Also, I harbour no categoric rejection of hard-core commies. I do think that anyone looking for an ideal society in the past is a conservative at heart, and think that those who waste time defending a past system lost sight of the ideals even before looking at the details. However, people change, even Moscow-loyal commies, and I think the Italian, French, Swedish, East German commies showed that they can cooperate rationally if the situation arises.

Also, there is the Austrian example: the KPÖ was a poster example of a hardcore pro-Soviet party, they rejected Eurocommunism and repeatedly purged members who'd favour it, with the result that by the late nineties, their voters were hardly more than the party members. But one guy in the city of Graz thought, all this ideological debate is boring, let's do something for workers! The result was double-digits support in elections for the local parliament. (Though on the last elections this past 20 January, they lost heavily -- with the Greens gaining most --, they still got 11.2%, and the media linked losses to the popular local leader's switch to the regional parliament.)

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.