Saturday, November 27, 2010

Step in the right direction

Russia officially admits Stalin's crimes in regard to the Katyn Massacre.

Now on to the Turks to admit what happened to the Armenians in 1915.

And maybe for a few more Americans to have a more factual knowledge of the bleaker moments of this country's history.

27 comments:

JDM said...

What's next after that, Israel owns up to Deir Yassin or the Mormons acknowledge Mountain Meadows? Or someone here realizes that My Lai was not a one shot deal?

Olives and Arrows said...

And maybe for a few more Americans to have a more factual knowledge of the bleaker moments of this country's history.

Yeah. Bleak moments...
For instance, the New York Times actively covered up massive crimes in which the very same Josef Stalin deliberately caused famine in parts of the Soviet Union in the 1930s.

=============

"There is no famine or actual starvation nor is there likely to be."

--New York Times, Nov. 15, 1931, page 1

"Any report of a famine in Russia is today an exaggeration or malignant propaganda."
--New York Times, August 23, 1933

"Enemies and foreign critics can say what they please. Weaklings and despondents at home may groan under the burden, but the youth and strength of the Russian people is essentially at one with the Kremlin's program, believes it worthwhile and supports it, however hard be the sledding."

--New York Times, December 9, 1932, page 6

"You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs."

--New York Times, May 14, 1933, page 18

"There is no actual starvation or deaths from starvation but there is widespread mortality from diseases due to malnutrition."

--New York Times, March 31, 1933, page 13

=====================================

Montag said...

Ah, so O&A is still fighting the Cold War like a good John Bircher.

What Mr./Ms. O&A fails to mention is that Walter Duranty's history of whitewashing the famine in the Ukraine has been well-documented over the decades, and it was shoddy, biased reporting, in fact, it was so bad that the Pulitzer committee weighed the evidence in withdrawing posthumously the prize given him.

Of course, O&A is not about to broach the subject of more recent Times reporters doing exactly the same thing as Duranty--sucking up to sources in order to pass on pure propaganda from governments as scoops in order to burnish their own creds--for example, one Judith Miller and her sidekick, Michael Gordon.

Oh, no, that would involve scrutiny of the neoconservatives' and Republicans' role in the unnecessary, immoral deaths and dislocations of millions. That we simply cannot have, eh?

Is it possible to be even more ideologically blind than a devoted Stalinist? O&A certainly proves that it is not only possible, but likely, if the object of affection is our own most recent crop of war criminals....

This country is well on the way to self-destruction, and the people most responsible for that are the people that O&A most admires. That should give him/her pause to reflect, but I doubt that it will.

O&A is a True Believer.

Just like any good Stalinist....

pansypoo said...

can we tar ronny raygun?

Omissions and Assholes said...

Party-line ideology for thee but not for me!

Anonymous said...

As Dan Quayle said, "The Holocaust was a shameful moment in this nation's history. I mean this century's history. I didn't live in this century".
How true that is.

Major Woody said...

All of American history is a shining beacon of righteousness, freedom and justice, and to suggest otherwise identifies one as a collectivist defeatist America-hater. Or something.

Winston Smith said...

Excellent summary, Major.

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

JDM said...

Ever body's picking on my ol fren Ollie and he dint actually say anything stupid or wrong in his post. I think that's funny. Poor Olly. Like anyone here is defending Stalin or the NYT. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Henry Holland said...

It took Russia 70 years to officially own up to Katyn, but compared to stuff the Vacitan admits to --like the earth does in fact revolve around the Sun-- that takes hundreds of years for the Papacy to admit, that's a blink of an eye.

Olives and Arrows said...

Montag said...
Ah, so O&A is still fighting the Cold War like a good John Bircher.


Calling a load of owl shit on that one!
Attaturk's posted subject matter concerns at least two events that definitely preceded the Cold War.

My commentary concerns (Atta's subject matter) Stalin and his apologists in America, their behaviour having been some bleak moments in our history.
Thus, my comments are spot on......as usual.

Montag said...

Thus, my comments are spot on......as usual.

Oh, horseshit... as usual.

You attacked the last sentence in Attaturk's entry, which had very much to do with the United States admitting some of it's panoply of horrors--which, I notice, for the record, that you tried to ignore by repeating something out of Stalin's record and then used that to trash the New York Times on the reporting of one of its correspondents (who, I might add, was and is recognized far and wide as willing to propagandize on behalf of the Soviets for his own gain). Are you aware that the NYT's editorials of the time acknowledged the famine and the source of the famine? No, of course you wouldn't know that, because you get all your news from NewsMax and the John Birch Society.

You evaded the point. You got caught at it, twice, in just one thread.

Why don't you just fuckin' give up while you're way behind?

It's what your imaginary girlfriend, Sarah Palin, would do.

Olives and Arrows said...

Even though Duranty was criticized initially, it was not until 1980 that the Times publicly acknowledged his failure[3

Olives and Arrows said...

Are you aware that the NYT's editorials of the time acknowledged the famine and the source of the famine?

Stupid Montag.
"Even though Duranty was criticized initially, it was not until 1980 that the Times publicly acknowledged his failure."

1980


47 years after publishing false information that helped hide Stalin's murder of millions of people the New York Times finally sees fit to admit their reporting was false.

The editorial you're referring to must be Gareth Jones who published a rebuttal in the New York Times.

Gareth Jones was a journalist with The Times -- not to be confused with The New York Times.

The Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785, when it was known as The Daily Universal Register.

You're stupid fuck (even for an extreme leftist), Montag. The New York Times stood by their false reporting by Walter Duranty (and by extention Josef Stalin) for almost 47 years.

Anonymous said...

One thing about a rightwing nut is he is ALWAYS gotta be right. It's this that makes me want to throw feces in his face and vomit at the same time.
vox

pansypoo said...

well, the isiot and his partee TRUULY believe the horseshit they peddle. because truthiness MAKES it TRUE! DAMMIT! IT HAS TO BEEEEE!!!!!11111!!!

WATBs.

Banality and Evil said...

1980. Thank God the Bush shadow government snuffed out Lennon before they took a shot at Reagan. Who knows, we might have had a real peace dividend.

DanF said...

Rather than address the issue, Ollie fighting a reporter from 1933. 1933 - oh wait - that should have it's own line:

1933

And standing by your reporter is now akin to supporting Stalin! And by extension, Hitler and Mao! Why the New York Times is responsible for Pol Pot and Glen Beck! The blood on their hands can only be washed by self-immolation, and even that wouldn't satisfy. AmIright OnA? We would have won the Cold War BEFORE it started had it not been for the NYT!

Hacktacular.

Olives and Arrows said...

AmIright OnA? We would have won the Cold War BEFORE it started had it not been for the NYT!

No, you're wrong, as is your disturbing tendancy.

The New York Times and their ilk gave aid and comfort to Stalin but even so The Cold War probably would have happened. Same with the so-called "war on terror". Even though the New York Times has committed treasonous acts that aided al qaeda and their ilk, the pre-medieval ideology of the Islamists will continue to lose in the longer run.

Banality and Evil said...

I've seen photos of Churchill and FDR with Stalin. Clearly they gave aid and comfort to Stalin.

See? The free world was saved by communist sympathizers!

God, I'm such an idiot.

Olives and Arrows said...

Oh yes, you're an idiot alright!

Fer gawdsakes, Hedley.
Get your shrink to re-down or re-up your re-uptake inhibitor regimen. Hopefully before you go off the deep end again, like when you wished for somebody to contract an illness leading to their death.

Olives and Arrows said...

.


psst.....
Hedley.

...the sitemeter link at the bottom of the page shows that 2:28 PM was your droppings......

Banality and Evil said...

Polite as ever!

Banality and Evil said...

Compared to your desire to send divisions of innocents into wars of profit and convenience, to risk life and limb, torn from wives and loved ones to reign death on other innocents in foreign lands while sitting safely at your keyboard; wishing for your involuntary withering from said keyboard is truly the greater crime.

Olives and Arrows said...

You stooped that low only because you're such a pathetic loser, Hedley. Not only because you lack morality.

And speaking of pathetic it's apparent that you can't bring yourself to use your former nic whatever you attempt to address me. Ever since I called you out on your anti-Semitic statements you've been doing this. You must be experiencing what normal people would call shame.

Mr. Hedley Bowes said...

What anti-Semitic comments?

I recall that Olives and Arrows became so inflamed and defamatory that his comments were stripped from that thread by a blog moderator. It could happen again.

OnA, who are you to lecture anyone on morality? Don't you have anything better to do? Why don't you go start your own blog?

Olives and Arrows said...

I see that my comment responding to Hedley has been removed. I will comply with Atta's wishes by not engaging in this particular line of discussion on his blog.