"These are grim times for socialism, when we find that these countries have abandoned it," Doares continues. "But there are good and bad times for everything."

As the different interpretations of Eastern European reform suggests, the far left in the U.S. is deeply divided over Marxist theory. Some embrace Josef Stalin, others Leon Trotsky. One group rejects both and says only Lenin correctly interpreted Marx.

The RCP, for example, says that it follows the teachings of Lenin, Marx and the late Mao Zedong, former chair of the Chinese Communist Party and author of the infamous Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and early '70s.

So, the RCP does not regard any existing nation as truly communist. The Soviet Union left the fold in the 1960s under Krushchev, and China itself fell from grace with the rise of China's current leader, Deng Xiaoping, Lawrence says.

Another communist sect, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) looks back even further to pinpoint the end of true communism. Gary Springston, an ISO spokesperson, says that for all intents and purposes, socialism disappeared with Lenin's death in 1924.

And local Spartacists are similarly dissatisfied with contemporary communist regimes. "The one model we look to is the workers' revolution in 1917," says Lisa Martin, a spokesperson for the Spartacist League. Although her group supports the planned socialist economies of the world, it does so only for lack of better alternative, she says.

The theoretical split among socialists began shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "The source of disagreement in the Marxist left today is over the question of Russia," explains Springston. "How you define that is how you define socialism."

While the Soviet experience has inspired some Marxists, it is regarded as horrific by others. Admirers point to that nation's industrialization, military might and relative economic equality as signs of success. But detractors suggest that Soviet leaders have been unfaithful to Marx and simply cruel.

Stalin, for example, ordered the liquidation of an entire class of Russians in order to bring about industrialization and agricultural reform. It is estimated that millions of people died during his purges, with millions more interned on work camps.

But some local communists say they can see a justification for Stalin's measures. "We uphold Stalin," says Lawrence. "He made some very serious errors, but he did them in the context of trying to implement communism."

"The most Stalinist regime is more democratic and free than any capitalist country," says WWP's Doares in defense of the deposed and executed Nicolai Ceausescu of Romania. "What is dictatorship for one class is democracy for another class; what is democracy for the rich is dictatorship for the poor."

But whatever disagreements communists may have about Russian history or Marxist theory, and however differently they may view the recent mass demonstrations in Eastern Europe, they speak in unison on one salient subject: Mikhail Gorbachev.

"He is an imperialist," says Lawrence of the RCP. "He is in an imperialist country that leads one of the major war blocs in the world."

To the RCP, Gorbachev is just another ugly face. He is more objectionable than his predecessors, but like Khruschev and Brezhnev he is a traitor to the cause--a "revisionist."

The ISO views Time magazine's Man of the Year in a similar light. "We feel Mikhail Gorbachev is not fundamentally different from any of his predecessors," says Springston, who says he views Soviet-style "communism" as essentially capitalist. "I would compare Mikhail Gorbachev to Lee lacocca: He feels his corporation needs to be restructured," referring to the chief executive officer of Chrysler.