In this space in August, I wrote on how communists had seized the chaos in Ferguson, Missouri to advance their agenda. This is nothing new. The American Communist Party has long exploited racial flare-ups for its own revolutionary purposes. America’s tragic racist past has long been a gift to Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and like-minded fellow-travelers. They joyously seize racial incidents as opportunities to put America in the crosshairs. In my article, I pointed to the example of the Scottsboro Boys in the 1930s, which CPUSA converted into a campaign to smear America and recruit black Americans -- including a Chicago activist named Frank Marshall Davis, future mentor to Barack Obama.

But while Ferguson has disappeared from the national front pages, it hasn’t disappeared from communists’ priorities. They are doing their best to keep it front and center. As I write, the lead piece at People’s World, the flagship publication of CPUSA and the successor to the Soviet-funded and directed Daily Worker, is a promotion to rile up the American left for a Ferguson rally this weekend.

The piece begins with a heart-tugging quote from a woman in Ferguson: “We are praying and waiting, crying and waiting, talking and waiting... Why do we have to go through all that? This is simply about what's right and what’s wrong.”

What’s wrong is to see communists once again cynically exploiting prayer. These folks have always despised religion. And yet, they’ve also always exploited the religious. Marxists who have long denounced religion as the opiate of the masses long co-opted and duped the religious when they can be tapped for communists’ purposes. Sadly, the Religious Left is always game for the exploitation. I’m often reminded of an assessment from the late Herb Romerstein, who, when I asked him if there was a single group duped by communists more frequently than any other, he unhesitatingly responded: “The Religious Left. They were the greatest suckers of them all.”

And so, the call is out from the pages of CPUSA’s flagship publication:

“A national call has been made to support the grassroots struggle for justice for Michael Brown and all young lives that have been unjustifiably cut short by law enforcement officers throughout the United States,” states the lead at People’s World. “Reminiscent of the southern civil rights movement of the 1960s, there is a fierce determination that justice must prevail.”

From there, the piece goes into the usual pattern of agitation; this time, race-based agitation. It pits the “African American man” and “African American people” and “African American community” and “its allies” against “white police officer Darren Wilson” and the “white political power structure” and the rest of the repressive establishment. According to People’s World, “the tremendous will and efforts of the African American people will only be actualized if thousands of Americans of good will and understanding join hands to help usher in a new day in this small Midwestern town.” Dreaming of another Scottsboro, the article hopes, “This movement is the ‘eye of the storm’ of the civil rights movement of today.”

And if it isn’t, People’s World will do its part to help make it just that.

The article lays out the agenda of the October 10-13 four-day weekend. It includes (not surprisingly) Sunday “church services.” The churches will again roll out the red carpet as the comrades momentarily get religion, before dutifully trashing it again.

“Everyone is needed!” the People’s World correspondent exhorts. “If you absolutely cannot come to Ferguson, there are other ways to help. First and foremost, help spread the word about what is going on! Post it on your social media. Text: handsup to 90975 to get an accurate account of current developments. Financial contributions are desperately needed to help feed and house as many participants as possible.”

People’s World concludes: “Remember, Ferguson is a small town with limited resources. If you live near Ferguson, housing and carpooling would be graciously received. For more information go to: fergusonoctober.com or handsupunited.org.”

And you thought the Ferguson fracas had cooled? Well, it had, which is precisely why the Marxist faithful are resurrecting this ugly corpse. The left is superb at not forgetting such things and (quite the contrary) keeping them very much alive. Leftists have an activist bent. It’s part of their make-up. Activism comes naturally. They get up daily, read their New York Times (“give us this day our New York Times…”), and plan which political issue to advance. Politics is like a religion to them. It animates their existence. It sustains them. Protests and propaganda are almost sacramental. If something like Ferguson happens to vanish from the media chatter, leftists do their best to keep the flame alive. If this requires pouring a can of gasoline upon the embers, they cheerfully assume the role of political arsonists.

In this, of course, they are totally unlike conservatives. Even conservative news sources have a funny habit of forgetting or letting go of things in ways that the vigilant left never does. The left doesn’t wait for the remainder of the dominant liberal media to dictate its plan of action. If the cameras have left the scene, the left will find a way to bring them back.

And this is especially true for the communist left -- which brings me back to Ferguson, Missouri. America’s communist have a ripe issue for exploitation in Ferguson, and they’re not going to let it die. Expect to hear Ferguson in the news again very soon.

Dr. Paul Kengor is professor of political science at Grove City College. His latest book is 11 Principles of a Reagan Conservative. His other books include The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis, The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor and Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.