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September 01, 2004
Historians up in arms
One of America's best conversative pundits and bloggers, Michelle Malkin, released a book recently titled IN DEFENSE OF INTERNMENT: THE CASE FOR "RACIAL PROFILING" IN WORLD WAR II AND THE WAR ON TERROR (buy it from Amazon.com). After spending the last couple of weeks being lambasted by the political Left, now she's being criticized by none other than the "Historians' Committee for Fairness" in an open letter to those interviewing her and discussing her work:
It is irresponsible of your producers to permit Michelle Malkin’s biased presentation of events to go unchallenged as a factual historical presentation. We therefore respectfully demand that you formally apologize to the Japanese Americans who have been slandered by Ms. Malkin's reckless presentation and invite a reputable historian to present a more even-handed view of the evidence.
(Read the full statement, Michelle's response, and a professional critique).
Other than bringing your attention to Ms. Malkin's work and the treatment she's received while promoting it, I just have to ask one question: If they're going to be so hell-bent on disparaging everyone who releases a book claiming historical accuracy while running counter to established scholarly opinion, where were these historians when The Da Vinci Code was released?
End of tirade, sorry.
Posted by david at September 1, 2004 04:21 PM
Comments
If people are taking it as "fact" is very unfortunate and laughable at best. It is not a non-fictional book, it is fiction, period. Why can't people accept the truth? Is this why Fox Network News has such high ratings? It this why the National Inquirer is a top seller? Wake up people! Is this why people believe the Urban Legend about this alleged "Liberal Media", because this alleged "Liberal Media" is the media that is based on truth and not opinion?
Posted by: Clarissa the Republican at September 8, 2004 08:44 PM
Yes, but millions of people are taking it as fact, despite its obvious conspiratorial tone and fast-and-loose treatment of history. In fact, the book jacket claims that many of the events, persons, and situations used in the story are factual, suggesting that perhaps everything but the plot itself is true and accurate. If any recent work of "historical" writing that goes against well-established scholarly traditions needed an "open letter" from historians claiming that you shouldn't believe everything you read, The Da Vinci Code sure did.
Posted by: david at September 2, 2004 07:12 AM
Huh? The Da Vinci Code is presented as "fiction".
End of Tirade, sorry.
Posted by: Mortypoo at September 1, 2004 10:41 PM
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