Title

Useful idiots : how liberals got it wrong in the Cold War and still blame America first

Description

The author attacks American liberals as naive and disingenuous in their dealings with the world, accusing them of rewriting history to portray themselves as "Cold Warriors" along with conservatives.

Identifier

1103890

895261391

Creator

Charen, Mona

Source

Brian Lamb Booknotes Collection

Gift of Brian Lamb, 2011.

Catalog record

Language

eng

Date

2003

Program air date: March 30, 2003

Publisher

Regnery Pub.

George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives

Text

Transcription of Annotations
Front endpapers include a list of people mentioned in the book: John Kerry, Walter Duranty, I.F. Stone, Couric, Jackson, M. Albright, Ortega, Carter, Gore, Sheen, Peter Collier, and Jeane Kirkpatrick. Notes state that Lenin coined the phrase 'useful idiots' and Reagan first used the term 'evil empire'. The Kennedy administration is identified as the high water mark of American anti-communism. It is noted that the Vietnam War provided proof for the American anti-war left that "U.S. was evil". The military is accused of not conducting itself intelligently, the press of taking sides, and some Democrats of wishing for a communist victory in Southeast Asia. Helen Caldicott is criticized for using the contrast communist vs. capitalist, instead of communist vs. free. Ted Koppel is described as an exquisitely tuned instrument of conventional wisdom. -- Annotations by Brian Lamb in the margins and underlining of pertinent phrases throughout the book.

Subject

"Communism."

"Liberalism--United States--History--20th century."

"Cold War."

Relation

Original Booknotes interview

Rights

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