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PARTISAN REVIEW
that road blocks were being put in the way of a second laboratory by
Dr. Oppenheimer. One of Dr. Oppenheimer's final judges, Com–
missioner Murray was also--we keep it in mind-among the persons
who launched the present investigation of Dr. Oppenheimer's loyalty.
While there are witnesses for the defense, such as Mr. Gordon Dean
or General McCormack Jr. or Professor Von Neumann of Princeton,
who disagreed with Dr. Oppenheimer about the H-bomb but who
yet firmly believe in his loyalty, there is not a single witness for the
Commission who favored a second laboratory for H-bomb research
who is also not flatly in the anti-Oppenheimer camp. The inference
to be drawn must be obvious as to where at least this one of his
judges stood in relation to Dr. Oppenheimer even before the hear–
ings were held.
That, with this much
parti-pris
J
there should be any objectivity
at all on the part of the witnesses is, I suppose, a miracle. That, as
I have indicated, the miracle occurs only among the witnesses for the
defense is not surprising in view of their generally superior human
quality. The reader must be warned, of course, against confusing
amenity with disinterestedness. Still, style is its own form of morality
and if the style of the defense witnesses-their taste and intellectual
manners; the informing tone of their testimony-is by so much more
impressive than the style of the Commission's witnesses, this cannot
be dismissed as without bearing on their credibility. On Dr. Oppen–
heimer's side, there is no one guilty of behavior like that, say, of
Dr. Teller who, of all Dr. Oppenheimer's opponents, has most to
gain in public prestige from Dr. Oppenheimer's downfall but who
yet can permit himself to agree with the suggestion of Mr. Robb that
Dr. Oppenheimer could go fishing for the rest of his life without
being missed! There is no one, among the defense witnesses, to bal–
ance out the ugly impression left by the appearance of Mr. Borden
for the purpose of reading into the record the letter he wrote to the
FBI-a copy of which was received by the Atomic Energy Com–
mission shortly before it suspended Dr. Oppenheimer's clearance–
in which, without a shred of evidence to support it, Mr. Borden
announced his opinion that Dr. Oppenheimer was a spy. Mr. Bor–
den's letter includes this extraordinary statement: "While
J.
Robert
Oppenheimer has not made major contributions to the advancement
of science, he holds a respected professional standing among the