Support Your Local Genocide

Fremont is a quirky Seattle neighborhood at the north end of Lake Union. When someone first told me that they had a statue of Lenin, I immediately asked if it was John Winston or Vladimir Ilyich. The correct answer is that they have a recycled, Russian-surplus V.I. Lenin.

The Seattle Weekly is a free alternative newspaper, which normally has a notably liberal, even leftist bent. So when they ran an article calling Lenin a mass murderer and a "sociopathic totalitarian bastard," and calling for the removal of the statue, it was a bit of a surprise. But some people see only what they want to. Adrienne Weller, a Freedom Socialist Party activist lately of Portland, OR wrote a nasty response claiming "The people of the world love and respect him [Lenin]." We all love our genocides. Don't we?