Actually, when I asked my Dad when I was younger about this particular contradiction in the Cold War, we are the land of the free etc, except if you read Marx, then we put you in the chair, and he always told me that stupid snake story, you know, the commie snake says he was cold, so you put in your coat and he bites you and then laughs and says - well, you knew I was snake! Snakes and commies are like spagetti and meatballs. Moral: Never stick Alger Hiss in your coat.