Comsymp

Comsymp (Communist sympathizer) refers to an individual who either openly extol Communism, particular Communists, or attempts to dismiss and discredit anti-Communism. During the Cold War, the term became popularized by movement conservatives 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.

History

According to the bipartisan Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy:

“	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