What he said. Also what Doug said, not so much about talking about toy Bolsheviks, which is just a waste of time, as getting serious about doing what we have to do. This was the point of my saying that Thomas S and Michael P's criticism of the Bolshies was merely moral. I said I shared their moral condemnation of the crimes of Stalinism and indeed of Bolshevism. But if we are going to be effective political agents we cannot afford to be Beautiful Souls. That doesn't mean justifying the Hitler-Stalin Pact or whatever chunk of ancient history you object to. But it does mean recognizing that making a difference means moral compromises that hurt. The Bolshies are over and there is no point in refighting those batles; in fact there is a point in not doing so, because you will lose everybody's attention -- starting with mine, and I know and care more about the old issues than most. But Doug's point is that we have to start addressing the current problems we now have, and the moral compromises we now must make. Like: do you agree with me and Doug that we need to put aside political independence and support some slimeball pro-capitalist Democrat who can actually beat Bush? Just for starters. That's ashes in my moth. I'm sick of purity, though. There's a war on.
jks
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