Those who doubt that communism profoundly influenced American politics, academia and entertainment have rhetorical firearms loaded with blanks.

Treason, the magnificent expose by Ann Coulter of Leftist complicity in the betrayal of America, has drawn a variety of negative reactions. David Horowitz made a thoughtful, if flawed, argument against the premise that anti-communism was overwhelmingly the work of conservative Republicans. Bill O’Reilly has resisted the rehabilitation of Joe McCarthy because of an honest ignorance of the details of history.

Chris Matthews, a Leftist in sheep’s clothing, repeatedly tried to trick Ann into saying something that she never said: the only leader the Democrats have ever chosen who was undeniably and strongly anti-communist, John Kennedy, was a traitor.

Leftists who write online Amazon reviews about Treason display a shallowness and viciousness which would embarrass any normal person. Several urge people not to buy the book (Isn’t that “McCarthyism”?). One reviewer said “Jessica Coulter might be the stupidest women of all time.” (And the reviewer is smart?)

Many Leftist Amazon reviewers sneer at Ann’s writing style, even though a cursory review of the jacket of Treason provides quotes from respected book reviewers which note that, whatever one thinks about her opinions, Ann writes very well. Pointedly, these positive comments about her writing come from Leftist periodicals which strongly disagree with her conclusions.

I have received a flurry of e-mails from Leftists who attempt to enlighten me about the many flaws of Joe McCarthy by providing details that presumably Ann Coulter deliberately omitted from Treason. One e-mail rambled on about how Joe McCarthy defended Waffen SS soldiers who had been charged with war crimes at Malmedy during the Battle of the Bulge.

When Robert Taft, the incorruptible and brilliant Republican Floor Leader, spoke up against the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials because he thought that it would set a bad historical precedent, Taft destroyed any chance he had to be president. Senator Taft did, however, earn the respect of the entire United States Senate. John Kennedy included Taft in his book Profiles in Courage for his willingness to do what was right, even if it was unpopular.

Taft may have been mistaken in opposing the Nuremberg Trials and McCarthy may have been mistaken in opposing war crimes trials for actions by Waffen SS during the Battle of the Bulge, but McCarthy demonstrated by this courageous position that he was not a demagogue. The Leftist who tried to gut Ann’s argument in Treason by this obscure issue unrelated communism actually reinforces her case.

Coulter also does not go into much detail about Senator Joe McCarthy’s position on civil rights, which has led some Amazon reviewers and e-mail correspondents to assume that this was another area in which Joe McCarthy - the modern Leftist equivalent of Emmanuel Goldstein in 1984, the eternal, villainous source of every wrong - was a bigot.

Many of the Democrats who sought to destroy him were flagrant and unrepentant racists. Some had belonged to the Ku Klux Klan. Others routinely opposed any civil rights legislation. And McCarthy? He was one of the strongest supporters of civil rights for blacks in the United States Senate.

Some Leftists note that Ronald Radosh, David Horowitz and other former communists who are now anti-communists believe that Ann Coulter goes too far in Treason. These men doubtless hold those opinions honestly. Their tales of growing up as Marxists in America provides priceless insight into this hidden word, and it took courage for them to break with communism.

All that granted, however, there is no reason to believe that Radosh or Horowitz see today the threat of communist treason in America as well as Ann Coulter or other lifelong anti-communists. Indeed, it would be terribly difficult for them to acquire the clarity of vision that anti-communists have always had.

Those who once supported communism also once supported democide and genocide. These people once supported lying as a political tactic, character assassination as noble (if done to advance progressive causes), and the destruction of America as a great good. People nearest and dearest to these ex-communists held the same ghastly beliefs.

Seeing the true depth of harm that FDR and Truman caused the human race or the true courage and tenacity of men like Joe McCarthy is probably beyond the power of men like Radosh or Horowitz.

They are on the side of the angels now - and very welcome! - but that does not mean that they can comprehend all the horror of treason in America any better than aging Southern Democrats in the United States Senate could ever truly understand the wicked totality of Jim Crow.

Leftists, former Leftists now anti-communists, and honest pundits began shooting at Ann Coulter as soon as Treason came out. The long barrage has done nothing to weaken her argument. Why? Those who doubt that communism profoundly influenced American politics, American academia and American entertainment have rhetorical firearms loaded with blanks.