Frank's post reminds me again why Lizzie Cornish's title and post are so unfair. Over the many yeara I have been on this forum, I have grown to admire people like Art Thieme who has a very definite view of what constitutes folk music. I would never ask anyone to define him as a folk friend or a folk foe. He is, in the strictest sense, a folk musician. He has forgotten more about the songs than I will ever know. MacColl is the same way. You may not approve of his way of it, but there is no question as to his devotion to it and his devotion to certain principles.

To another matter, there is no question that the Russian Front and the Battle of Stalingrad were major contributors to the downfall of Hitler. Between the fighting grit of the Russians and the weather, they severely depleted Hitler's armies. But Joe Stalin was no hero. He was a murdering despot of the first order. I also don't believe he was a decent communist. I don't believe communism has truly been practiced anywhere.   It is not a system of governance that I could embrace, but neither is it the horrible thing that the US propaganda machine makes it. The totalitarian regime instituted by Stalin was just another dictatorship in the world.

You say the war could not have been won without Stalin. I could make the same statement about Churchill, Roosevelt, DeGaulle, and a number of others. The statement is self evident. The war was won by all the factors.

Mick