'I Am Not Afraid of Death' [SPIEGEL INTERVIEWS ALEXANDER SOLZHENITSYN]

Der Spiegel ^ | July 23, 2007 | Christian Neef and Matthias Schepp

[AndyJackson]

You are a complete and utter idiot. Sozhenitsyn has done a billion times more than anyone on this forum to oppose communism. It is exactly quantifiable in his case. He wrote x books and y people have read them. As a bonus he survived hardships almost no one on this forums save a POW camp survivor has done.

[AndyJackson]

I think we are talking about one of those neurological disorders where you confuse left and right and up and down.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Solzhenitsyn has never licked anyone’s boots. Further, S detests the Communists (iron curtain).

Also, HAVE you read any of Solzhenitsyn’s books?
My Son is married to a Russian Woman, and I have learned much about what Russians think right now about their leaders, country and politics. They give Putin credit for practically saving their country. They like the legal changes that solidify private property, etc. They are concerned about his censorship, but say that if Putin leaves office and allows the country to grow politically, it would be proof that he doesn’t want to be a dictator.

I don’t make excuses for Putin, but he has not been all bad. I personally think Putin is NOT trying to restore Soviet Communism, but just trying to put a more positive spin for Russia. I lived in Germany for some years, and many Germany in their 50s and older always want to apologize for their NAZI past, etc. Of course one should never forget such atrocities, but at some time you need to move on to the future.

I am a Southerner, and grew up during the 50s when Jim Crow was alive and well. I had much guilt for that, but came to realize that I had no part in those policies that ended before my age of majority, and that my ancestors that fought for the South were not evil.

[spanalot]

“The guy is an idiot or a DU plant”

No - I am second generation USA whose parents were the only ones in their families to flee the communists in 1939.

I was on one of the first tours to the Soviet Union to see the rest of the family for the first time and I know the evil that the Kremlin spawns.

What shall we discuss? Marxism? Young Hegelians? The forced famines of Ukrainians and Germans in 1921? 1947?
The Chinese famine of 60 million that was funded by the Kremlin?

The assassination of Livenenko? Yushchenko? The murder of several dozen journalists critical of Putin?

The idiot Solzhinitsyn who is a disgrace to his fellow victims?

[spanalot]

“My Son is married to a Russian Woman”

Ah yes, the inevitable “Russian Wife”.

[spanalot]

“Sozhenitsyn has done a billion times more than anyone on this forum to oppose communism”

Really? Reagan, Thatcher, and Pope Paul come to mind and none of them ever, or would ever, support Putie as Solzi does.

[spanalot]

“It is exactly quantifiable in his case”

You’re Russian , aren’t you? Your syntax gives you away.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

What is that supposed to mean?

[sittnick]

What is that supposed to mean?

Well, George, you are from Georgia . . . JUST LIKE STALIN WAS!

And me, because I don't like George Soros getting involved in Ukraine, so I must be a Kremlin apparchnik, as well, because they also don't like Soros getting involved in Ukraine.

One can disagree with S., but a fool and an idiot he ain't. He may not be Woodrow Wilson, but he is neither Communist nor kleptocrat. Most of all, he is not a globalist.

It cheapens the memories of those who truly suffered at the hands of communist thugs to sling the accusation of being a Kremlin operative around so freely.

[spanalot]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=%22russian+wives+club%22+free+republic

[spanalot]

“I don’t like George Soros getting involved in Ukraine”

This was a myth foisted by the Kremlin while they were trying to poison Yushchenko.

[sittnick]

“Sozhenitsyn has done a billion times more than anyone on this forum to oppose communism”

Really? Reagan, Thatcher, and Pope Paul come to mind and none of them ever, or would ever, support Putie as Solzi does.

I assume you meant Pope John Paul II, not Pope Paul VI. If any of these three are on this forum, I want their screen names!

Seriously, Reagan and Thatcher admired Solzhenitsyn greatly, Reagan citing him regularly. Frankly, Reagan said some foolish things about Lenin late in his term that were probably evidence of the onset of Alzheimer's.

JP II probably would had mixed feelings about Putin, and like me, he probably didn't like the long-standing Russian policy of stifling Catholic activity in the country. Solzhenitsyn is Russian Orthodox, so he probably wouldn't have much of an issue with it. Those policies started under Yeltsin (though probably not by his hand personally.)

I don't think anybody (except maybe departed A. Pole, who argued his side intelligently) would pretend that Putin is Thomas Jefferson. That doesn't make him Stalin or Napoleon, either.

[sittnick]

“I don’t like George Soros getting involved in Ukraine”

This was a myth foisted by the Kremlin while they were trying to poison Yushchenko.

Even Pravda publishes truth once in a while. I don't think Solzheitsyn favors the poisoning of Yushchenko, any more than I favor the murder of Vince Foster or the TEFRA act of 1986. Nonetheless, I remain a faithful American during the horrific Clinton years, and a Reagan supporter despite individual disagreements.

Seriously, Spanalot, you are no dummy, but when you immediately start calling people Communists for supporting Solzhenitsyn and tolerating Putin, you undermine your credibility.

BTW, a good web site that supports your take on the Russians is www.inatoday.com , the creator, Toby Westerman, is an excellent writer and researcher.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

My Son met his Wife while she was in the United States. He was a teacher for three years before he joined the Army, and was able to visit her three summers before they got married. None of this mail order crap.
She is a very bright woman with a college education who speaks five languages fluently. She is now an American citizen and proud of it.

[spanalot]

“Reagan said some foolish things about Lenin “

please enlighten us.

[spanalot]

“calling people Communists for supporting Solzhenitsyn and tolerating Putin, you undermine your credibility. “

No I don’t - but it sure gets the obfuscators like you to come out of the woodwork.

And how can you compare the death of Foster with the war that Putin has declared on foreign countries with the poisoning of Yush, the deaths of foreign journalists, the gas freeze, the arming of Iran and Syria.

You are a Russophile apologist and youre not fooling anyone.

[sittnick]

“Reagan said some foolish things about Lenin “ please enlighten us.

"On March 21 he told Joseph Fitchett of the International Herald Tribune that Gorby "actually is advocating some of the things that Lenin talked about that were not as restrictive and single-minded as Stalin was."

link to cite

I'm surprised you don't remember, it made quite a ripple in the media. Oh well, while I don't consider The Nation or the Red Alexander Cockburn to be a reliable source, the quotation, at least is pretty accurate. Reagan said more along those lines, that Lenin wasn't really so bad, but I don't have the exact quotation at my fingertips. A shame you don't remember.

You have to drop your habit of labeling people Russophiles, which I am not, any more than I am a Bulgariaphile, Boliviaphile or East Timorophile. Pat Buchanan probably comes a LOT closer to being a Russophile than I ever would, is he a Red, too? There is nothing wrong with being a Russophile, that is, one who loves the country (not necessarily the governement) of Russia.

If you want me to say bad things about Putin, that would be easy enough. I don't like him playing footsie with Chavez at all. Some of the stuff they block in the U.N. emboldens the terrorists. I don't like anybody cooperating with Red China, who I see as the real danger in the region. Their foreign spies are obviously stepping over the line in their behavior.

None of this has to do with Solzhenitsyn, who remains a genius, a national treasure, and yes, a Russophile, which he would accept as a compliment.

Whether you admit it or not, your careless slinging around of epithets accusing people like me who have been accused of the opposite by REAL reds in my college days combined with your lack of substantive argument makes you unpersuasive, even to a group that is rightly skeptical about Russia/Soviet Union. Few of us are skeptical about Solzhenitsyn.

[skinkinthegrass]

It cheapens the memories of those who truly suffered at the hands of communist thugs to sling the accusation of being a Kremlin operative around so freely.
and rem...The palest ink is better than the best memory...(A.S.)
...his books were/are very sobering about ('ol Uncle Joe) Stalin.

[spanalot]

“Reagan said some foolish things about Lenin “

---

please enlighten us.

---

“On March 21 he told Joseph Fitchett of the International Herald Tribune that Gorby “actually is advocating some of the things that Lenin talked about that were not as restrictive and single-minded as Stalin was.”

---

Whats so foolish about saying that Gorby and Lenin were not as bloodthirsty as Stalin?

I dont think you know anything at all about Reagan.

[spanalot]

“Few of us are skeptical about Solzhenitsyn.”

---

Oh really!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1871835/posts?q=1&;page=1
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PS - Putie and Solzi are swine who support the arming of the middle east where American Soldiers are dieing.