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JOHN_REED

                                             November 14, 2006
                                             December 10, 2006
                                        Rev: January  20, 2009


An odd thought:

Compare Robert Fisk
to John Reed?

I have the impression that
Reed didn't get out enough.

I've skimmed through "Ten Days
that Shook the World": it looks              [ref]
an awful lot like he spent a lot
of time hanging around in board
rooms watching meetings.


  The movie "Reds" has some
  striking footage of Warren
  Beatty strolling across
  a battlefield, manfully      I don't get the
  ignoring the exploding       sense that the        But then, you couldn't
  shells on all sides.         actual John Reed      accuse Reed of cowardice:
                               did a lot of that.    his various attempts at
                                                     sneaking in and out of
                                                     the Soviet Union alone
     I once heard a conservative argue that          took some guts.  And
     people like John Reed were being                I haven't even looked
     intentionally deceptive in downplaying          at his coverage of the
     the horrors of the new Soviet regime...         Mexican Revolution yet.

     Myself, I get the impression
     that they just didn't know
     about them.  You can be on      E.g. someone who lives
     the scene and still not be      in Washington DC will
     on the scene.                   not necessarily have
                                     any special insight
                                     into the Bush regime's
                                     motives.


          Jan 20, 2009:

          Looking at it more closely:
          I don't think you can make
          the excuse of ignorance for
          Reed, unless you want to call      PROPAGANDA_AND_EXPECTATIONS
          it willful ignorance.

          He had the fanatic's drive to
          ignore, downplay, or excuse
          the failings of his side.



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