Diplomats & Dragons

Josef Stalin (Photo Credit: Margaret Bourke-White)

“A sincere diplomat, Stalin once said, “is like dry water or wooden iron.” (from a “Talk of the Town” piece by Lizzie Widdicombe in December 13, 2010 issue of The New Yorker.)

While Stalin’s off-hand characterization of the routine duplicity of diplomacy may be accurate, doesn’t Ms. Widdicombe miss a scaly, fire-breathing, man-eating irony here?

Granted, her charming brief piece focuses on the recent WikiLeaks controversy, exposed U.S. diplomatic cables, and the deceptions all of us practice in daily social life.  Still, quoting Josef Stalin’s moral critique of anyone feels like talons scratching a blackboard. It makes me shudder.

Wasn’t Stalin responsible for 10 to 20 million deaths? (See note.)  Didn’t he sign a pact with Hitler?  Didn’t he deport millions in a process of ethnic cleansing and territorial control?  Didn’t millions more die as the result of the forced collectivization of Soviet farming in the 1930’s?  Isn’t, in fact, the tally of suffering he caused incalculable, untold, unbearable?

The dishonesty of 99.99% of history’s ambassadors must pale beside the roster of Stalin’s deceptions and depredations.  The phrase, “grotesque hyprocrisy,” wouldn’t even begin to cover his remark about diplomats.

Widdicombe seems beyond tone deaf in this instance, more like “See no evil, hear no evil speak no evil”.  Admittedly, it’s a minor gaffe.  Still, would she quote Hitler so casually and without any further qualification?

Expecting a dragon to proffer reliable truths is like… well, you pick the final term of the simile.  Many come to mind.

When Stalin—or any creature of a similar reptilian habit—slithers out for a chat and a meal, I’d suggest you run for your life or brandish a very big, very keen sword.