>Does anyone seriously believe that American workers, whether poor or
> >middle class, are gonna be led by Marxist-Leninists or Maoists? Does
> >anyone outside the campus gates truly think that communism is really
> >viable in the United States now or at any time in the near future? >Some
>of the posters here seem to believe that this may be a >possibility. If
>that isn't self-marginalizing and self-defeating, I >don't know what is.
In answer to your first two questions: why not?, and why not? Revolutions or at least mass uprisings of feeling have taken the intelligentsia by surprise before, so why is nowadays any different?
"May be a possibility". I don't think that sounds like a claim to 100% certainty, spoken with confidence bordering on smugness. That sounds more like they're trying just to keep hope alive in a dark time, period.
Or is it that you just oppose these currents of "The Left" and take the chance to attack them whenever you can? If that's the case, then forgive me for wasting both our time (as well as Doug's bandwidth). Just come out and say it: I hate Marxist-Leninists and Maoists because . . . .
Dennis continues:
>In the mid-80s, in a Dupont Circle restaurant in DC at a small luncheon
>honoring Chomsky, I was seated next to Parenti who, apart from being >loud
>and obnoxious (and conspicuous wearing a Panama hat indoors), >told me how
>the Soviets should wipe out the mujahideen and their >collaborators in
>Afghanistan. When I said that the Soviets were >killing untold numbers of
>civilians in their effort, Parenti bellowed >that his beloved Red Army was
>fighting CIA-backed fascists and had to >win.
>
>Well, Parenti was right, but he showed zero concern for the lives of
> >Afghan civilians, and the cities and villages they occupied. It was
> >bombs away, all the way. Now he sheds tears on behalf of those whose
> >relatives he once condemned to a swift, violent death. And had the
> >Taliban stayed in power and the millions who were expected to starve
> >last winter did, would we see such anguished words from Parenti's
> >keyboard?
So what? You've a great argument here that Parenti's a hypocrite. Why tar other Lefties with that brush unless you've got evidence?
Apropos of nothing, I bought one of his books, "Blackshirts and Reds," because I'd heard his name mentioned. I was impressed by the emotional appeal in his words, but his lack of citations for anything was stunning. So now I find he's hypocritical as well. Ah well, no more money from me, Mr. Parenti . . . .
BTW, Dennis, if Yoshie's Spock (who is only half-Vulcan, and must hold emotions in check, not eliminate them), does that make you Spock's nemesis, McCoy? The smart and caring doctor who flies into emotional rages until someone else metaphorically tosses cold water on him?
Todd
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