Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, The Discovery Channel aired an exceptionally powerful six part series, Monster: A Portrait of Stalin in Blood. The documentaries had been produced by Alexandre Ivankin at Contact Studio in Moscow from recently released archival footage. These programs have not been seen on American television or available for purchase for almost two decades. But four episodes of the series have been posted at Youtube and are available for viewing. Contemporary libertarians justly criticize the tyrannical turn America has taken over the past decade under Bush and Obama, with the egregious imperial wars, the onerous USA Patriot Act, torture and rendition, the invasive NSA and TSA, etc. But let us not forget the real face of totalitarianism. It is found in this Portrait.

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