All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[RisingForce]

Or somehow sharing it and acting like there's nothing wrong with it, for that matter.

"Afghanistan:

Churchill found his love for war during the time he spent in Afghanistan. While there he said “all who resist will be killed without quarter” because the Pashtuns need “recognise the superiority of race”. He believed the Pashtuns needed to be dealt with, he would reminisce in his writings about how he partook in the burning villages and peoples homes.

“We proceeded systematically, village by village, and we destroyed the houses, filled up the wells, blew down the towers, cut down the great shady trees, burned the crops and broke the reservoirs in punitive devastation.” — Churchill on how the British carried on in Afghanistan, and he was only too happy to be part of it.

Churchill would also write of how “every tribesman caught was speared or cut down at once”. Proud of the terror he helped inflict on the people of Afghanistan Churchill was well on the road to becoming a genocidal maniac."


International finance is obviously vastly superior and without any undue flaws or general criticism.

[RisingForce]

Churchill wrote that he was concerned Cuba would turn in to “another black republic” in 1896. By “another” he was referring to Haiti which was the first nation in modern times to abolish slavery. Haiti has been punished for doing so ever since.

Egypt:


“Tell them that if we have any more of their cheek we will set the Jews on them and drive them into the gutter, from which they should never have emerged” — Winston Churchill on how to deal with Egypt in 1951.

Greece:


The British Army under the guidance of Churchill perpetrated a massacre on the streets of Athens in the month of December 1944. 28 protesters were shot dead, a further 128 injured. Who were they? Were they supporters of Nazism? No, they were in fact anti-Nazis.

The British demanded that all guerrilla groups should disarm on the 2nd December 1944. The following day 200,000 people took to the streets, and this is when the British Army on Churchill’s orders turned their guns on the people. Churchill regarded ELAS (Greek People’s Liberation Army) and EAM (National Liberation Front) as “miserable banditti” (these were the very people who ran the Nazis out). His actions in the month of December were purely out of his hatred and paranoia for communism.

The British backed the right-wing government in Greece returned from exile after the very same partisans of the resistance that Churchill ordered the murder of had driven out the Nazi occupiers. Soviet forces were well received in Greece. This deeply worried Churchill. He planned to restore the monarchy in Greece to combat any possible communist influence. The events in December were part of that strategy.

In 1945, Churchill sent Charles Wickham to Athens where he was put in charge of training the Greek security police. Wickham learned his tricks of the trade in British occupied Ireland between 1922–1945 where he was a commander of the colonial RUC which was responsible for countless terror.

In April 1945 Churchill said “the [Nazi] collaborators in Greece in many cases did the best they could to shelter the Greek population from German oppression” and went on to say “the Communists are the main foe”.

Guyana:

Churchill ordered the overthrowing of the democratically elected leader of ‘British Guiana’. He dispatched troops and warships and suspended their constitution all to put a stop to the governments nationalisation plan.

India:


“I’d rather see them have a good civil war”. — Churchill wishing partition on India

Very few in Britain know about the genocide in Bengal let alone how Churchill engineered it. Churchill’s hatred for Indians led to four million starving to death during the Bengal ‘famine’ of 1943. “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion” he would say.

Bengal had a better than normal harvest during the British enforced famine. The British Army took millions of tons of rice from starving people to ship to the Middle East — where it wasn’t even needed. When the starving people of Bengal asked for food, Churchill said the ‘famine’ was their own fault “for breeding like rabbits”. The Viceroy of India said “Churchill’s attitude towards India and the famine is negligent, hostile and contemptuous”. Even the right wing imperialist Leo Amery who was the British Secretary of State in India said he “didn’t see much difference between his [Churchill] outlook and Hitler’s”. Churchill refused all of the offers to send aid to Bengal, Canada offered 10,000 tons of rice, the U.S 100,000. Churchill was still swilling champaign while he caused four million men, women and children to starve to death in Bengal.

Throughout WW2 India was forced to ‘lend’ Britain money. Churchill moaned about “Indian money lenders” the whole time.

The truth is Churchill never waged war against fascism. He went to war with Germany to defend the British Empire. He moaned “are we to incur hundreds of millions of debt for defending India only to be kicked out by the Indians afterwards”.

In 1945 Churchill said “the Hindus were race protected by their mere pullulation from the doom that is due”. The Bengal famine wasn’t enough for Churchill’s blood lust, he wished his favourite war criminal Arthur Harris could have bombed them.

When India was partitioned in 1947 millions of people died and millions more were displaced. Churchill said that the creation of Pakistan, which has been an imperialist outpost for the British and Americans since its inception, was Britain’s “bit of India”.

Iran:


“A prize from fairyland beyond our wildest dreams” — Churchill on Iran’s oil

When Britain seized Iran’s oil industry Churchill proclaimed it was “a prize from fairyland beyond our wildest dreams”. He meddled in Iranian affairs for decades doing his utmost to exclude Iranians from their natural resources. Encouraging the looting of the nation when most lived in severe poverty.

In June 1914 Churchill proposed a bill in the House of Commons that would see the British government become become the major shareholder of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The company would go on to refrain from paying Iran its share of the dividends before paying tax to the British exchequer. Essentially the British were illegally taxing the Iranian government.

When the nationalist government of Mohammad Mosaddegh threatened British ‘interests’ in Iran, Churchill was there, ready to protect them at any cost. Even if that meant desecrating democracy. He helped organise a coup against Mosaddegh in August 1953. He told the CIA operations officer that helped carry out the plan “if i had been but a few years younger, I would have loved nothing better than to have served under your command in this great venture”.

Churchill arranged for the BBC to send coded messages to let the Shah of Iran know that they were overthrowing the democratically elected government. Instead of the BBC ending their Persian language news broadcast with “it is now midnight in London” they under Churchill’s orders said “it is now exactly midnight”.

Churchill went on to privately describe the coup as “the finest operation since the end of the war [WW2]”. Being a proud product of imperialism he had no issue ousting Mosaddegh so Britain could get back to sapping the riches of Iran.

Iraq:


“I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against the uncivilized tribes… it would spread a lively terror.” — Churchill on the use of gas in the Middle East and India

Churchill was appointed ‘Secretary of State for the Colonies’ in 1921. He formed the ‘Middle East Department’ which was responsible for Iraq. Determined to have his beloved empire on the cheap he decided air power could replace ground troops. A strategy of bombing any resistance to British rule was now employed.

Several times in the 1920s various groups in the region now known as Iraq rose up against the British. The air force was then put into action, indiscriminately bombing civilian areas so to subdue the population.

Churchill was also an advocate for the use of mustard and poison gases. Whilst ‘Secretary for War and Air’ he advised that “the provision of some kind of asphyxiating bombs” should be used “for use in preliminary operations against turbulent tribes” in order to take control of Iraq.

When Iraqi tribes stood up for themselves, under the direction of Churchill the British unleashed terror on mud, stone and reed villages.

Churchill’s bombing of civilians in ‘Mesopotamia’ (Kurdistan and Iraq) was summed up by war criminal ‘Bomber Harris’:

“The Arab and Kurd now know what real bombing means within 45 minutes a full-sized village can be practically wiped out, and a third of its inhabitants killed or injured, by four or five machines which offer them no real target, no opportunity for glory as warriors, no effective means of escape”. — Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Biden Aiming For Bigger Vaccine Numbers Beyond 100 Million In 100 Day Goal

The president has expressed confidence the U.S. is on course to reach and surpass that target for COVID-19 vaccinations. With 500,000 fatalities and counting, much needs to be done to stem this grim tide. I'm glad Biden is doing just that. Meanwhile....

**********

Fauci Says We May Still Be Wearing Coronavirus Masks In 2022

There will be “a degree of normality” by the end of this year, he said, though he wouldn’t make any concrete predictions. Oh, well, it is what it is I guess.

**********

Steve Scalise, No. 2 House Republican, Still Won’t Say Election Wasn’t Stolen

It’s a dangerous lie that the election was stolen from Trump, but the House minority whip refuses to acknowledge that. Because Scalise prefers to kiss Trump's ass rather than put that lie to bed, especially since perpetuating that untruth led to the madness on 1/6.

**********

Donald Trump Jr. Rips Teachers Unions In Front Of A Gun Wall; Critics Go Ballistic

In the era of school shootings, “posting a video attack of teacher unions with wall of guns backdrop — deplorable,” a Twitter user snapped. Jesus! The boy done lost his fucking mind!

**********

Biden Has Inherited Trump’s Catastrophic Border Wall. What Happens Next?

The new president said he won’t build “another foot of wall” — but border communities fear he may already be breaking his promise. Can't say I like that.

**********

Merrick Garland Vows To Oversee Prosecution Of Capitol Rioters As Attorney General

President Joe Biden’s nominee puts a bull’s-eye on white supremacists and upholding the rule of law in his confirmation hearing prepared testimony. GOOD! I'm sure that has Qpublicans shaking in their shoes.

[worstblogever]

Francis Rooney’s voting record was also not the portrait of a “moderate” Republican as one might think of, provided he showed up to do his job and vote at all:

• February 16th, 2017: Rooney votes for HJR 69, to make it legal for hunters on wildlife reserves to kill several species of hibernating bears or wolves while they’re sleeping. Because… well, the logic really isn’t there as to why, it’s just awful.
• March 16th, 2017: Francis Rooney votes for HR 1181, which would allow veterans deemed mentally incompetent to continue to own firearms, and not have them taken away without a judge's written order. We feel safer already.
• May 4th, 2017: Rooney votes for the GOP's healthcare plan, that would allow 24,000 more people to die a year, give $50,000 in tax breaks to millionaires, would eliminate coverage for pre-existing conditions, and would treat pregnancy, post-partum depression, and sexual assault as "pre-existing conditions". Oh, and a provision in the bill would make sure that Rooney would be allowed to keep his healthcare plan as it exists under the ACA, which would be repealed for the rest of the country. He and his Republican compatriots threw themselves a beer bash to celebrate taking away healthcare from millions and then gloated about it with Donald Trump at a White House press conference, as well.
• June 8th, 2017: Francis Rooney votes for HR 10, the GOP’s attempt to repeal Dodd-Frank financial reform, because what the country really needs is to allow the big banks to make the same mistakes that imploded the economy only a decade earlier.
• October 3rd, 2017: Rooney votes for HR 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, that would try to create an unconstitutional ban abortion at 20 weeks (even though medical science tells us fetuses do not have the capability to feel pain until 29 weeks).
• December 19th, 2017: Francis Rooney votes for HR 1, the GOP’s $1.7 trillion tax cut to benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations permanently that coincidentally also removes the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and kicks 13 million people off their health insurance.
• February 18th, 2018: Rep. Rooney and his fellow Republicans decide that poor big businesses are suffering too much at the hands of the Americans with Disabilities Act too much, and vote for HR 620, which would strip most of the civil rights protections guaranteed by it.
• January 22nd, 2019: Rooney doesn’t bother showing up to vote on HR 676, which would prevent Donald Trump from doing the unthinkable and walking away from our allies in NATO to appease the Russians.
• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Rooney cannot be bothered to vote on HR 648, because he was too busy sitting around, gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• January 27th, 2019: Francis Rooney cannot be bothered to show up to vote on HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attack Rooney our democracy. You see, he’s fine with our nation being sublet to Vladimir Putin.
• February 28th, 2019: Rooney votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
• April 4th, 2019: Francis Rooney cannot be bothered to show up to vote on the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• May 17th, 2019: Rooney votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
• June 4th, 2019: Rep. Rooney votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Francis Rooney votes against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
• October 17th, 2019: Rooney cannot be bothered to show up to vote on HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
• December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Rooney cannot be bothered to show up to vote against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
• December 18th, 2019: Rooney ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump.

Thus it ends up that the two-term legacy of Francis Rooney is this… for his first term in office, he tried to go along with the Trump Republican marching orders on votes and joining the loons in spreading conspiracy theories, but then right around the time he voted for a huge tax break that would benefit himself, he suddenly lost interest in keeping up appearances that he was having to face “The Deep State” or even showing up to do the job he was expected, and vote on behalf of his constituents. It would have been nice if his conscience had compelled him, however, to not just STOP spreading conspiracy theories himself, but to have done more to speak out against them and vote to do something on behalf of the public as a pandemic broke out. Maybe Rooney has some good connections to some quality clergymen in the Vatican who will hear his confessions about how he used his life in public service only to serve himself, and then fail to do nothing to help everyday people dying and languishing in poverty.

Y’know, if he’s into penance and forgiveness and all that.

[Tendrin]

Is this guy expecting one of us to be big fans of Churchill or something?

[Marvell2100]

Biden Aiming For Bigger Vaccine Numbers Beyond 100 Million In 100 Day Goal

The president has expressed confidence the U.S. is on course to reach and surpass that target for COVID-19 vaccinations. With 500,000 fatalities and counting, much needs to be done to stem this grim tide. I'm glad Biden is doing just that. Meanwhile....

**********

Fauci Says We May Still Be Wearing Coronavirus Masks In 2022

There will be “a degree of normality” by the end of this year, he said, though he wouldn’t make any concrete predictions. Oh, well, it is what it is I guess.

**********

Steve Scalise, No. 2 House Republican, Still Won’t Say Election Wasn’t Stolen

It’s a dangerous lie that the election was stolen from Trump, but the House minority whip refuses to acknowledge that. Because Scalise prefers to kiss Trump's ass rather than put that lie to bed, especially since perpetuating that untruth led to the madness on 1/6.

**********

Donald Trump Jr. Rips Teachers Unions In Front Of A Gun Wall; Critics Go Ballistic

In the era of school shootings, “posting a video attack of teacher unions with wall of guns backdrop — deplorable,” a Twitter user snapped. Jesus! The boy done lost his fucking mind!

**********

Biden Has Inherited Trump’s Catastrophic Border Wall. What Happens Next?

The new president said he won’t build “another foot of wall” — but border communities fear he may already be breaking his promise. Can't say I like that.

**********

Merrick Garland Vows To Oversee Prosecution Of Capitol Rioters As Attorney General

President Joe Biden’s nominee puts a bull’s-eye on white supremacists and upholding the rule of law in his confirmation hearing prepared testimony. GOOD! I'm sure that has Qpublicans shaking in their shoes.

Don Jr, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebart and Marjorie Taylor Greene are all in a race to see who can be the most idiotic.

And I hope Garland throws the book at them with the most stiffest punishments.

[Tami]

New claims surrounding Malcolm X assassination surface in letter written on former NYPD officer’s death bed

New allegations surrounding the death of Malcolm X have surfaced in a letter written by a former New York City Police Department officer on his death bed.

On Jan. 25, 2011, Ray Wood, who was serving as an undercover police officer on the day of Malcolm X's death, wrote a letter in which he admitted he "participated in actions that in hindsight were deplorable and detrimental to the advancement of my own black people."

When Wood was hired by the NYPD in 1964, his job was to "infiltrate civil rights organizations" to find evidence of criminal activity so the FBI could discredit the subjects and arrest its leaders, Wood wrote in the letter obtained by ABC News.

Wood's handler devised the arrest of two of Malcolm X's "key" security detail members in a plot to bomb the Statue of Liberty days before his 1965 assassination, Wood wrote. The plot involved three members of a Black "terrorist group" and a Canadian woman who were planning to dynamite the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell and the Washington Monument, the New York Times reported on Feb. 16, 1965.

"It was my assignment to draw the two men into a felonious federal crime, so that they could be arrested by the FBI and kept away from managing Malcolm X's door security on February 21, 1965," Wood wrote. "... At that time I was not aware that Malcolm X was the target."

Wood alleged in the letter that "his actions on behalf of the New York City Police Department (BOSSI) were done under duress and fear," adding that he could have faced "detrimental consequences" if he did not follow the orders of his handlers.

"After witnessing repeated brutality at the hands of my coworkers (Police), I tried to resign," he wrote. "Instead I was threatened with arrest by pinning marijuana and alcohol trafficking charges on me if I did not follow through with the assignments."

[RisingForce]

Is this guy expecting one of us to be big fans of Churchill or something?

[Hellion]

So the Supreme Court quietly denied Trump's effort to block a subpoena for 8 years of tax returns requested by SDNY.

[CSTowle]

RisingForce- Nobody here would argue that Western democracies/capitalist countries haven't been a force for evil in their own right (even the handful of right-wing posters we have). We're just saying that maybe you don't have a grasp completely on what the differences are between socialism/communism/fascism. Also (as was pointed out by another poster) that just because something is labeled as "Socialist" or "Democratic" doesn't mean that it actually is. No shame in that, part of what the board is here for. I learn something from time to time, and even more rarely change my opinion on something based on new information.

I'm far from an expert, but from what I understand while what you say about Germany providing jobs and security for their people under Hitler is true (provided you were of the right race/religion/orientation/political affiliation/etc.) that's not a socialist ideal. That's a nationalist one. "Deutschland uber alles" (like "America First"), that was their focus and reason for their initial success. We did the same thing after WWII (provided you were of the right race/religion/orientation/political affiliation), which is why some people unfortunately tend to romanticize the '50s.

But we (and the Nazis, and the Communists) did that and do that by stepping on people/nations all over the world because we have the power to do so. It's not the doctrine or symptom of any particular political philosophy, it's just what happens (as I said in the "Did the Nazis Win" thread) when a group wants to gain, maintain, or grow power. It's bad human nature, and it's across the board.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

So the Supreme Court quietly denied Trump's effort to block a subpoena for 8 years of tax returns requested by SDNY.

Just got an alert about that a few minutes ago. It'll be interesting to learn if any of Trump's appointees, including Kegger Kavanaugh and Amy Covid Barrett voted in favor of releasing the records.

[Kirby101]

Just got an alert about that a few minutes ago. It'll be interesting to learn if any of Trump's appointees, including Kegger Kavanaugh and Amy Covid Barrett voted in favor of releasing the records.

It was unanimous. Wonder what Roberts offered the Trump appointees to make that happen. Abortion?

[RisingForce]

RisingForce- Nobody here would argue that Western democracies/capitalist countries haven't been a force for evil in their own right (even the handful of right-wing posters we have). We're just saying that maybe you don't have a grasp completely on what the differences are between socialism/communism/fascism. Also (as was pointed out by another poster) that just because something is labeled as "Socialist" or "Democratic" doesn't mean that it actually is. No shame in that, part of what the board is here for. I learn something from time to time, and even more rarely change my opinion on something based on new information.

I'm far from an expert, but from what I understand while what you say about Germany providing jobs and security for their people under Hitler is true (provided you were of the right race/religion/orientation/political affiliation/etc.) that's not a socialist ideal. That's a nationalist one. "Deutschland uber alles" (like "America First"), that was their focus and reason for their initial success. We did the same thing after WWII (provided you were of the right race/religion/orientation/political affiliation), which is why some people unfortunately tend to romanticize the '50s.

But we (and the Nazis, and the Communists) did that and do that by stepping on people/nations all over the world because we have the power to do so. It's not the doctrine or symptom of any particular political philosophy, it's just what happens (as I said in the "Did the Nazis Win" thread) when a group wants to gain, maintain, or grow power. It's bad human nature, and it's across the board.

yes, one of the main points and in essence what the Germans at the time seemed to conceive.

I think you both have socialism confused with communism, and communism confused with statism. You are both simply petti-fogging and arguing incessantly about semantics and not at all making any real point what so ever.

There are numerous and different forms of socialist and leftist theories, I am very with most of them and in very essence what the difference between them and capitalism is. Communism is something else altogether, it is a hard to define and does not really in actuality or essence as per Marxist theory have anything to do with large bureaucratic statism, nor international finance necessarily.

I have said that numerous times, that the Nazis were considered a mixture of right wing and left wing ideas which if you were to study them generally seems the best or most apt description. Capitalism is not necessarily fascism, just because America has utilized numerous Nazi ideas in the past does not make it in fact capitalist.

No one has ever even said that Marxism was virtually a glorified welfare state wherein the vast majority of the world's population is well looked after as so long as they except neo-liberal globalist polices, maxims and large homogeneous statist values, that is almost something else entirely. We live in an increasingly economically liberalized world, things like nationalist and ethnic cultural groups are not really of value to the incentives of globalist corporate capitalist groups. I am not really championing or even defending the Nazis at all, I only maybe value principles like truth.

It's like saying that the French were "national socialist" or they invented national socialism and were the first to actually utilize and implement because they are largely responsible supposedly for modernization and creation of the concept because their revolution was not considered capitalist but yet often is considered to be conservative in nature, so there I guess the French are giant racist Nazis who surrendered to Germany for the same reason because they both hate leftism (not international finance) so much, and yet it was America and Britain who largely are the ones responsible for halting the Italian communist revolution from taking place.

[MajorHoy]

Just got an alert about that a few minutes ago. It'll be interesting to learn if any of Trump's appointees, including Kegger Kavanaugh and Amy Covid Barrett voted in favor of releasing the records.

I'm not sure if it was so much "in favor of releasing the records" as opposed to "no legitimate legal argument for blocking the release". There is a slight difference between the two things, though the results wind up being the same.

[RisingForce]

RisingForce- Nobody here would argue that Western democracies/capitalist countries haven't been a force for evil in their own right (even the handful of right-wing posters we have). We're just saying that maybe you don't have a grasp completely on what the differences are between socialism/communism/fascism. Also (as was pointed out by another poster) that just because something is labeled as "Socialist" or "Democratic" doesn't mean that it actually is. No shame in that, part of what the board is here for. I learn something from time to time, and even more rarely change my opinion on something based on new information.

I'm far from an expert, but from what I understand while what you say about Germany providing jobs and security for their people under Hitler is true (provided you were of the right race/religion/orientation/political affiliation/etc.) that's not a socialist ideal. That's a nationalist one. "Deutschland uber alles" (like "America First"), that was their focus and reason for their initial success. We did the same thing after WWII (provided you were of the right race/religion/orientation/political affiliation), which is why some people unfortunately tend to romanticize the '50s.

But we (and the Nazis, and the Communists) did that and do that by stepping on people/nations all over the world because we have the power to do so. It's not the doctrine or symptom of any particular political philosophy, it's just what happens (as I said in the "Did the Nazis Win" thread) when a group wants to gain, maintain, or grow power. It's bad human nature, and it's across the board.

It's such a case of semantics, it's like this large big grey and vague area that's never even adequately defined, like okay, what is socialism and communism to you then? oh okay, no one can really say for sure, but we're just supposed to unanimously accept these rather large statist ideals attempt to homogeneous and globalize us all in this really again, vague and undefined manner in which they want to "share with us all" and that's basically what leftism is without further questions being asked, in this overly and rather vague strangely ambiguous manner.

That's not necessarily true, but at the same time, there's like a gazillion different leftist ideas and concepts out there anyway.

The Nazis are considered super ultra right wing (more then everyone even the international financiers of capitalism and it's more prevalent supporters) because they do not publicly and vaguely adhere to this really vague and ambiguous notions exactly what "leftist" even is in the first place that no one can seem to easily define other then vague illusions to a "utopia" masquerading behind large statism and international finance or capital which is actually quite contradictory to Marxist ideas in the first place. International finance, you need to rely on this huge world bank, IMF conglomerate organization and the already established wealthy classes to adequately (by whatever definition here; semantics) to possibly have an acceptable definition of leftism or communism?

Karl Marx was for worker owned means of production, that's not really what international capital is, and largely there's other strains of socialist ideas out there. Communism? that just makes me laugh, I never altogether trust anyone who considers them self too easily a communist.