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Dennis Prager is a Jew who has spoken out against anti-Semitism. In your alternate reality, how does that make him anti-Semitic?

Maybe both you two and the fine article are missing something.

Where’s the Wisdom?
Much talent, little wisdom

You don't seem to have any real familiarity with the medium. Allow me to get you started:

The Dennis Prager show (Check out Prager University)
The Hugh Hewitt show
The Eric Metaxas show
The Larry Elder show
The Michael Medved show
The John Batchelor show

Now? The right wing have always accused the ACLU of having a liberal bias.

And you think that is "odd"?

The ACLU’s Communist, Atheist Roots
The ACLU’s untold Stalinist heritage

They aren't quite as bad as they started, but they still are trying to drive American society towards its vision, which is very different than that of the Founders.

Then again, I'm not sure there is anything they haven't accused of having a liberal bias.

I'm curious, have you even investigated to see if there might be anything to it?

Survey: 7 percent of reporters identify as Republican
Republicans’ media bias claims boosted by scarcity of right-leaning journalists

Survey shocker: Liberal profs admit they’d discriminate against conservatives in hiring, advancement
Moving Further to the Left

Lawyers are more liberal than general population, study finds; what about judges?

Do you think we need to cover unions? Civil servants?

And if you have the curiosity, you might find a surprise or two, or three.

Some places to find new perspectives:
National Review
Weekly Standard
Commentary
Reason
Instapundit
Dennis Prager / Prager U
Hugh Hewitt

Hamas isn't saying that. They are still committed to the destruction of Israel, and they control Gaza. Fatah is willing to say that in English when speaking to the West or where the West can hear, but when speaking in Arabic to their own they aren't so peaceful either.

Israel may pay for tolerance it shows to killers
The Palestinians Want Peace — Just Not With a Jewish State

They spent the next year using their network of reporters (many of whom did speak Arabic and Farsi) interviewing people around the world trying to figure out why they hated us. .... One of the themes that kept coming up again was Israel. ... The way to protect our country is to do real intelligence, find out what the rest of the world is thinking, and go after the basic causes.

Al Qaida has long been attacking the Saudi government with the goal of replacing it with a religious government that will rule according to their principles. The Saudi government is not a supporter of Israel. Al Qaida has important roots in Egypt where one of its pre-al Qaida components was attacking the government to try to replace it with a religious government that would rule according to their strict version of Islam, and al Qaida itself continues that work today. Egypt did sign a peace treaty with Israel, but I don't think you can call them a big supporter of Israel. Al Qaida is active in Yemen where it is trying to overthrow the government to replace it with a religious government that will rule according to their principles. Yemen is not a supporter of Israel. Al Qaida sent many people to Iraq, and recruited man locals to fight the government and try to establish a religious government that would rule according to their principles. Iraq is not a big supporter of Israel. By now you should be discerning a pattern.

Al Qaida's primary goal has little to do with Israel. Al Qaida actually came to the anti-Israel cause very late, and it is a peripheral goal to them. Their main objective is to replace the governments in Muslim countries with religious governments that rule according to their principles - strict Sharia law with their interpretation, restore the Islamic Caliphate government that was dissolved in 1924 with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, continue with the long interrupted Muslim conquest of the world until all countries are ruled by Islamic governments that they approve of, and the world's peoples turn to Islam.

When Bin Laden wrote his letter to America he made a series of demands. The first one: convert to Islam. He followed that with demands to replace the Constitution with Sharia law, and begin behaving according to Islamic law (no alcohol, no drugs, no pornography, no blasphemy, etc., etc., etc.). This is consistent with al Qaida's long range goal. Once again, Israel has nothing to do with that.

The correct information regarding al Qaida's goals has been available for more than 11 years, and it has been 17 years since Bin Laden issued his original fatwa, his declaration of war, at the start of the conflict. Despite this you advocate intensive research to figure out what is already known, and then derive the wrong answer, blaming it on Israel. The only way I can see that happening is that the correct answer does not agree with your stated liberal politics. That is a European problem as well.

I'm afraid you are going to have more disappointments in the future since various Muslim and Palestinian groups are ready for peace, just not with Israel, the Jewish state - ever. They fundamentally reject Israel's right to exist at all. They do not accept the state of Israel in any form, nor do they accept Israel's stewardship of Jerusalem, the only possible site for the Jewish temple, and the current site of the third holiest site in Islam. Conflict in some form is practically guaranteed to endure.

The fact that the Palestinians and Israel have unsettled differences is no excuse to accept aggression by al Qaida.

As Bruce Schneier says, you don't find a needle in a haystack by piling on more hay.

With all due respect, Bruce is not an oracle, he is serving in this case a

No, but the overarching point is that if you let the opinions and views of the artist cloud your interpretation of the work, you will never enjoy anything because ultimately *everybody* out there has some belief you disagree with. .... Some of the best advice I was ever given was "trust the art, not the artist." Artists are stupid people like everyone else and will always break your heart if you expect them to be as awesome as you want them to be. Leave them out of it and you'll have a much easier time enjoying art for what it is.

Much talent, little wisdom

Feel free. Then take a look at his posts. He has made multiple posts with his unsubstantiated claim against me and another person simply because we have opinions he disagrees with. He keeps direction people to his web site.

He, and other people, would do just about anything to keep people from seeing the true face of Soviet communism since they realize that many of the inflated claims would shrivel in the face of it. Its like thinking that your parents are the most oppressive people in the world for not letting you go out on a school night while you were a teenager, and then coming to the realization that they in fact greatly loved and cared for you, too late, once you are in a third world hell hole of a prison. That understates the difference, but it makes is approachable for the average person.

So, if you are truly interested in reviewing evidence, have at it:

The Soviet Story (2008)
A Portrait of Stalin: Secret Police

Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

The Black Book of Communism
The Black Book of Communism - (book review) by Daniel J. Mahoney

Only to those unfamiliar with Soviet history.

The Soviet Story (2008)
A Portrait of Stalin: Secret Police

Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

The Black Book of Communism
The Black Book of Communism - (book review) by Daniel J. Mahoney

It is a sign of very great confusion indeed to equate the actions of Western police and intelligence agencies acting to prevent terrorists attacks on their peoples with the raw power of Soviet communism used to enslave the people and destroy entire classes of people.

Yes, the Soviet Union was worse than Czarist Russia. Some of the old revolutionaries that had been imprisoned under the Czar, and who inevitably ran afoul of the Bolsheviks said that the Czar's secret police beat them with wooden sticks, but the Bolsheviks, the communists, beat them with bars of Iron. Stalin was a criminal for all time, but Lenin was blood thirsty as well.

This is eye opening.
The Soviet Story (2008)

Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

The Black Book of Communism
The Black Book of Communism - (book review) by Daniel J. Mahoney

The very nature of the communist system predisposes it toward bloody totalitarianism.

My apologies, I should have looked at your first link and I didn't. So now I will address it: you need better sources of information.

Pakistani General: Actually, The Drones Are Awesome

“Myths and rumours about US predator strikes and the casualty figures are many,” Mehmood said, according to Dawn, “but it’s a reality that many of those being killed in these strikes are hardcore elements, a sizeable number of them foreigners.”

He even brought stats. According to the general, “about 164 drone strikes have occurred since 2007 — the New America Foundation tallies 226 since 2004 — have killed “over 964 terrorists.” Of those, 793 were Pakistanis and 171 were foreigners, “including Arabs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens, Filipinos and Moroccans.” (Filipinos? Huh.) Only “a few civilians” have been killed, he said.

Since this conflict is likely to continue for at least another 10, maybe as many as 40 years, eventually the US will have to face jihadis that have taken up arms against the West (including the US) that weren't born before 9/11/2001. If it hasn't happened yet, it probably will within another 4-5 years. It makes no difference, the qualifier is taking up arms against the US and the West, not birthdate. If we were to stop defending ourselves doesn't mean they would stop attacking. Al Qaida's goal is to restore the Islamic Caliphate that was dissolved in 1923 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, replace the national government in Muslim countries with strict Islamist governments, conquer the world for Islam to rule, convert the people to Islam, and governments to Sharia law. The fact that it might seem to be nonsense to us doesn't mean that isn't an important goal to them. Keep your eyes on Europe - there is a good chance that in 30 years time it will be facing civil war.

Personally I would like to see the size and scope of the federal government reduced. However national defense is the responsibility of the national government.

I like you sig, but your ideas and understanding of the issue could use some work. I understand you mean well.

The Left Hates Conservatives

I'll just leave this here for you all to ponder- One of the wisest men on the planet. Dennis Prager. Please read with an open mind. :) http://www.dennisprager.com/transcripts.aspx?id=1167

I'm saddened to read of your plight. Although the US does have its share of problems, it is still a great country with much to offer, even if we may soon be passing the easy road for addressing some of its issues. Something like 80,000,000 people visit the US each year, and many immigrate to the US. Some people are desperate to reach the United States, willing to risk death. And it is very likely you are too far away from Europe to see its many problems, at least some of which are going to get worse in the years ahead due to massive demographic changes and financial problems. One recent example.

Although it is possible that you have some sort of medical condition that results in your unhappiness, it is very likely that your values play a part. I'm going to go out on a limb - a small one - and guess that you are left of center, maybe by a long ways. There are aspects of values of the left that add to personal unhappiness. After all, it is hard to be happy about a country if you misunderstand it and its values, believing it to be toxically racist, and militaristic, and having many other distorted, exaggerated, or imagined faults. That means seeing more clearly, not putting on rose colored glasses. Just one example: If the military industrial complex is so powerful, why has its slice of the fiscal piet fallen so much over the years?

Perhaps you would consider widening your exploration of the world of ideas. One of the odd things of life in America is that more people than you might suppose have many conservative values, but significant parts of the culture tell you that good people are on the left, so people misidentify themselves.

You might try listening to this gentleman's radio program (The Dennis Prager Show), and maybe read some of his writing.

Why Conservatives Are Happier Than Liberals

He tends to be thoughtful and explores ideas and values. He also has a weekly hour of his program devoted to happiness, called "The Happiness Hour." Catchy name. ;) It's the mid hour of his program on Fridays last I recall. He also wrote a book: Happiness Is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual

Dr. William Bennet is another thoughtful commentator.

Beyond that, do you have unmet spiritual needs? Have you explored Christianity? This is a great program: Insight for Living Having faith in God doesn't necessarily mean that our circumstances are better, but we better able to live with our circumstances due to faith in God, and the changes He brings about in us. Pray to God to ask for faith and guidance. If that doesn't seem scientific, remember that science lives with many ambiguities, and uncertain data. And note that some of the greatest minds and people in history have been Christians. And just because you lean to play baseball doesn't mean you forget how to play football.

It can also be helpful to give of yourself to other people - volunteer at a hospital, or food bank, or maybe something else. There are many people in this world that can use a helping hand. (But realize that not all of them are grateful.)

I'm not trying to be glib or dismissive of any challenges you may face. I'm just sharing a few things that have enriched my life over the years. And don't be discouraged if you don't feel different right away. Sometimes you must travel a ways down the road. There are still many things I continue to discover about

I'm saddened to read of your plight. Although the US does have its share of problems, it is still a great country with much to offer, even if we may soon be passing the easy road for addressing some of its issues. Something like 80,000,000 people visit the US each year, and many immigrate to the US. Some people are desperate to reach the United States, willing to risk death. And it is very likely you are too far away from Europe to see its many problems, at least some of which are going to get worse in the years ahead due to massive demographic changes and financial problems. One recent example.

Although it is possible that you have some sort of medical condition that results in your unhappiness, it is very likely that your values play a part. I'm going to go out on a limb - a small one - and guess that you are left of center, maybe by a long ways. There are aspects of values of the left that add to personal unhappiness. After all, it is hard to be happy about a country if you misunderstand it and its values, believing it to be toxically racist, and militaristic, and having many other distorted, exaggerated, or imagined faults. That means seeing more clearly, not putting on rose colored glasses. Just one example: If the military industrial complex is so powerful, why has its slice of the fiscal piet fallen so much over the years?

Perhaps you would consider widening your exploration of the world of ideas. One of the odd things of life in America is that more people than you might suppose have many conservative values, but significant parts of the culture tell you that good people are on the left, so people misidentify themselves.

You might try listening to this gentleman's radio program (The Dennis Prager Show), and maybe read some of his writing.

Why Conservatives Are Happier Than Liberals

He tends to be thoughtful and explores ideas and values. He also has a weekly hour of his program devoted to happiness, called "The Happiness Hour." Catchy name. ;) It's the mid hour of his program on Fridays last I recall. He also wrote a book: Happiness Is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual

Dr. William Bennet is another thoughtful commentator.

Beyond that, do you have unmet spiritual needs? Have you explored Christianity? This is a great program: Insight for Living Having faith in God doesn't necessarily mean that our circumstances are better, but we better able to live with our circumstances due to faith in God, and the changes He brings about in us. Pray to God to ask for faith and guidance. If that doesn't seem scientific, remember that science lives with many ambiguities, and uncertain data. And note that some of the greatest minds and people in history have been Christians. And just because you lean to play baseball doesn't mean you forget how to play football.

It can also be helpful to give of yourself to other people - volunteer at a hospital, or food bank, or maybe something else. There are many people in this world that can use a helping hand. (But realize that not all of them are grateful.)

I'm not trying to be glib or dismissive of any challenges you may face. I'm just sharing a few things that have enriched my life over the years. And don't be discouraged if you don't feel different right away. Sometimes you must travel a ways down the road. There are still many things I continue to discover about

I suspect that the USSR was never so different from the way we were then as the propagandists would have us believe. Rigged elections? Media that didn't inform the public what was going on? Warfare and bullying as a way of achieving the top dog's "national" goals?

The Russians, to their great credit, have made the old Soviet archives available to varying degrees over time. (Sometime more open, sometimes less open.) Although it was known before, the record has become ever clearer. Stalin, who lived into the 1950s, was a monster of epic proportions. After Stalin died, the Soviet state continued to be a police state, even if it relaxed somewhat at first, and more gradually over time. But it was, from start to finish, a totalitarian regime. It simply transformed from extremely oppressive and genocidal to not genocidal but still highly oppressive.

If you want to prove that there was no difference between the Soviet Union and the United States you will need to find tens of millions of bodies of ordinary Americans in mass graves in the United States of people killed by bullet or starvation and overwork in prison camps run by an American secret police that you will have to identify. Many people are misinformed on this matter. The media seldom carries stories on the Soviet Union any more. Although the lack of media reporting contributes to people being uninformed today, some of it is due to parts of the media establishment itself that tolerated reporters that were toadies to dictators, such as (the should be infamous) Walter Duranty: New York Times Concealed Ukrainian Genocide

It's understandable that the media seldom covers the Soviet Union any more since it is history, not news, and the Soviet Union has been gone for 22 years now. Although the lack of coverage about the behavior of the former Soviet Union might explain why people are uninformed, it doesn't explain why communism still holds an attraction for so man people. For that you have to understand that the human mind processes some things better than others, and some things badly. Communism is effectively a mind trap - the theory sounds so beautiful to many people that it must be true, but in practice it has always led to oppression, often bloody at that. And please spare me the "no true communist state has ever existed" routine. Dozens of nations have tried. It can't be done, but people will keep trying because the ideas won't die despite a century of bloody failure and misery in so many countries. There are still communists in America today. Communist parties and associated movements used to take their guidance from Moscow. Many leftists supported them, but never realized their fate should the communists come to power. ( Leftists Will be Shot in the U.S. When Marxists come to power- KGB Agent Yuri Bezmenov ) Communism can't succeed because it is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of human nature and self-labeled scientific theories that are nonsense.

Here some resources if you want to know more (focusing mainly on the Soviet Union):

The Soviet Story (2008) Section in Soviet Story on the Soviet inflicted Ukrainian holocaust (only about 5 minutes in)
A Portrait of Stalin: Secret Police

Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

There is certainly considerable merit in what you write. But allow me to present a different perspective for the sake of the argument. Consider the Fermi paradox and our observations of the universe so far. Although it is known that the universe is a very big place indeed, and it is thought that there must be many potentially habitable planets, in our very early and limited efforts we have yet to detect one apart from earth. It may be that they are rare, which would make life rare. If that turns out to be the case, any sort of signal created by a living intelligent being would be highly valuable in enabling other civilizations to locate the planet with life and a habitable environment, that is: earth. The fact that the civilization receiving the signal is intelligent says nothing about their values. Consider the diversity of civilizations on earth over the last 100 years. They have ranged from free and peace loving to extremely oppressive regimes that desired to commit genocide on their own population to extremely oppressive regimes that desired to commit genocide on other populations, and all manner of other combinations. The Soviet Union put the first human into space less than ten years after Stalin died and the horror was still fresh in the mind of Soviet citizens. There are still cultures today that practiced cannibalism within living memory. There are still some stone age cultures on earth at the same time as the US contemplates going to Mars, and has space probes at the edge of the solar system. There is no way of predicting what the value system of that alien civilization will be. The ones that could end up contacting the Earth may be the predator species that lured the highly advanced, peaceful, defenseless race to their planet and made them the slaves of the predators. The possession of neither an advanced technology level nor an advanced culture says anything about whether their culture will turn out to be one we find to be morally good and peaceful, and their society beneficial to contact. Still, it is exciting to consider, isn't it? Maybe they would turn out to be the equivalent of the mythical Star Trek era Vulcans coming in peace, as opposed to the earlier war-like Vulcan cultures. Let us hope that if we ever do make contact, it is in peace and friendship, and to our mutual benefit.

As noted by this conservative author:

... so many people have asked how Germany, which produced Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, could also produce gas chambers -- as if producing great composers should in some way raise the moral level of that society. -- Much talent, little wisdom - Dennis Prager

Just a few more additions -

When Good People Do Bad Things

Political Culture with Thomas Sowell: Free Markets and Marxism
Dr. Sowell was a Marxist for a decade.

Leftists Will be Shot in the U.S. When Marxists come to power

How A Failed Commune Gave Us What Is Now Thanksgiving

RESULTS OF COMMUNISM / SOCIALISM

Reflections on Communism Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Divergence between Theory and Practice

Richard Pipes of Harvard University has argued that in addition to these proximate causes, the fundamental cause of the collapse “was the utopian nature of its [the regime’s] objectives.” That is to say, the Soviet system from its earliest days pursued goals that were both unrealizable and unpopular, including the attempted creation of “the new socialist man.”11 Those utopian efforts demanded a waste of resources, vast amounts of coercion and fraudulent political propaganda. Martin Malia of the University of California at Berkeley made a similar point: “Of all the reasons for the collapse of communism, the most basic is that it was an intrinsically nonviable, indeed impossible project from the beginning. However important in its genesis were the heritage of Russian backwardness and authoritarianism, or the personal ruthlessness of Lenin and Stalin, it is Marxism that was the decisive factor . . . making communism the historically unique phenomenon it was. And the perverse genius of Marxism is to present an unattainable utopia as an infallibly scientific enterprise.”

These Western assessments of the nature of communism—utopian or otherwise—have great bearing on the disputes and explanations regarding the collapse of the Soviet Union. Thus, one set of the responses to the collapse was shaped by the belief that it occurred because, as Malia and Pipes argued, the system sought to achieve utopian goals inspired by Marxism. In other words, the collapse occurred because theory and practice converged (i.e., Marxist theory compelled communist systems to pursue unattainable utopian goals). The theoretical foundation or blueprint itself was flawed, not viable, as Malia put it. Milovan Djilas, the Yugoslav communist politician who later became a critic of communist totalitarianism, also believed that “the [communist] idea itself contained the seeds of its own inglorious, future collapse. . . . Such visions may encourage us to sacrifice . . . but they are also opiates to the soul. . . . The idea dried up in proportion as the reality legitimized by it grew stronger.”13 . . . .

. . . The reasons leading to the collapse included both sets of factors: some of the ideals or theoretical propositions of Marxism were clearly adopted and zealously pursued but they had adverse, unintended consequences. For example the collectivization of agriculture retarded food production, and state controlled industrialization created a huge, inefficient bureaucracy, diminished incentives of the workers, and contributed greatly to the concentration of political power. Marx and Lenin (initially) believed that communist ideals would command broad popular support and therefore little violence or coercion will be required to implement them. They also believed that all forms of human misbehavior will “wither away” after the proletarian revolution and the seizure of the means of production. As Leszek Kolakowski put it, “Marx seems to have imagined

And why would the Palestinians need Israel approval when Israel didn't need to ask permission to the Palestinians to exist?

Israel has existed as a nation in that region for at least 1,200 years, first as a kingdom, and now as a democracy. There was a bit of a gap between the prior kingdom and the current democracy while the Jewish population made its way back after captivity in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, and in Europe and Africa courtesy of the Romans. (Disappearing and reappearing nations aren't that unusual, ask Poland.) In a way it worked out better for them while they were spread out as it was harder to oppress and kill them all.

Their continued existence has even been pointed to as evidence of miracles.

Now, some find it convenient that they are back in Israel -

UAE Professor Says Jews in One Place for Easy Killing

The whole "negotiated solution" is propaganda for Israel to keep the Palestinians stateless forever, and continue the colonization. The longer they wait, the larger their state will be.

The Palestinians would have a state now if they could accept the existence of Israel, but they prefer to live with the fantasy that they will destroy Israel.

The Palestinians Want Peace -- Just Not With a Jewish State

I wouldn't get too comfy though even if you are tempted to throw the Jewish people under the bus, the Palestinians also teach their children that they must reclaim Spain after the Muslims were driven out 521 years ago.

Dreaming of Al-Andalus

If they are successful in that, they will eventually try to redress that whole nasty business at the Gates of Vienna.

They will have help.

Any links to stormfront you want to share?

You could have done something useful like provide a link yourself, as it is trivially easy information to find, or a counter-point. Instead you go, predictably, to the smear. It would be great if you would make a positive contribution.

Al Qaeda magazine on pressure cookers: ‘Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom’
Boston Marathon bombs: al-Qaeda's Inspire magazine taught pressure cooker bomb-making techniques

'Fascist Dictatorship' is verging on hate speech.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat should be no more loved a term than "Fascist Dictatorship," but for some reason it gets a pass. That should be the last thing that happens, given the record - 100,000,000 killed in the last 100 years. (And don't look now - North Korea might just be warming up.)

The 1970s, when many of the communications were written, were probably both the high point of Communist and Soviet Power and the struggle between Communism and freedom. It is unlikely that Communism would have collapsed as soon as it did in Eastern Europe, and most of the world, if freedom hadn't endured in the West to give aid and hope to the oppressed, and some remember that.

So, when will Wikileaks start releasing Soviet and Communist archive material? Thats right, Assange probably doesn't consider them "bastards" to be crushed. Well, he going to Ecuador if he can, isn't he?:

The following human rights problems continued: isolated unlawful killings and use of excessive force by security forces, sometimes with impunity; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; corruption and other abuses by security forces; a high number of pretrial detainees; and corruption and denial of due process within the judicial system. President Correa and his administration continued verbal and legal attacks against the independent media. Societal problems continued, including physical aggression against journalists; violence against women; discrimination against women, indigenous persons, Afro-Ecuadorians, and lesbians and gay men; trafficking in persons and sexual exploitation of minors; and child labor.

Well said. To which I will add this reference:

The Black Book of Communism - translated by Jonathan Murphy and Mark Kramer - available at Barnes & Nobel and Amazon.

Review by Daniel J. Mahoney, American Enterprise, of: The Black Book of Communism

The six contributors to this book are all French, and all hail from the Left. The book's original publication in France created a sensation, because its cumulative effect is to establish that Communism is the twentieth century's fiercest practitioner of state violence and "crimes against humanity." It forthrightly challenges the claim that Nazism has a monopoly on "absolute political evil" in our time.

The chapters on the Soviet Union and China are as powerful as they are in large part because their authors, Nicolas Werth and Jean-Louis Margolin, avoid excessive polemics and allow the evidence to simply speak for itself. If anything, Werth is excessively conservative in his estimates, drawing almost exclusively from not always reliable "official" party and state archival materials to verify politically--inspired deaths and incarcerations in the Soviet Union. Despite the limits of this method, Werth concludes that the Bolshevik regime was responsible, directly or indirectly, for the deaths of 20 million people between 1918 and 1956, and for the imprisonment in camps of millions more. He demolishes the notion of a good Lenin and a bad Stalin by showing that terror defined the Soviet regime from its inception. And he concludes that there is no basis for the claim that the terror of the 1930s was driven by overzealous Party and police officials acting independently of orders.

Likewise, Margolin's chapter on China shows that the crimes of Maoism are rooted in ideological hubris and a denial of the humanity of political or class "enemies." Margolin demonstrates that Mao committed crimes unprecedented in Chinese history, and damaged the nation in everything from economics to ethics. The devastating consequences of Mao's rule: 65 million lost lives. Perhaps the deepest reason The Black Book has sparked controversy is that it argues Communism is as intrinsically perverse as Nazism. Editor Stephane Courtois argues that Communist crimes, like Nazi ones, partake of the desire to eliminate groups of people on the basis of their origins, not because of any individual culpability or responsibility. He denies that Communism's crimes have any right to be excused or qualified because they were committed in the name of egalitarian principles. Courtois shows that Communism is an exterminationist ideology which selects its enemies on the basis of class. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn suggested in The Gulag Archipelago that the USSR's war against the independent peasantry--the so-called "de-kulakization" campaign --was the first systematic effort to eliminate an entire class of people for ideological reasons. In this sense, Hitler was Lenin's and Stalin's faithful pupil.

Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

Sorry, but in the USA you don't have left and right. You have right and further-right. (On a world scale, anyway.)

Americans are often derided for their perceived or actual ignorance about the world, but this time it looks like the shoe is on the other foot. The United States does indeed have a genuine left, including hard core dedicated Communist movements. The difference is that in the United States most people tend towards the center to center right. They tend to shy away from the extremes so popular in Europe and other places.

Internationalist Socialists - AKA: Communists
Nationalist Socialists - AKA Nazis - far weaker than they were 60-70 years ago.
Fusion: American Nazi Party Endorses Occupy Wall Street‘s ’Courage,‘
Naked protests

Shying away from Communism is the smart and right thing to do . . . if you value your life.
Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

We are spying but.....we don't do the same kind of spying they do. Our spying is okay, theirs is evil.

Since the Communists of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China managed to kill about 100,000,000 people between them in about the last 80 years, you could state that pretty much literally, yes.

The Gruesome Consequences of a Political Idea
Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?
A Tale of Red Guards and Cannibals

We're already receiving that same kind of attention from the USA, to the extent that they're choosing our political leadership for us.

You seem confused about the facts. Some Australians may have given notice to US diplomats that this was happening, but that doesn't mean that the US decided who was going to be the Australian PM any more than you complaining to your neighbor about a bad boss at work makes the neighbor responsible when the boss gets fired.

It was Australians who made the choice, and Australians who voted on who would be the PM, not the US.

Australian coup: the rise and fall of Kevin Rudd

The boy-faced former diplomat was unceremoniously dumped by senior Labour Party power brokers after failing to secure a lift in the opinion polls and angering MPs by his refusal to consult on important policies.

America, China, neither have real Australians interests in mind, so what does it matter who's meddling most?

Based on the content that is at the link, I think I might see where you are going wrong on this point:

. . . the recent Four Corners program has revealed further evidence that the U.S. Government had advance notice of the coup against Rudd. I highly recommend the following article and others on the World Socialist Website to get the real story about Australian politics - make no mistake there is far more than a clash of personalities going on in Canberra right now

Maybe these will help:

How to Kill Poverty
The Black Book of Communism - - - One of the reviews
Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?
The Road from 1989

Your post would have been considerably shortened if you had simply summarized it as the US fought Communism around the globe. That is why so many countries are free today. It is a good thing too or else the bloody, oppressive march of communism would have continued. Contrary to what you wrote, Communism was a world wide conspiracy, and a bloody one at that. Sadly I don't have enough time at the moment to correct all of the twisted renderings of facts in your post, as it would be a Herculean task. I think just comparing the history of the Berlin Wall to what you wrote might give a sense of how twisted the history you give is.

More information about: The Berlin Wall

Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin, from where they could then travel to West Germany and other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989, the wall prevented almost all such emigration. During this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with estimates of the resulting death toll varying between

And lets provide some background material:

Communism killed ~ 100,000,000 people in the last 100 years.

Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

What Were Their Crimes?

Have you ever been late to work?

In the Stalin era, a person who arrived late to work three times could be sent to the Gulag for three years.

Have you ever told a joke about a government official?

In the Stalin era, many were sent to the Gulag for up to 25 years for telling an innocent joke about a Communist Party official.

If your family was starving, would you take a few potatoes left in a field after harvest?

In the Stalin era, a person could be sent to the Gulag for up to ten years for such petty theft.

Living in the Gulag

Some claim that the US is militarist, but it has no custom like the annual military parade through Red Square.
Soviet Military Parade 1984

Stalin World - Lithuania

The KGB Museum - (the Museum of Genocide Victims)

The Soviet Union conquered Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia and annexed them. At the ends of WW2 it took part of Poland as its own territory. The Soviets turned the governments of East Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary, and the rest of Eastern Europe into not merely client states, but puppet states.

Revelations from the Russian Archives - UKRAINIAN FAMINE

The dreadful famine that engulfed Ukraine, the northern Caucasus, and the lower Volga River area in 1932-1933 was the result of Joseph Stalin's policy of forced collectivization. The heaviest losses occurred in Ukraine, which had been the most productive agricultural area of the Soviet Union. Stalin was determined to crush all vestiges of Ukrainian nationalism. Thus, the famine was accompanied by a devastating purge of the Ukrainian intelligentsia and the Ukrainian Communist party itself. The famine broke the peasants' will to resist collectivization and left Ukraine politically, socially, and psychologically traumatized.

The policy of all-out collectivization instituted by Stalin in 1929 to finance industri

On this we strongly agree; would that it were not so. I think we've caused more humans living on this planet to suffer in real terms through our actions.

You are so desperately wrong.

Communism kill 100,000,000 people.

The Gruesome Consequences of a Political Idea

In his introduction, Stephane Courtois himself a former communist, breaks with the postwar taboo on comparing the Gulag with the Holocaust. He notes that the communist body count of more than 100 million exceeds that of the Nazis. He compares the "class genocide" of communism with the "race genocide" of Nazism and states that both were "crimes against humanity."
So controversial was this comparison that two of Mr. Courtois's editor-collaborators--Nicolas Werth and Jean-Louis Margolin--later distanced themselves from what he wrote. And predictably, the French left lashed itself into a frenzy, denouncing the book's contributors for traducing the noble communist fight against fascism.

Why Doesn't Communism Have as Bad a Name as Nazism?

Q&A: Greek debt crisis

Why is Greece in trouble?

Greece has been living beyond its means since even before it joined the euro. After it adopted the euro, public spending soared and public sector wages practically doubled.

However, while money has flowed out of the government's coffers, its income has been hit by widespread tax evasion.

When the global financial downturn hit, Greece was ill-prepared to cope.

True. But it's only in the Republican party where the stupid people win primaries.

Oh come now Basil, this hardly seems sporting....

    Alvin Greene Wins South Carolina Primary

- - - - -

The Left Hates Conservatives
For the Left, There Are No Sacred Texts
If There Is No God

True. But it's only in the Republican party where the stupid people win primaries.

Oh come now Basil, this hardly seems sporting....

    Alvin Greene Wins South Carolina Primary

- - - - -

The Left Hates Conservatives
For the Left, There Are No Sacred Texts
If There Is No God

True. But it's only in the Republican party where the stupid people win primaries.

Oh come now Basil, this hardly seems sporting....

    Alvin Greene Wins South Carolina Primary

- - - - -

The Left Hates Conservatives
For the Left, There Are No Sacred Texts
If There Is No God

I might have checked this out, but first there are no excerpts to base a judgement on, and second this guy is a neo-con tool. These guys are responsible for making the world UNHAPPY in a lot of ways, so why would I trust his advice? Check out this column. He proceeds to write off all kinds of valid points by labeling them "hysteria", ignoring the fact that the whole war was based on neo-con hysteria. He lists some clearly fucked up statistics on the Patriot Act, and then through some magic hand-waving somehow spins this as a positive thing! I have no reason to trust this guy's judgement. And what's up with the silly fucking pipe he uses to show off his wedding ring?

LS

Anyone concerned with happiness might want to consider reading Happiness is a Serious Problem by Dennis Prager.

He devotes an hour a week (called the "Happiness Hour") on his radio program to the question of happiness.

Agree or disagree, he is thought provoking. His approach is also interesting in that he values clarity over agreement and has callers and guests from across the ideological / political spectrum.

Anyone concerned with happiness might want to consider reading Happiness is a Serious Problem by Dennis Prager.

He devotes an hour a week (called the "Happiness Hour") on his radio program to the question of happiness.

Agree or disagree, he is thought provoking. His approach is also interesting in that he values clarity over agreement and has callers and guests from across the ideological / political spectrum.

Previously I would listen to right-wing blowhard Limbaugh followed by Randi Rhodes on WJNO

Rush is a blowhard but Randi Rhodes is what... ??? She's just plain fucking trash. She's a trashy woman with a horrible show. She's fucking vile. Talk about "hate radio". Even my mother, a life-long NOW supporter, Bush-hater, and very strong liberal finds her views disgusting, insulting, and ridiculous.

I'm still confused why people listen to either Rush or her. There is much much much better conservative radio available. He is a conservative, but respectful and intelligent, very different from Rush. He is also strongly Jewish, which puts a slightly different spin on things.

Air America Radio has one decent show, and that's Al Franken's show, but even that is seriously lacking in many areas. It still has the feel of badly produced college radio.