Southern Maryland Community Forums - View Single Post - McCAIN'S "CROSS IN THE DIRT" STORY ISN'T TRUE

cwo_ghwebb · 08-20-2008, 08:59 AM

[i]t turns out that this episode probably never happened to Solzhenitsyn at all, and according to a Solzhenitsyn biographer it appears nowhere in his published writing. Columbia University professor Michael Scammell, the author of Solzhenitsyn: A Biography, says the episode “never happened,” and didn’t appear in Solzhenitsyn’s book, Gulag Archipelago, either.

This only solves a piece of the mystery, but it’s a key piece. It doesn’t necessarily rule out the possibility that McCain or his biographer, Mark Salter, picked up the tale that this happened to Solzhenitsyn elsewhere and embellished it for their own purposes.

But it takes one well-trafficked theory off the table: That McCain, a fan of Solzhenitsyn, picked it up straight from his works. More broadly, it also skewers once and for all the cherished right-wing falsehood that this happened to Solzhenitsyn at all.

TPM: Er, Solzhenitsyn never wrote about that cross story that McCain supposedly plagiarized

08-20-2008, 08:59 AM	#10 (permalink)
cwo_ghwebb No Use for Donk Twits Member Since: Jul 2005 Location: Costa Rica bound Posts: 6,675	Solzhenitsyn never wrote about that cross story [i]t turns out that this episode probably never happened to Solzhenitsyn at all, and according to a Solzhenitsyn biographer it appears nowhere in his published writing. Columbia University professor Michael Scammell, the author of Solzhenitsyn: A Biography, says the episode “never happened,” and didn’t appear in Solzhenitsyn’s book, Gulag Archipelago, either. This only solves a piece of the mystery, but it’s a key piece. It doesn’t necessarily rule out the possibility that McCain or his biographer, Mark Salter, picked up the tale that this happened to Solzhenitsyn elsewhere and embellished it for their own purposes. But it takes one well-trafficked theory off the table: That McCain, a fan of Solzhenitsyn, picked it up straight from his works. More broadly, it also skewers once and for all the cherished right-wing falsehood that this happened to Solzhenitsyn at all. TPM: Er, Solzhenitsyn never wrote about that cross story that McCain supposedly plagiarized __________________ I don't accept the false premise that I'm not the Messiah and I'm not infallible! - B.O.
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