Andrew C. McCarthy replies:
I appreciate the time taken by scholars I admire immensely—Ron Radosh, Conrad Black, Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, and M. Stanton Evans—to comment on my review of Diana West’s controversial book, American Betrayal. While there are points to be made in response to their characteristically thoughtful letters to the editor, it is important to begin with this note of admiration, particularly for Ron Radosh.
Messrs. Haynes and Klehr complain that I described Ron “simply” as an “apostate” from Marxism, a term they construe not just as pejorative but as a suggestion that his “anti-Communist credentials are somehow suspect.” This is both factually wrong and inferentially ironic given the stated aversion of Diana West’s critics to the ascription of sinister motives to innocent actions.
Even before observing that “Dr. Radosh [is] an apostate from Marxism,” I describe him as a “neoconservative Cold War historian”; then, shortly afterwards, I refer to him (in conjunction with Conrad Black) as an “eminent conservative.” I could not agree more with Haynes and Klehr that Radosh, quite apart from my personal fondness for him, is a pioneering scholar who has exposed and challenged the pro-Communist scholarly consensus. While Ron and I obviously have disagreements about the merits of West’s book, my review implies nothing to the contrary. Evidently, the word “apostate” raises hackles. I am puzzled by this. An apostate is someone who renounces a creed.That’s precisely how I used the word. I am thus taken
