<< As I am sure Justin is aware, Lou Godena, the Maoist-Stalinist
and sole proprietor of the marxism-international list thinks
quite highly of Pipes' work including especially his portrayal of
Lenin. Godena agrees with Pipes that Lenin was ruthless, devious,
brutal, deceitful etc. but unlike Pipes judges these attributes
favorably given the politics of his time.
>>
In other words, Lenin was a politician. I mean, big fucking surprise. Does Pipes suppose that--pick your bourgeois hero--Churchill, Roosvelt (either), DeGaulle, Thatcher, or Reagan were any different? Or consider Caro's wonderfull books about LBJ. What's to refute? Anyone who insists that Lenin was a pargon of virtue in every respect is a true believer or an ignoramus. As to the affair with Inessa Armand, at least it was out in the open, sanctioned by Krupsakya, and consistent with Bolshevik ethics. --jks