Doug R. is talking reasonable stuff here, although I probably differ on the fine points. But from GUEST, I would like to have some kind of explanation why "communist" dictatorships are worse than other dictatorships. Can it be because "communists" purport to speak for poor people? Or because they do, after all, do more than other dictatorships to promote health and literacy among the population? What have you got against literacy? Or because they challenge preexisting privileges? Kerala has at times had a democratically elected "communist" government. So has the City of Rome, I think. Are they our "enemies" too?

Hey GUEST, didn't we defeat communism by buying all those $500 toilet seats? Is China "communist" just because the ruling party, acting out of inertia, calls itself a "Communist Party"? To paraphrase that old song, I'd say they "preach communism, but they practice fascism, to preserve capitalism by the (party cadres)." What ya got against that, GUEST?