The problem with this sort of discussion is that it is ultimately of a ethical or philosophical nature. All such discussions are incapable of being resolved, and hence can go on forever. All that they reveal is the core philosophy or value system of the debaters. On various newsgroups devoted to political discussion, 90% of the discussion takes on this character. Shouldn't we be striving for an exchange of information? For example, one of the great things about Noam Chomsky is that he digs deep into questions such as East Timor or the war in the Philippines in the early 1900s and allows his research to speak for itself. This thread that we are having about who is worse--Harry Truman or Stalin--adds almost new information. I propose that those who are so worked up about it try and figure out a way to add some new INFORMATION, or else we end up with 25 posts a day trading charges about who is more evil than who. This will lead to people signing off.
Louis Proyect
(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)