Rating: 
Summary: Those Idiots Aren't All That USEFUL...
Review: Mona Charen revisits the Cold War era in light of the events of 9-11 and draws a parallel between those dupes, like Walter Duranty, who lauded the former Soviet Union during the 1930's as a "worker's paradise" in the midst of Stalin's vicious purges, and those in the media and public life today, who, in the wake of 9-11-01 insist on blaming "American foreign policy" for those attacks.Charen hasn't shied away from controversy in the past and this book is no exception. Liberals who purport to "love America and criticize it only to improve it," will despise this work for lumping all Leftists in with those nefarious folks whose real agenda has been to undermine the cornerstone of American prosperity, private property rights, and would like to see our republic (government action limited by our Constitution) replaced with some form of "pure democracy." I believe that Mona Charen is right though, in at least most of her assessment of the Left (especially "the true believers"), that much of American Liberalism has been anti-American and anti-freedom. I also believe that her title is also right on the money - those who espouse anti-American sentiments while living in the freest, most prosperous nation on earth, who condemn American government without considering the broader worldview (2/3 of the "modern world" still practices chattel slavery), or decry "American Imperialism" in the face of America's history of liberating and rebuilding nations from Grenada to Kuwait to Serbia - are indeed "useful idiots," for any anti-American cause. If you believe in the founding principles of Americanism (private ownership, free markets and a Constitutional Republic) you're going to love this book, if not, you may very well hate it.
Rating: 
Summary: A real eye opener!
Review: I don't read a lot, but have resolved to change that bad habit. At first I thought I had to reread many sentences in this book, because of my rusty reading skills. I then thought it was because I was having trouble with Mona Charen's writing style, but I finally realized it was because I just couldn't believe what I was reading. The innumerable quotes from our political leaders, college professors and the supposedly impartial media were truly eye opening. If you have children in public school and especially at our nation's universities I hope you have prepared them to be able to resist and fight back against the onslaught of totally misguided thought that they will be barraged with. This book is a valuable lesson in how so many elites in our society refuse to learn from history and their own mistakes, but rather try to rewrite history to justify their bankrupt ideas. My eyes are now opened and it is amazing how much of this poisonous worldview I see almost everywhere in our society.
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Summary: The True Enemy of our Nation.
Review: This book both fascinates and frightens. Frightening, because it delves into the true mission of the liberals of the last 85 years. And that is to turn the USA into a socialist state. Fascinating because it is refreshing and odd, to see the truth in print. Almost surreal. As every thinking person knows, the liberal press would never touch this subject, or topic, with a ten foot pole. The liberals will find this book hard to stomach, because it shows them for what they truely are. And sometimes the truth hurts. I highly recommend this book. Truely a book that was needed. Factual, truthful, insightful. And as I said frightening. Frightening because half of our nation thinks like a liberal. Bravo Mona Charen. Thank you for this book. I look forward to your next effort.
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Summary: Finally! A book that gets it right.
Review: This was an amazing read and hard to put down. It shows the morally bankrupt liberal left for what it is - anti-American. Read it BEFORE the next election. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: Good read, but Slander is better
Review: If you're looking for facts on how the bloody liberals have all but ruined the American way of life - you've come to the right place. If you're looking for humor, check out Slander by the incomparable Ann Coulter. I must say that Useful Idiots proves to be a compelling read, however a bit trite at times. I am desperately looking forward to Treason by Coulter - Useful Idiots is a useful fill-in in the meantime I suppose.
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Summary: Need More Irenics
Review: I did enjoy this book, even though I'm not on either one of the opposing sides --- even though I'm neither left-wing nor right-wing, but in that vast, silent middle. I have to tell you, however, all these polemical books, both left and right, are becoming very tiring to me. We probably would do better to throw them all away and start over, re-institute the standard, go back to reading more unifying, objective, enlightening books such as McCullough's "John Adams", or Remick's "West Point...". After all, we're all Americans. What we need is more irenics and less polemics.
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Summary: Useful If The Idiots Will Read It
Review: This book is useful for the idiots it describes. The fervent spend-thrifts who believe in 1984-totalitarianism and fiscally blowing it all for sake of pseudo-caring, even if it destroys a society. The moribund Soviet Union, Fast-evolving to market PRC, Eastern Europe, and Vietnam among others. These places now don't want to have freedom but only practice the economic system that's been in existence for more than 5,000 years (It's the market stupid). Lenin created the term "useful Idiots," to promote the Bolshevist agenda. The American mainstream press and university professors have earned that label well. Add this to poorly read college students and you have "useful idiots," who've been duped into buying into contemporary and recent historical revisionism. It still goes on today, even after the demise of the stupidity of command economics. This reasoning of this book is just as important today as it was during the Cold War, and with the new threats that exist maybe even moreso as we are confronted with enemies that operate with a completely different organizational modus operandi. Charon cites the recent days of our history and notes the importance to remember the brutality and repression of the regimes of the past and the fact that it's a system that has completely failed. Command bureaucratic economics failed for many reasons. It has collapsed. Having spent some time in former communist nations many citizens there have limited knowledge of history because of the censorship and government controlled medias they were exposed to throughout their lives. And, look at them today: poor, lacking in all resources, and asking for aid from free countries with market economies. It's really easy to be an idealistic "useful idiot," exalting Che, Castro, Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot and other repressors--especially when living in the United States or Western Europe. Enjoying the right to have free speech, to prosper, the freedom of physical movement and intellectual or philosophical expression. The freedom to earn income and even save and invest. For some reason these folks aren't leaving now and they never did. They'll sit back in the coffee shops in the lap of luxury and talk about an idealism that never was, and never will be. In the end stupidity has failed, but history also repeats itself.
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Summary: Explosive and Exemplary!!
Review: The truth is finally being told about Communism and all of its terrors. My brother suffered 14 years in solitary confinement during the Soviet Union's Communist prisons. He was a kind and caring Protestant pastor who was beaten mercilessly for not giving in to the Communist lies. Liberals would like to repeat this tragic episode of earth's history. If they do they will find themselves betrayed by the very people they esteem and exalt. Stalin cared nothing about "his own". He did away with those closest to him in the twinkling of an eye. America will be no different if Liberals have their way. Big Brother is a respecter of no person and destroys the lives of those who place their trust in him (Liberals included). This book is GREAT!!!
Rating: 
Summary: the truth is out there
Review: strongly recommend Richard Lawrence Miller's Heritage of Fear: Illusion and Reality in the Cold War, Walker, 1988; instead.
Rating: 
Summary: She means well but it gets boring after a while
Review: While I agree with Charen's opinions on much of the liberal establishment during the cold war, this book barely contains enough information for a magazine article. The rest is filled in with a lot of long-winded exposition that feels like filler. After about the first 50 pages I was bored beyond tears and had to force myself to finish the book. I guess I was looking for a solid, quotable history of the American left wing pandering to the East Block during the cold war, and what I got was short on facts and full of bluster. It really isn't worth your time.
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