David Horowitz, a man who is hardly soft on liberalism takes Ann Coulter out to the woodshed for the allegations in her book Treason. Horowitz states:
It is a shame that Coulter mars her case with claims that cannot be sustained. In making McCarthy the center of her history, ironically, she has fallen into the very liberal trap she warns about. It is the Left that wants McCarthy to be the center of (and in effect to define) the postwar era so that it can use his recklessness to discredit the anti-Communist cause. In fact, as Coulter herself points out, McCarthy began his anti-Communist crusade after the decisive battles of 1947 and 1948, surfacing only in 1950, after the onset of the Korean War. By then, even Henry Wallace, the Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, knew he had been duped. This is why McCarthy did not unearth any Communists in government or out (all they had all been previously identified by the FBI), and why FBI officials engaged in counter-intelligence work despised McCarthy for damaging their efforts. Hopefully, Treason will not have a similar effect.
Coulter is one of those people who should know better. She’s a very smart person, and knows that not all liberals are traitors to this country. By drawing such blanket statements while ignoring the work of people like Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Scoop Jackson, she tars people who fought for American freedom as traitors.
While there are certainly no shortage of leftists who really do want to see America fail, Coulter’s ill-concieved attacks and sloppy reasoning only hurt those who are trying to defend America from those those scurrilous attacks. Becoming the enemy is not a way to defeat the enemy, and Coulter’s efforts only set back those who are trying to defend this country. By her own standards, she herself is committing treason, and she needs to stop.
“While there are certainly no shortage of liberals who really do want to see America fail,”
Name one.
The people at Indymedia come to mind instantly, and I frequently hear people at peace rallies wishing America would have lost in Iraq to "take us down a peg". I was shocked that someone who was ostensibly intelligent would say such a thing. Sean Penn actively worked with the Hussein regime at the same time they were executing civilians. The professor who said America needed a "million Mogadishus" also would fit in that category.
However, in the interests of fairness, I should amend that statement. Most liberals do not have such feelings. People who are that extreme are more leftist than liberal. Liberal implies the leftward side of the classical liberal tradtion, while leftist acknowledges those who are against the tradition of the Enlightenment.
I consider myself moderate with liberal leanings, but I sure as hell don’t want this country to fail or burn. While I opposed Pres. George W. Bush’s handling of the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, I sure as heck wanted our troops to achieve a decisive victory. So, with that in mind, I just don’t get where some of these leftist America haters come from. I don’t believe all literals and leftists want to see this country fail, but there is a bunch of them. I stopped reading indymedia because I was sickened by the anti-Americanism in it. By anti-Americanism, I don’t mean opposition to Pres. Bush’s policies, I mean hatred of America and the desire to see it hurt. I have not read indymedia for awhile, so I ought check in on it to see if it has settled down.
How did Sean Penn actively work with the Iraqi regime? Did he supply “aid and comfort?” Did he supply weapons or technical support as many US and European companies did?
Hrmm. Never read Indymedia before. From what I can see on thier front page right now they don’t seem THAT bad…
ttam: He went over to Iraq, and met with Saddam Hussein and told everyone how terrible it was that anyone would want to remove him from power. What he didn’t even think of asking about were the mass graves, the death camps, and the widespread totalitarianism of the Hussein regime. It’s as morally despicable as appearing with Hitler and refusing to give moral sanction to his regime.
Alex: Here’s just a few examples of the filth that spews from Indymedia.
This article says that the people killed in the September 11 attacks essentially deserved to die for their military service.
Here’s another hateful cartoon gloating over the death of US soldiers in Iraq.
Here’s some more Indymedia trolls trying to downplay the cruelty of Saddam’s sons. (Scroll down and you’ll see more conspiracy stories about how September 11 was all the work of the Bush Administration.)
Here’s Indymedia defending the lynching of Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel. (Caution: graphic images.)
Here’s an article applauding the murder of US soldiers in Iraq.
I’d go on, but I think the point is proven. Indymedia features not only this, but Holocaust denial, anti-Semitism, and the kind of blatant hatred that would make Joseph Goebbels flush with pride. Indymedia often inadvertantly exposes the racism, hatred, and love of tyranny that is just under the surface of the anti-capitalist movement.
You actually did come up with one name, Sean Penn. He made a three day trip, visiting a children’s hospital, walking the streets and meeting Tariq Aziz. This is “actively working”?
Well seeing the requirements for posting (or lack thereof) their being totally insane now doesn’t suprise me.
George W. Bush’s handling of the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, I sure as heck wanted our troops to achieve a decisive victory.
Good. Prior to the war I happened to catch one of the guys from the Nation on Fox News. He was asked by the interviewer wether he wants our guys to win if we do go into Iraq. The guy simply refused to answer that question even when it was repeated 3 times.