“America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.” Joseph Stalin, Russian Dictator
Did Joseph Stalin actually say that, or this a quote from the right wing copy/paste echosphere? Glenn is usually pretty good about going to original sources. When did Stalin say it? To whom? Was it published in any publication close to the time Stalin said it?
The wording doesn’t sound like translated Russian. Why would Stalin say such a thing and to whom? What would be the purpose of telegraphing such a plan? Keep in mind that the United States and Russia were allies during World War 2. Stalin died in 1953. Why would Stalin want to destroy the United States?
It sounds to me like a fabricated quote created by anti-Communist / Christian activists and attributed to “Joseph Stalin, Communist Dictator” – perhaps to scare people to want “In God We Trust” added to our money, and certainly to round them up to go to church to be Good Americans.
If this was an actual quote, surely I can find it on a Socialist or Communist web site, since it is a guiding principle after all.
So let’s see where the bread crumbs lead
http://www.movieguide.org/reviews/movie/agenda-grinding-america-down.html
A “Christian” anti-communist documentary “Grinding America Down” made 6 months ago by an unknown film producer
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2437325/posts
A Freeper from January 2010 with no citation or source
http://www.famguardian.org/Subjects/LawAndGovt/Articles/MoralityRelig.htm
from 2009
http://www.rense.com/general63/spoke.htm
Jeff Rense (haha!) from 2005
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/07/colorado-civil-unions-bil_1_n_832678.html
A woman used the quote in the Gay Rights debate in Colorado
http://www.homeschooltherevolution.com/quotes.htm
Home Schooling list of quotes
Searching Google Books, the oldest book that contains this quote is:
The Gospel According to a Modern Day Sinner
By Gregg C. Cummings, published in 2005
Okay, so we made it up out of whole cloth, but Stalin COULD have said that! I’m still open to the possibility of it being genuine, but I sure can’t find it.
Onward Christian Soldiers, marching us into war….