Whatever else you may think of communism, this particular criticism seems misguided: there are as many bitterly opposed branches of communism as there are self-

Whatever else you may think of communism, this particular criticism seems misguided: there are as many bitterly opposed branches of communism as there are self-professed communists. Officially, communists often engage in self-critique (whether this is heartfelt or not is another matter). So they do criticize their own ideology and practices. A running joke among lefties is that the worst enemy of a communist is another communist with a slightly different ideology. Also see: Monty Python's Life of Brian and their hilarious "The People's Front of Judea" skit (not to be confused with Judea People's Front -- splitters!).