Russians love brutal, eccentric dictators as much as Hungarians like being oppressed by them.

Yankistan and el Dixie started the cold war not Russia.

Broz_Tito: Yankistan and el Dixie started the cold war not Russia.

Nuh uh, the winner gets to say how it happened.

"dictatorial police state" Correct! Not communism.

"Stalin" Correct! Not Stallone, the famed Italian stallion who brought down the USSR with moxie and guts.

2wolves: "dictatorial police state" Correct! Not communism.

What the hell?

Forced "collectivization" is communism. Just because it's forced, is irrelevant.

Hey - it worked for Lincoln after he started the War of Northern Aggression and caused the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Americans. Bin Laden x100.

/ ;-)

Stalin and Peter the Great had the greatest influence on Russian history to date. Gorbachev maybe, but we have to wait another few decades to make that determination.

GaryPDX: 2wolves: "dictatorial police state" Correct! Not communism.

What the hell?

Forced "collectivization" is communism. Just because it's forced, is irrelevant.

Aw shiathammer. Let's not the two of you get into it. You're both fun, let's keep it that way.
We could all take turns trashing Ivan the Terrible. He's surprisingly high on the list.

Well, to be fair, Hitler is probably the most well known historical figure of the 20th century.

/oblig.

PC LOAD LETTER: Stalin and Peter the Great had the greatest influence on Russian history to date. Gorbachev maybe, but we have to wait another few decades to make that determination.

I guess in his defense, he did industrialize Russia and turned them into a world power

Mr. Murder: Well, to be fair, Hitler is probably the most well known historical figure of the 20th century.

Give it time, the cream always rises to the top. By cream I mean me.

Oh yeah, did someone say "Hitler"?

SnakeLee: PC LOAD LETTER: Stalin and Peter the Great had the greatest influence on Russian history to date. Gorbachev maybe, but we have to wait another few decades to make that determination.

I guess in his defense, he did industrialize Russia and turned them into a world power

And although he hid in his room for a week after the Germans launched Barbarossa, he did preside over their victory over the Nazis and establish the Iron Curtain, which fundamentally changed the geopolitical landscape of Europe with consequences which will be with us for centuries.

Not a suprise.

This is all goes back to the traditional Russian perception of security at all costs.

Russia under Stalin was seen as safe and secure against external threat, after crushing Germany. All the satellite regions around Russia were under soviet control.

It was every Russians wet dream.

GaryPDX: 2wolves: "dictatorial police state" Correct! Not communism.

What the hell?

Forced "collectivization" is communism. Just because it's forced, is irrelevant.

It's a standard Leftist line.

"Communism has never actually been tried. All past attempts have been something else. It's still viable, dammit!"

I have had hard-core Socialists tell me with a straight face that Stalin practiced "state capitalism"

"Well Known" does not equal "Popular" (Beloved).

Conservationist: In short, expect nothing but tyranny, dysfunction, crime, corruption, disorganization and failure from Russia until some massively eugenic force clears it of idiots.

In Russia, bottle feeding doesn't involve milk. I think that's more to blame than eugenics.

Swampthing in Korea:
It's a standard Leftist line.

"Communism has never actually been tried. All past attempts have been something else. It's still viable, dammit!"

I have had hard-core Socialists tell me with a straight face that Stalin practiced "state capitalism"

No, it's no more viable than 100% capitalism.

We should have pushed through and attacked the Russians like Churchill wanted to do immediately after WW II.

Stalin probably sent more people to camps than Hitler.
Both very bad dudes.

Why so shocked?

We ain't Russkies. We don't share their brutal and bloody history.

The United States wasn't ravaged by Napoleon in the 1800s and the good ol' USA wasn't touched by Hitler's blitzkrieg in WWII.
(Soviets lost 18+ million in that war)

A hardass monster like Stalin was greatly appreciated by many in the USSR.

...once again,dumb Americans still think everybody is the same and should have our identical values.

craigdamage: ...once again,dumb Americans still think everybody is the same and should have our identical values.

I, er, um... UK?

opiumpoopy: Hey - it worked for Lincoln after he started the War of Northern Aggression and caused the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Americans. Bin Laden x100.

/ ;-)

Why not compare him to Bush as well, you know you want to.

Oh man, just think how awesome it would be if Rove was Russian... and we didn't have any vested interests on earth...

Stalin defeated Hitler. Wankers commenting on Fark defeated numerous bags of Cheetos.

In my defense, one of those Cheetos totally looked like Hitler.

staplermofo: craigdamage: ...once again,dumb Americans still think everybody is the same and should have our identical values.

I, er, um... UK?

The occupation of Britain was brutal, yeah?

sorry, stapler, I replied to you by accident.

PC LOAD LETTER: The occupation of Britain was brutal, yeah?

Well, they were bombed or something, possibly during teatime. U-boats sinking all of the shipments of limes. You know how delicate those guys are.

PC LOAD LETTER: sorry, stapler, I replied to you by accident.

Oh... I...
*realizes what that means*

I'm sorry!
*runs off crying*

I can has Commie thread?

horonto: We should have pushed through and attacked the Russians like Churchill wanted to do immediately after WW II.

Stalin probably sent more people to camps than Hitler.
Both very bad dudes.

You and what army ?

I can't argue with Conservationist

Russia/USSR is basically a nation of Euro-rednecks.

BUT: ....since they overthrew their more intelligent aristocracy

Are you speaking of the same "aristocracy" that was prancing around the royal palace grounds on ponies with diamond studded saddles while 75% of their nation was starving? (true,Czar Nicholas had his entire family's horses fitted with diamond encrusted saddles worth 8 million dollars each--BONUS--those were 1905 dollars)

/I ain't no damn commie.
// I am smart enough however to comprehend how/why communism can happen.

staplermofo: In my defense, one of those Cheetos totally looked like Hitler.

Wow, you must be really proud of that video to post it a second time, after no one comments on it the first time.

horonto: We should have pushed through and attacked the Russians like Churchill General Patton wanted to do immediately after WW II.

Fixed that for you.

Wait, so this says that something really bad happened in history but Bush wasn't responsible? I can't accept that.


/lame troll I know, still waking up

staplermofo: We could all take turns trashing Ivan the Terrible. He's surprisingly high on the list.

Ivan is on the move again. They want to control the worlds energy. The have staked out a full half of the arctic ocean, captured the pipelines from the Caucuses to the west (Georgia), made huge arms eals with Venezuela, Syriam, Saudi Arabia, and Iran and is threatening Europe.

But all we ever hear is...

HAHA!! The Cold War is over!! LOLzWhargarble!!communismgoodloloz!

:)

Aw heck, let me try this...

You know who else gained popularity by killing millions of people and creating a dictatorial police state?

Hint: He only had one ball, and no, it's not Lance Armstrong, but he also had his own Tour de France.

Did I do that right?

/Sir Alec Guinness

An uncle of mine survived the Gulags. Russians who hold Stalin and his like in high regard can fark themselves and choke on their vodka.

naturalbornworldshaker: Wow, you must be really proud of that video to post it a second time, after no one comments on it the first time.

I think it's hilarious. They had an apology two episodes later. The full episode is better, the 2nd guy in there is Francis Xavier, whose secret is that if you turn his head upside down, and add two dots within his beard, you get a penguin face.

Oopsie...

I was also going to throw in a snark involving said Sir Alec Guinness whistling on some bridge somewhere.

Never knew until a few years ago that there were WORDS to that song!

/Bad cow, no donuts.
/I fail...

GaryPDX: HAHA!! The Cold War is over!! LOLzWhargarble!!communismgoodloloz!

I've made my position on this as clear as I know how.
Nuclear war in 2009 at the absolute latest. Preferably with Israel and whoever hates them.

staplermofo: .

My apologies. I guess the humor was a bit over my head. It just reemphasizes to me that everyone and everything in Japan is farkin weird.

/must be from nuclear fallout.
//slashies

Mr. Murder: Well, to be fair, Hitler is probably the most well known historical figure of the 20th century.

yeah... except in reading the article they actually mean 'popular' as in... 'cool guy! / he's great! / a-okay dude in my book!' and not in the sense of 'most well known' or 'most notorious'.

that's what makes it kinda... odd.


horonto: Stalin probably sent more people to camps than Hitler.

probably? not 'to camps' in the literal sense (though maybe there too) but in kill-numbers... pretty certain between the famines and purges the numbers are at least equal to the Holocaust. and could be significantly more.

i've heard 50 million before... though i think the most-accepted figure nowadays is much less than that. but still double-digit-millions.

Holodomor was like half-Holocaust in size... but didn't have obvious things like defined camps with barbed wire or gas chambers. so it probably doesn't count.

FrayedEdgeOfSanity: Wait, so this says that something really bad happened in history but Bush wasn't responsible? I can't accept that.


/lame troll I know, still waking up

Well, his grandfather did lend a hand. Blood tells.

staplermofo: GaryPDX: HAHA!! The Cold War is over!! LOLzWhargarble!!communismgoodloloz!

I've made my position on this as clear as I know how.
Nuclear war in 2009 at the absolute latest. Preferably with Israel and whoever hates them.

Europe, Russia, The Middle-East and San Francisco?

Swampthing in Korea: Nuclear war in 2009 at the absolute latest. Preferably with Israel and whoever hates them.

You prefer nuclear war?

craigdamage: A hardass monster like Stalin was greatly appreciated by many in the USSR

A hardass monster like Stalin was greatly appreciated by many in RUSSIA, whose version of economics was like the Simpsons' human food pyramid (not the chocotastic one, the one where every arrow points to humans) where anything of value (above-average humans, material, glory, etc) was expropriated to russia. It's not unusual to see ignorant morans type "Russia" instead of "USSR." It's unusual to see somebody to make the reverse mistake as you did. Check around to see how many Stalin monuments there are outside of Russia and areas that it directly controls via puppets (by which I mean Belarus and Transdnisteria). Do you see big Stalin monuments in Talinn? Lviv? no? Hmm. I wonder why not.

Conservationist: Russia is a third world nation with an average IQ of 96.

IQ and the Wealth of Nations (wikipedia)

They have been unstable since they overthrew their more intelligent aristocracy, and replaced with rule by the same peasants who couldn't organize themselves to oppose the Mongols.

In short, expect nothing but tyranny, dysfunction, crime, corruption, disorganization and failure from Russia until some massively eugenic force clears it of idiots.

More intelligent? Tsar Nicholas II was hardly the sharpest tool in the shed.