Nothing like a little news dropped into a running discussion of Marxism

Frequently the comments posted online beneath our news stories and commentaries are off point and turn into name-calling diatribes among the posters. (Hint: Read from the bottom up for chronological order.)

But occasionally a poster can be downright prescient.

The first comment appended to my Sunday screed lamenting the McCain-Feingold campaign contribution law was from a person who identified himself as Calvin Coolidge. He wrote: “And to think that our last presidential election was between a rank amateur Marxist and the guy who sponsored this loathsome infringement on free speech.”

I replied a little later to Silent Cal, noting that it is hard to predict the outcome when we start manipulating the system.

This was soon followed by comments from frequent poster John F.

“So, Mr. Mitchell, you agree with ‘Calvin Coolidge’ that our President is a ‘rank amateur Marxist’?” John F wrote. “Then perhaps you could point out for me where President Obama called for the transfer of ownership of the means of production from stockholders to the proletariat.”

I then replied that I think Obama is a rank amateur European-style socialist — nationalized banks, socialized medicine, redistribution of wealth, etc.

Then news happened.

Late in the afternoon SpencerG weighed in, reminding John F of his comment about transfer of the means of production to the proletariat.

“That is extremely amusing,” SpencerG wrote, “since just a few hours after you wrote those words, President Obama demanded that the CEO of General Motors step down so that the Obama Administration could appoint a successor.”

And the multilogue continues.