The smearing of "The Patriot"

By David Horowitz

Published July 12, 2000 7:08PM (EDT)

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Wow! David Horowitz again is surrounded by "legions" of leftist enemies! Communists run amok in America's classrooms! Children are being taught not to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance!

And they're still trying to put fluoride in his water, too, I bet.

The problem most historians (not just "leftist" historians) have with the film "The Patriot" is not its depiction of the Spirit of '76, or even its unlikely portrait of a slave society, but that it falsely shows the British to be a bunch of mass murderers. There isn't any real left/right split on this movie, except in Horowitz's fevered brain, where everything seems to transformed into a battle between Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers ... It was nice of the producers of the film, however, to provide Horowitz an opportunity to set up another of his straw man arguments.

-- M.M. Manring

I agree with Horowitz's critique of old lefties such as Navasky, who constantly apologized for the likes of Stalin, etc. But I believe he errs in his sunny view of Southern life during slavery. To read Horowitz, you would think the antebellum South was a veritable paradise for blacks. Give me a break! Talk about apologists!

-- Ruth A. Rouff

Thank you, David Horowitz, for explaining to me that the American Revolution was fought to grant blacks freedom as American citizens. Until now, I had thought that the Civil War was fought for this purpose. I guess I don't know my American history.

-- Will Nixon

Thanks for printing David Horowitz's article. I may never agree with the specifics of his arguments, but his arguments are always well-founded, thoughtful and not without merit. The worst thing people on either side of an argument can do, is to ignore the reality of the other side. With thoughtful people like David Horowitz on the conservative side of the coin, there is hope left that perhaps, we can all take a few steps to understand each other.

-- Shelby Scanlon


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