J. Bradford Delong: And red-brown alliances scare me: the browns usually seem to have a keener nose for what is going on than the reds...
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CB: Browns ally with social democrats not with reds. The status quo is such a blue/brown alliance.
CB
Back in December I sent a piece by a Michael Malkin of the CPGB, from the Weekly Worker on anti-semitism in the Russian CP of Zyuganov, to the list. Scott Marshall of the National Committee of the CPUSA, called it "Trotskyite." (Typical) Once again, I'll recommend it, and the book by neo-con Kremlinologist, extensively researched, Walter Laqueur, "Black Hundreds:the rise if the extreme right in Russia, " on the Red-Brown alliances in Russia. Also a new book by a guy with a shadier background than Laqueur, A.J. Gregor, "The Faces of Janus:Fascism and Marxism in Modern History, " Yale Univ. Press, just published. (For background, on how bad Gregor is see the website of the Institute on the Academic Study of Racism- there is an extensive bibliography of Gregor's corpus). If one holds ones nose, and uses the valuable research of these folks, like Laqueur, Paul Hollander, Robert Conquest (new one blurbed by Hitchens), one can get some insights of value. As long as folks like Charles, remain blind, to left critiques of the leninist and stalinist experiences, the right is gonna keep on scoring hits on the authoritarian left. Trots and anarchists and social democrats have been slamming the fSU, since the 1920's. I know I can sound like a broken record on this, but Cold War ideology, as someone like E.P. Thompson pointed out, had two sides. That mirrored each other in their illusions about the societies they were defending.
Michael Pugliese, "Cold Warrior, Running Dog- Where is that check from the CIA?" BTW, that new book by the Brit woman on the CIA and the Congress for Cultural Freedom, looks great, love gossip on the NY intellectuals...