The "why should we bother to reply to Kautsky" quote is fake. If Lenin said this, it's not recorded anywhere. In reality, it was very likely fabricated by a conservative pundit to pretend that Lenin hated debate.
Seems more likely to me that Newsweek fucked up its citation than that Will managed to get a total fabrication past its fact-checkers at the height of the golden age of newsmagazines.
What's the process envisioned here? George asks his research assistant 'Clive, be a dear and dig up that delicious Lenin quote from 10 years ago,' an editor asks George where it comes from, and then instead of finding a different way to say it, George falsely makes the falsifiable claim that it comes from a specific document even though getting caught in a deliberate fabrication might have led to serious professional consequences?
I should clarify that: George Will's article in Newsweek doesn't *explicitly* cite that book as the source for the quote. However, it's the intro quote of a book review, and the article extensively quotes from the book without explicitly citing it. (ex: https://i.imgur.com/UhbqOnh.png ) I think a reasonable reader would assume it's from that book, even if not explicitly cited!
Seems more likely to me that Newsweek fucked up its citation than that Will managed to get a total fabrication past its fact-checkers at the height of the golden age of newsmagazines.
What's the process envisioned here? George asks his research assistant 'Clive, be a dear and dig up that delicious Lenin quote from 10 years ago,' an editor asks George where it comes from, and then instead of finding a different way to say it, George falsely makes the falsifiable claim that it comes from a specific document even though getting caught in a deliberate fabrication might have led to serious professional consequences?
I should clarify that: George Will's article in Newsweek doesn't *explicitly* cite that book as the source for the quote. However, it's the intro quote of a book review, and the article extensively quotes from the book without explicitly citing it. (ex: https://i.imgur.com/UhbqOnh.png ) I think a reasonable reader would assume it's from that book, even if not explicitly cited!
"Trotsky has sent in a silly letter. We shall neither print it nor reply to him."
- V.I. Lenin