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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim S who wrote (23758)	7/12/2006 1:22:02 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541348

"His definition" is the operative phrase there. If you define "communist" as "anybody to the left of Attila the Hun" then by definition, communists are everywhere.

To: Jim S who wrote (23758)	7/12/2006 1:25:35 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 541348

It's a nice saying. It could even be considered a Christian saying. Communism is a lovely idea- which is why many Christian sects have lived in communes. The problem comes when the state tries to control every aspect of industrial production on the way to the workers' paradise. The idea isn't the problem, it's the way it's enforced. So why should the media have jumped on Dan? What's the matter with saying that people should contribute based on their ability to contribute, and be given help based on their need. I could make a good argument that our tax system and welfare system attempt to do just that- and it's not because we're communists, it's because we are compassionate.

To: Jim S who wrote (23758)	7/12/2006 1:48:16 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541348

communists (his definition) I thought "his definition" was "are you or were you ever a member of the communist party."

To: Jim S who wrote (23758)	7/12/2006 3:34:24 PM
From: Suma	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541348

JIMS I lived through that period. I was well aware of all that was being purported about Communist infiltration. The problem as I saw it and this was about the time of my graduation from college so I could have been naive, that Russia had been our ally during the war and in fact there is a chance... that the allies might have lost the war had it not been for the big sacrifice of the Russian people.. AND then after the war people felt as thought FDR had handed too much to Stalin... and there was a backlash However most persons who were labeled communist felt kindly toward Russia.. If anyone has seen the Battle for Stalingrad... a wonderful film although later it was accused of being propaganda but it showed the ordinary Russian citizen battling in the streets against the Germans. So, McCarthy's time was apt. He just stepped into a contentious situation and with accusations and few results he got the American public scared. Those scare tactics are what worry me in all situations.. For out of fear we are often willing to do anything to protect ourselves and lose site of the things we are giving up...... Personally I detested McCarthy and was glad to hear the lawyer from New England say, haven't you any decency ?

To: Jim S who wrote (23758)	7/12/2006 3:38:30 PM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541348

McCarthy's tactics were WAAY out of bounds. But his premise, that communists (his definition) were infiltrating society and government, weren't so far off. I can remember Dan Rostenkowski, when he was the Ways and Means chairman, saying "from each according to his means, and to each according to his need." I almost fell out of my chair at the time, and the news media had nothing to say about it. Jim, that's just stunning. I won't go into McCarthy's definitions which are troubling enough. But to take that paragraph as a foundation on which to accuse Dan Rostenkowski of communism is just unbelievable. I take it you didn't mean it the way I read it. Which seems to be our pattern.