Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got It Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First

by Mona Charen

Book Overview

Meet the "Useful Idiots" Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson, Madeleine Albright, Katie Couric, Jane Fonda, Martin Sheen, and all the other liberals who were -- and are -- always willing to blame America first and defend its enemies as simply "misunderstood."

Now that the Cold War has been won, these liberals, amazingly, are proud to claim credit for the victory -- conveniently forgetting their apologies for the Communists...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060579412
• ISBN13: 9780060579418
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 2.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

From someone who actually read the whole book

Charen gives an impassioned defense of Cold Warriors by pointing out the lingering blindness of most liberals to the evils of Communism. Quick. How many movies can you name that portray the horrors of Stalinism? As Charen says, this is not a failure of imagination, but a moral meltdown. There are hundreds of movies of varying quality that demonize Hitler and Nazism. Yet, Communism, a wholly comparable evil, gets a pass from Hollywood.As I perused the customer reviews here, I was not surprised to see the invective hurled at Mona and her work by people who have either not bothered to read the book, or decided not to comment on its substance. Can there be a better indirect proof of Charen's thesis?She does differentiate among liberals, citing and quoting a number of anti-communist liberals. She points out some startling and heartbreaking word pictures of suffering and death taken from the recently opened Soviet archives. She does criticize the elder Bush. So this is not just one-sided hate mongering as the other reviewers may have you believe. In fact, it is clearly on a more serious and sensitive level than the Ann Coulter book.From Moscow to Havanna to Cambodia to North Korea, liberals just don't get it. And, unlike people whose reputations were ruined for their lack of judgement about the Nazis (Chamberlain and Lindbergh for example), liberals have just gone merrily on their way without suffering a loss of credibility. Hmmm, could it be that they largely control the media? Ah, but that's another book review!

Facts without Name-calling

What seperates this book from other simliar neoconservative books is the lack of inflamatory rhetoric. Ms. Charen lays out her case through extensive research and quotes. She does not demonize her opponents. She does does not pull quotes of context. She does not twist facts to make a point. She simply quotes those who hate America and yet defend the bankcrupt system of communsim. Only the title could be misconstrued as name-calling, but once you read the full quote, you understand why she chose it.Communism must never be defended. It is a system that denies man's nature and has consequently led to the brutal death of tens of millions of people, and the enslavement of over a billion people. (Not to mention the devastation of the environment.) This book should be required reading. The only way to deny Ms. Charen's arguement is to ignore it and instead resort to the tired game of name-calling. (Read the nagative reviews.) Both conservatives and liberals would benifit from Mona Charen's approach.

Left wingers can't see past the speck in Uncle Sam's eye

This book examines the American Left's farcical inability to accept the notion that not only was the Cold War real, but the United States won and the Soviet Union (although not the Russian people) really was the bad guy. The Left just can't just come out and admit that the world, especially formerly enslaved Eastern Europe, is better (not perfect but better) subsequent to the USSR's demise.Hollywood pumps out film after film about the alleged evils of United States domestic and international shortcomings (of which there are many) and one-sided sympathetic portrayals of left wing heroes, but Charen says "Quick: try to think of a single movie about the horrors of Stalinism. This is not a failure of imagination. This is moral meltdown."Charen provides a memorable metaphor for American liberals' inability to realistically perceive the relative successes and moral positions of the United States and its Cold War adversaries. She points out that liberals turn the Lords' New Testament words inside out to the effect that liberals couldn't see past the speck of sawdust in the United States' eye in order to see the plank in the Soviets' eye.Useful Idiots is well written and makes its points, but for many readers Charen will be preaching to the converted. I recommend challenging your left-oriented friends to read and discuss this book with you.

A Liberally Independent Review

Having lived through and witnessed much of the liberal arrogance cited, I applaud Charen as grossly direct and honestly to the point with her facts. I find this book refreshing in it's fact based information. Liberals are really taking a hit here, so here's a warning: if you are leaning extremely left, you won't want to read this book. It reflects a sinister side of the liberal left, which is frighteningly real. While some in every society will always have a tendancy to turn their cheeks and heads blindly to man's inhumanity to man, seeking blame elsewhere, Charen keeps the issues focused.Charen masterfully creates a sensitive and patriotic novel well needed in a time of our unsung heroes. Liberals have stepped on our culture for too long, and now Charen has taken them to task. Before you rest to judgement, you must read this book.

Brilliant, engaging... and haunting

No doubt, the liberal apologists for America will attack this book from every direction. It can hold its own, nonetheless. If you're old enough to have watched U.S. political drama from Korea to September 11, Mona Charen's analysis is crystaline in clarity. Exceptionaly well researched and documented, it is also riveting... and scary. But it's a book that might make a difference. It's a book that should make a difference. If you loved Mondale and admire Fidel Castro, well, you'll not be pleased with it. If you liked Ronald Regan you'll probably do some cheering. If you are half-way objective it may scare the hell out you. How U.S. foreign policy has evolved and been reported in the main-stream press over the past 50 years is not a pretty picture. As this book underscores, blaming the world's problems on America has become a drum beat for many of our own "leaders" and too many of our "journalists." Both, by the way, take a beating in "Useful Idiots." And the book makes a powerful case they deserve it.