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IP says communists are "as bad as Nazis." I have to disagree, though this topic could carry us into lengthy discourse. The short answer is there are diverse types of communist, but only one type of Nazi. There were communists, for instance, who never had any use for Joseph Stalin and in consequence died at his hands. There were communists who renounced Stalin and took the USSR into a relatively benign but unconsummated direction (Gorby). There are academic types with a completely idealized notion of communism who abhor all extant practices that go by that name. And so on.
What type of communists are in ANSWER? As I said, not all of them are communists to begin with. Most of the affiliated groups and co-sponsors of the demonstrations are not. As to those that are -- the Workers World Party cadres -- I've no reason to defend them. I will note that unlike U.S. Nazis, they do not advocate much less practice violence against U.S. citizens. They do not foment hatred based on race, ethnicity, and the like. Their most celebrated transgression is to support certain crimes of foreign dictators. To equate WWP with Nazis trivializes Nazism and glosses over home-grown lethal violence historically employed by U.S. fascists.
Meanwhile, the Prof and his followers indulge deficiencies, not to mention horrendous crimes, on the part of those they support. We could start and finish with the U.S. government itself, which strikes up alliances of convenience with awful regimes and individuals. Wot the hell, FDR was allied with Stalin.
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Glenn Reynolds and others practice politics by the use of libel. Evidently they do not feel their arguments are good enough to carry the day. I don't blame them.
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Newsflash: like all powerful nations from the beginning of time, the U.S. kills innocent people in pursuit of its national interest. Sometimes these interests are defensible, other times not. The 'Saddam-bad' discourse is just foreign policy baby-talk for the dull-witted. The same goes for the associate-with-ANSWER and you're "icky" nonsense.
Why does this matter? Because rhetorical b.s. is being deployed to support an evil foreign policy. This policy, and the underlying b.s., looks to be with us for a long time. At the same time, its political power is limited; anti-war opposition is surging and could yet affect events in the short term. I think we need to keep in there pitching.
Well, that's most of the post but go read the rest.