York]]:<ref>March 3, 1997. [https://sgp.fas.org/library/moynihan/appa7.html Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy – Appendix A – 7. The Cold War]. ''Federation of American Scientists''. Retrieved May 16, 2023.</ref>

Usage of the word "Comsymp" likely gained traction in the earliest phases of the Cold War. According to the bipartisan [[Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy]], chaired by Moderate Democratic U.S. senator [[Daniel P. Moynihan]] of [[New York]]:<ref name=moynihanappendix/>

{{cquote|By the late 1940s there was a great agitation in the land about Communists and "comsymps." As early as January 1947 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned of infiltration in a publication ''Communists Within the Government: The Facts and the Program'' (not all the facts within which were wrong). Next came Congressional investigations, notably those associated with Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. Careers were damaged, of this there is no doubt. But compared to the earlier outrages, the society, notably the Government, responded with comparative restraint. Again, there were casualties, but compared to the provocation. . .?|||Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, Appendix A, pt. 7}}

{{cquote|By the late 1940s there was a great agitation in the land about Communists and "comsymps." As early as January 1947 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned of infiltration in a publication ''Communists Within the Government: The Facts and the Program'' (not all the facts within which were wrong). Next came Congressional investigations, notably those associated with Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. Careers were damaged, of this there is no doubt. But compared to the earlier outrages, the society, notably the Government, responded with comparative restraint. Again, there were casualties, but compared to the provocation. . .?|||Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, Appendix A, pt. 7}}