A loong explication on the ongoing controversy over Diana West and her book American Betrayal. Part II will be tomorrow, but can be seen at American Thinker.My opinion is that West was treated poorly by Ronald Radosh and Davis Horowitz, but that she has also said some dumb things as well. (Don't recall what they were, but the words were cringing.)
"With the publication of my second book, American Betrayal: The Secret Assault on Our Nation's Character, I am looking forward to a vigorous debate about my findings," Diana West wrote when the book was released.
What followed was not exactly what she had in mind.
On August 9, 2013, after the book had received largely glowing reviews and endorsements from conservative writers, Frontpage Magazine published a blistering attack by Ronald Radosh, "McCarthy on Steroids." The review questioned not only the author's conclusions, but her competence.
This kicked off the nastiest internecine conflict on the right in recent memory, pitting, in the eyes of their adversaries, supine "court historians" against wild-eyed "yellow journalists." Embroiled in the controversy were, among others, two groups of individuals who, in some cases, had been barely aware of each other -- critics of Islam and writers on Soviet subversion in the U.S. in the '30s and '40s.
These groups did not comprise two hostile two camps. Andrews Bostom and McCarthy wrote in support of West, the former entering into a heated exchange with John Earl Haynes. But M. Stanton Evans, author of an exhaustive study of McCarthy and a survey of the influence of Russian agents in the U.S., was also a stalwart supporter of West, while Rebecca Bynum, editor of the website New English Review, an inveterate critic of Islam, lambasted the book. Sites took take sides: Frontpage Magazine, First Things, and National Review supported Radosh; Breitbart and Gates of Vienna and others backed West. P.J. Media featured articles from both camps. On American Thinker a guardedly friendly, though critical review by Bernie Reeves was followed by attacks by others.
The distinguishing feature of the controversy was the venom directed at West.