Ann Coulter Watch — Part I

Ann Coulter’s latest column published on her web site is titled “I dare call it treason” — a long book plug that provides yet more instances of her willingness to misstate facts, even when they are easy to verify. The most telling example is this one, where she states:

“The [Venona Project] cables proved the overwhelming truth of McCarthy’s charges. Naturally, therefore, the release of decrypted Soviet cables was barely mentioned by the New York Times. It might have detracted from stories of proud and unbowed victims of “McCarthyism.” They were not so innocent after all, it turns out.”

Naturally? Sadly, no. Mrs. Coulter does not tell us how she determined the Venona project cables were “barely mentioned” in the NYT. But a short visit to Lexis-Nexis might have been of some value. Since the release of the intercepted cables, the words Venona and McCarthy have appeared in 11 articles in the New York Times, compared to 13 for the Washington Times and 8 in the Washington Post.

Using Venona and Soviet as search words, we find 31 articles in the NYT for the same period, compared to 46 in the Washington Times, and 22 for the Washington Post. By a lucky coincidence, the last mention in the New York Times came last week, in a June 19 editorial that stated:

“Since then [the Rosenberg trial,] Soviet cables released as part of the Venona Project show that Communist espionage in the United States, long dismissed by the Rosenbergs’ defenders, actually occurred, and that Julius was an atomic spy.”

Quite a cover up!

 

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