he wasn't one of the stars of the bolshevik party. yet stollen pretty handily defeated trotsky in the 1920's. we talk about conflict. really there was no conflict. he went down very quickly in part because trotsky was a poor politician. stalin was a very able politician. and also trotsky's antibolshevik past which i told you about and other political idea what to call issues were brought in. those were the big ones. but for trotsky, the idea that stalin, the georgian, you know, the peasant, asiatic eastern by defeated the great trotsky, one of the great leaders of the revolution really obviously bugged him. and the brief he explained at was saying that stalin was really nobody still but he represented a bureaucracy that have essentially taken over the soviet organisms were captured it, a broker at stratton that had hijacked the revolution and was still a workers' state but this bureaucratic class was a parasitic entity that had to be removed. so for trotsky he wasn't defeated by a person. he always hated the question. how did you lose

-- the saudi arabian that he called bolsheviks. -- the saudi arabians that he called bolsheviks. >he'd trained himself as a journalist but he tired of the zionism. he moved to paris, briefly and then to berlin. he became a journalist with the main group of newspapers. because of his interest in science, he quickly got promoted to science editor. people for got this when he turned to writing about science later in life that he had this intense experience for two or three years in germany. >> by the way, he brought how many books? >> 34, all total. >> how many are novels and how many are non-fiction? >> there are five novels, a couple of plays and the rest are nonfiction. >> of the nonfiction, which were the most successful? >> the most successful -- all of his nonfiction was pretty successful. i make the case in my book that one of the reasons that he has been more forgotten that he should have been was that people tend to think of him as a novelist because of "darkness of noon." particularly, in his opera biological -- a autobiographal nonfiction. >> did he go from berlin to spai

the president said they had made his health care plan out to be "some bolshevik plot". the republicans charged he's ignored their ideas. and the government reported economic growth at the end of 2009 was the strongest in six years. but stocks sold off again on concerns about how strong the recovery will be. the newshour is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari. >> sreenivasan: you can pose questions about the economy and a potential recovery to economics correspondent paul solman on his "making sense" page. and we catch up with jeffrey brown, who is at the sundance film festival, where he's a juror on the documentary review panel. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. judy. >> woodruff: before we go, an editor's note about the toyota recall story we aired last night. we received letters from viewers asking for more information about what to do if the accelerator sticks while driving. here's a fuller explanation, as recommended by toyota: to stop immediately, step on the brake pedal with both feet and apply steady

debate and frankly, how some of you went after this bill, you would think that this thing was some bolshevik plot. no, i mean, that's how you guys presented it. and i am thinking to myself, how is it that a plan that is pretty centrist -- no, look, i mean, i am just say, i know you guys disagree, but if you look at the facts of this bill, most independent observers would say that this is actually what many republicans -- is similar to what many republicans propose to bill clinton when he was doing his debate on health care. so all i am saying is, we have got to close the gap little bit between the rhetoric and reality. i am not suggesting that we are going to agree on everything. whether it is health care or energy or what have you. but if the way these issues are being presented by the republicans is that this is some wild eyed plot to impose huge government in every aspect of our lives, what happens is you guys that do not have a lot of room to negotiate with me. i mean, the fact of the matter is, is that many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulne

he said this is not a bolshevik plot. describe the atmosphere? . . >> the president promised to fight republican leadership to the white house once a month for the r@ ñrçóxdÑiit stopped when it becar that the two sides were talking past each other. he is making a renewed effort to make the appearance of consulting. we will see whether it reaches past appearances to something ;concrete. ñrÑi>> any chance will seymour e meetings open? >> -- we will see more of these meetings open? and forth. ñrçóÑithey both had a way of aig their long-simmering the use of these things. it would not entirely surprised me to see them find a way to do >> thank you for joining us. >> [inaudible] >> i appreciate that. >> they stopped by the homeless facility here. when he heard that i would be seeing you today, i told him [inaudible] >> he has said words he said you'd never forget. he said, it is not like it was when we were coming off. he said there is no jobs. it was a peaceful list of projects. we were told it had to be passed. or unemploymen

listen to the debate and how some of you went after this bill, you would think this thing was some bolshevik plot. that is how you guys presented it. i am thinking to myself, how is it that a plant that is pretty centrist -- how is it that a plan that is pretty centrist when you look at the facts of the bill, most independent observers would say that this is actually what many republicans proposed to bill clinton when he was doing his debate. we have got to close the gap between the rhetoric and reality. i am not suggesting we will agree on everything, whether it's health care, energy, or what have you. but the way these issues are being presented by the republicans is that this is some wildlife plot to impose huge government in every aspect of our lives. what happens is that you do not have a lot of room to negotiate with me. the fact is that many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable in your own base. you are vulnerable in your own party. you have given yourselves very little room to work in a bipartisan fashion. you have been telling your co

debate and frankly, how some of you went after this bill, you would think that this thing was some bolshevikented it. and i am thinking to myself, how -- no, no, look. i know that you disagree, but if you look at the facts of this bill, most independent observers would say that this is actually what many republicans -- it is similar to what many republicans proposed to bill clinton when he was doing hisçó debate on health care. so, all i am saying is that we have to close the gap a little bit between the rhetoric and reality. i am not suggesting that we will agree on everything, whether it is on health care, energy or what have you,çó but the way the issues are being presented, by the republicans, is that this is some wild plot to impose huge government in everyÑ)i aspect f our lives. you guys do not have a lot of room to negotiate with me. the fact of the matter is, many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable in your own party. you have given yourselves very little room to work in a bipartisan fashion because what you up and telling your const

were to listen to the debate and how some of you went after this bill, you would think this is a bolsheviklot. that is how you presented it. i am thinking of myself, well, how is it that a planne that is pretty centrist -- look, i am just saying -- i know that you disagree, but if you look at the facts of this bill, most independent observers would say that this is what many republicans -- this is similar to what many republicans proposed to bill clinton during his thing on health care. all i am saying is that we have got to close the gap between the rhetoric and reality. host: that was the president talking about the health care plan that stalled out in congress. your thoughts on what he said? guest: it is interesting. one of the problems that republicans have with him is that he is very liberal. later in the session he said that he was not an ideologue. there was murmurings in the crowd like -- oh, really? report -- conservatives see him saying that as nixon saying that he is not a crook. obama sees himself as a centrist and a pragmatist, and there is some evidence that that is the case,

listen to the debate and frankly you get to this bill, you would think that this thing was some bolshevik plot. [applause] that is that you guys presented. i was thinking to myself, how was it that it planned -- how is it that a plan that is pre centrist -- that is pretty centrist -- i am just saying and i know you guys disagree, if you look at the facts of this bill, most independent observers would say that this is what many republicans -- is similar to what many republicans proposed to bill clinton when he was doing his debate on health care. all i am saying is we have to close the gap a little bit between the rhetoric and reality. >> we will show more of the exchange between the president and the republicans yesterday. the papers were playing up this event. obama goes to the gop house for a wide open exchange. joining as knows what the reporters that covered the exchange. can you pay what happened yesterday on television and compare that to help residents in the past when they appear before the gop and the setting? how was this different? guest: as your viewers to call it and what we