Stacy McCain has a very good history lesson over at his site for the likes of Michael Moore [he won’t listen, but maybe many of his followers will].
I would like to quote one part of the lesson, to wit:
The rise of fascism in the 20th century was a result of particular historical circumstances, and happened in a certain way, and it is wrong to ignore the details of this history in order to make possible a partisan propaganda claim (which is what Moore’s misleading characterization is). What is generally neglected by such tendentious myth-makers, is the role played in the rise of European fascism by (a) the four-year nightmare of World War I, and (b) the Bolshevik Revolution. When the war ended, the millions of demobilized troops returned to civilian life provided leaders like Mussolini and Hitler the source of manpower for their paramilitary gangs, the “Blackshirts” in Italy and the “Brownshirts” in Germany. The success of Lenin’s Bolsheviks in seizing power in Russia showed how easily a disciplined revolutionary party could overthrow a democratic government. The widespread political disillusionment and economic problems of Europe after the First World War, combined with technological advancements (e.g., telephone, radio, automobiles, airplanes), helped make possible the totalitarian horrors of the Third Reich….
The success of Hitler’s paramilitary gang was inspired by the success of Mussolini’s paramilitary gang.
The success of Mussolini’s paramilitary gang was brought about by either a misreading or of a lessons-learned-reading of the situation in the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Bolsheviks seized Power And Control in Russia with very few people. They then used [primarily directed by Lenin’s genius in not caring how he got to where he was going] extra-ordinary means to achieve their ends. The others refused to employ what pure means they meant to achieve their ends.
Thus, by 1920 or there abouts, the Bolsheviks had achieved control of the Soviets. Let us not forget that there were many, many competing Parties until about that time.
So…the lesson to be learned here is this: the Left In America is much more Leninist than you think.