Last week a committee of the New Hampshire state House unanimously killed a proposal to display a memorial plaque in the state Capitol. The plaque commemorates the rather inappropriately named Abraham Lincoln Battalion, which was a group of American volunteers who fought against Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939.

State Sen. Bert Cohen, D-N.H., the main sponsor of the proposal, said the plaque was necessary to honor the Battalion's "early opposition to fascism." He added, "The courage demonstrated by these brave Americans should stand as a role model for young generations to come."

The truth is that although many of these "brave Americans" may have gone to Spain with the intention of halting the spread of fascism in Europe, the Battalion itself took its marching orders directly from Joseph Stalin.