Rating: 
Summary: A Brilliant, Important and Disturbing Book
Review: Mona Charen succinctly documents the American left's blindness towards the evil of communism, from its inception to the present. She offers a handy reference guide to the atrocities committed by Marxist states, along with stomach turning quotes from some of our best known media and academic elites who, throughout the latter part of the 20th Century, consistently defended despotic communist regimes and vilified anticommunists. Miss Charen offers insight into the mindset of these leftists, but in no way excuses them. She demonstrates that education, fame and status do not necessarily impart wisdom. The book's title sums it up--the reader is left wondering how some people can be so incredibly, and dangerously, stupid.
Rating: 
Summary: not many surprises here
Review: It would be much more interesting for Charen to explain why conservatives supported General Pinochet, Saddam Hussein (Reagan and the first Bush gave him billions in aid during the 1980s), and the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Rating:
Summary: 80% verifiable, historical facts - 20% opinion
Review: A great historical account of the Cold War. Well annotated and referencing many left wing publications, you can check all the facts for youself. The "Red Threat" (to borrow from John F. Kennedy) was/is very real. and this book will drive them nuts!...
Rating:
Summary: From someone who actually read the whole book
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: patriots and Americans beware
Review: The book highlights the hypocrisy of today's right wing pundit: the author romanticizes war without having fought, pushes tax cuts that assist no one but their elite friends, advocates cuts in education knowing their family will never need public education and launches unamerican personal attacks on political opponents in the name of "patriotism." Also, please note that it is published by an extremist right wing publishing house and promoted by Fox News and other conservative media outlets.
Rating: 
Summary: It's a Question of History -- Was Marx a Visionary
Review: It's a question of historical fact -- is Mona correct in her analysis? It depends on how you feel about Marxism. The conflict is between government based upon individual rights, where the rule of law concerns itself with the principle that all men are endowed by their creator with equal rights, this blind adherence leading oftentimes to unequal circumstances. Or does Marx's vision of the world as a struggle between groups -- and therefore amenable to collective justice under which individuals are judged by group membership -- create the more sustainable world? The historical aspect comes down to this. Given a clear set of rules and a republican form of government, almost without exception people have organized themselves in an anarcho-capitalist system to satisfy their needs -- a meritocracy, if you will. The only way that traditional social-democratic systems have prospered is through coercion of the minority by the majority, i.e. mob rule.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating
Review: Ms. Charen here does useful work in reviewing the pro-Communist stands taken by many of the prominent political figures on the left. The salient features of the left in the US is the unwillingness to engage in meaningful debate, an unwillingness to credit the other side with any virtue and an unwillingness to fight tyranny. We have just seen all of these in the recent conflict and Ms. Charen's book provides the evidence that this is a recurring feature of the extreme left. Unless and until Messrs Carter, Clinton, Edwards, Kerry, Kennedy and Chomsky are willing to forthrightly condemn the regimes of Castro and Kim, they will continue to lack any foreign policy credibility. Ms. Charen documents the ongoing historical revisionism of the Cold War. The West won it, no thanks to the left and in spite of it. The inability of the "Useful Idiots" of the title to see both their idiocy and utility to the regimes of tyrants is the subject of this book. I wish that such a book were not necessary, but as long as politicians appease, support and aid tyrants, the documentation of their efforts is vital. Ms. Charen has done excellent work in supplying the historical evidence.
Rating:
Summary: Fresh look at recent history
Review: Fascinating overview of recent history -- easy to read, rich in detail and a fresh look at what happened in the cold war and the reaction in the United States. Ms. Charen does her homework and her analysis is sound (though often quite different from widely-held notions). A fun and educational read.
Rating:
Summary: Brava Ms Charen!
Review: Mona Charen tells the unvarnished truth about the Leftists who hate this country and will do anything to keep the public from knowing the truth about their intentions. An excellent read that is well-researched and copiously footnoted.
Rating:
Summary: Should Be Titled "Useless Author"
Review: Short sighted, paranoid and sophomoric, this is just what Rush Limburger fans will love. You really get the sense that she loves to listen to herself. If you must read it, borrow it and save some money.
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