"I want to come to the defense of Khrushchev (note sp here please); he was a Stalinist apparatchik (boo hiss), and a pretty bad guy while Unle Joe was around, except for an important role in coordinating thedefense of Stalingra. He was the Stavka's man in Chuikov's bunker, helped to hold the West Bank of the Volga during the dark months of Nov-Dec 42. Not too shappy. But his real first achievement was the dismantling of the Gulag Archipelago, and turning the USSR from a totalitarin state of terror into a mere police state. I am not sneering, this was big stuff. Second, K saved the world by being the grownup in the Cuban missiles crisis. Third, he made a huge step towards democraization and civility in the USSR by stepping down quietly when he was voted out by the CC of the CPSU; heasid that they (including he) had shot Beria, but he went out by an alsmost normal means. So I think Khrushchev deserves our respect, "
Indeed yes. The guy may not have been a great intellectual or theorist, but he did do the things Justin credits him with. Try reading his memoir KHRUSHCHEV REMEMBERS, in which he describes the way he had to behave to save his skin under Stalin, while always keeping in mind that Stalin, besides all the really horrible things about him, was really a shmuck. There's a description of all the politburo guys getting calls in the middle of the night from the GenseK as I understand they called the boss. They would have to come to dinner and listen to him and only could escape to the john where they stood around and exchanged thoughts about what they thought of Stalin.
Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema