EMAIL OF THE DAY

“I have a theory about Sam Tanenhaus, one that will explain this and other odd bouts of liberal irrationality. His biography of Whitaker Chambers rehabilitated a figure hugely reviled on the left. As Tanenhaus must know, contemporary liberalism is extremely closed-minded and vengeful; as the country moves further and further away from the need for great social movements (e.g., the civil rights movement), nasty ideological battles are fought over increasingly pettier issues. As the redeemer of the man who accused leftist icon Alger Hiss, Tanenhaus could easily be subject to ongoing discrimination and vilification throughout his career. He doesn’t want to share the fate of Ronald Radosh, forever blackballed from academia and the tonier venues of opinion journalism for the thoughtcrime of confirming the guilt of the Rosenbergs. Therefore, Tanenhaus must periodically confirm his liberal bona fides – in this case, by saying what many on the left believe to be true, that all conservatives are mean-spirited crazies, and that there is no distinction whatsoever between the most thoughtful conservative writer and Ann Coulter.”