Just this morning I was rereading “Animal Farm” and a commentary by Orwell noted that when the book was published in 1943, it was generally considered by the intelligentsia of Britain that one never criticized the Communists in Russia. He noted it wasn’t government censorship but rather social censorship that enforced the orthodox view that Russia was an ally and its practices and policies were unassailable. He noted that even persons who were lifelong opponents of the death penalty approved of Stalin’s murderous purges in the late 30s. As the French saying goes, the more things change, the more things stay the same.
Agreed. Remember all of the hoopla among the media when Ronald Reagan dared to call the Soviet Union an evil empire. I am reminded of this very much so.