"In Defense of Internment" by Michelle Malkin

[Mulboyne]

About "In Defense of Internment"

If you want to read a book decrying the loss of personal freedom in wartime America, this is the wrong book. If you want to read a book about the history of institutional discrimination against minorities in America, you’re out of luck again.
In Defense of Internment...offers a defense of the most reviled wartime policies in American history: the evacuation, relocation, and internment of people of Japanese descent during World War II...My book is also a defense of racial, ethnic, religious, and nationality profiling... now being taken or contemplated during today’s War on Terror.
...A few things compelled me to write the book. Ever since I questioned President Clinton's decision to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to Japanese-American soldiers based primarly on claims of racial discrimination in 2000, several readers have urged me to research the topic of the "Japanese-American internment."

Conservativebookservice Review

America need not ever apologize...Malkin also tells the truth about
- Why the phrase "Japanese-American internment" is actually historically and legally inaccurate
- Stunning and long-forgotten facts about ordinary Japanese Americans who betrayed America by putting their ethnic roots first after Pearl Harbor
- Another forgotten bit of history: the February 1942 Japanese attack on Goleta, California -- the first foreign attack on the U.S. mainland since the War of 1812

[jingai]

She's not a scholar, but a columnist and Fox News contributor. Enough said- I think this book can be safely ignored.

My column, now syndicated by Creators Syndicate, appears in nearly 200 papers nationwide. My first book, Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals, and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores (Regnery 2002), was a New York Times bestseller.

Other: Fox News Channel contributor. Oberlin College grad. Philadelphia-born. South Jersey-raised. I live with my husband and two children in Maryland. Reach me via e-mail at malkin@comcast.net.

[Socratesabroad]

She's not a scholar, but a columnist and Fox News contributor. Enough said- I think this book can be safely ignored.

Ummm, Michael Moore and half a dozen other 'pundits' like Al Franken aren't scholars either...

[Charles]

Ummm, Michael Moore and half a dozen other 'pundits' like Al Franken aren't scholars either...

FYI, Franken is a graduate of Harvard and was a member of Harvard's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy. Recently he did a fellowship at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Sounds like a scholar to me.

[jingai]

Franken's books just debunk crazy rants like this, Rush Limbaugh's work, etc. At least his work is proof-read. I think Michael Moore's books are unreadably simplistic and can be safely ignored, as well.

You're right that these guys aren't interested in truth, but rather politics, and think you can skip all of them if you actually want to learn about US Constitutional law, history, race relations, or anything else of substance. If you just want to get confirmation for your political prejudices, buying pop books is a cheap and easy way to do it- enjoy.

[dimwit]

Ummm, Michael Moore and half a dozen other 'pundits' like Al Franken aren't scholars either...

FYI, Franken is a graduate of Harvard and was a member of Harvard's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy. Recently he did a fellowship at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Sounds like a scholar to me.

Graduating from Harvard doesn't ensure that you aren't a crank. Harvard produces plenty of them (John Mack for example) althought they may be 'scholarly'.

So it might be a little more constructive to look at the message rather then shoot the messager?

The modern liberal view is that all Japanese-American/Canadian internees were innocent as lambs. This is not true. There were Quislings amongst them. Japanese patriotic organizations were funding them, to an extent that is still unknown as that information is still classified by the US and Canadian governments. Does any of this justify the internment of thousands of people who were innocent? To our generation the answer is no, to the generation that witnessed the cruelty and suffering of the second world war the answer was yes. I think you make a huge mistake if you start trying pull policy out of the time and circumstance in which they were created.

I haven't read the book so I can hardly comment of whether it is well writen or not. But personally, I would like to read a good modern account that tried to justify the policy.

[Socratesabroad]

[Mulboyne]

Michelle Malkin
NikkeiView: Thanks, Michelle!

Thanks for giving me new labels, by the way - ones that I like better than "Jap" or "Nip." I've enjoyed being called, among other things in your book, "a civil rights absolutist," part of the "PC backlash," a "civil liberties Chicken Little," an "ethnic lobbyist," "internment alarmist," "Japanese American activist" and a "rabid ethnic activist."... That's why I'm thanking you, Michelle. You've reminded so many of us, how much work still needs to be done to fight racism and prejudice in our society. You've reminded us that we can't be complacent, that we need to know our facts, and to remember our history, because otherwise someone might come after you're long forgotten, and story the embers of hate again.

[bunchoffuckinggoofs]

She's not a scholar, but a columnist and Fox News contributor. Enough said- I think this book can be safely ignored.

Ummm, Michael Moore and half a dozen other 'pundits' like Al Franken aren't scholars either...

I can laugh with them and at them without having to worry about somebody kicking my ass. Fox news seem to have some rather rabid fans willing to kick ass for the cause. It's a bit scary at times.

[AssKissinger]

Franken may have a good education but he's a sorry fucking writer. I wrote this review for amazon

Better Than Limbaugh!, June 29, 2004

The popularity of this book astounds me. It just goes to show that if you want to sell millions of copies of a book you should pretend your target reader is a high school dropout. I could care less if the author is liberal or conservative. Just try to be interesting for God's sake. Pages and pages on Ann Coulter (whoever that is) and Hannity (from some stupid TV show, I guess) is not interesting. The low point of this book is when he goes on and on taking apart some obscure editorial about gun control. So the editorial is garbage. Who cares? I can only imagine how bad his book devoted entirely to debunking Rush Limbaugh is. Basically, what you have here is a boring book that butts heads with other bores in a big bore-fest. I will give Franken this much, however: He is a better writer than Limbaugh. Franken at least has a little bit of interesting material when he gets off his 'conservatives are liars' soapbox and discusses some real issues. The book has three interesting parts. 1)The comparison between Clinton's and Bush's (pre-9-11) fight against terrorism. 2) The stuff on Rupert Murdoch (which everyone already knows but is still amazing) 3) The chapter on pig feces.

[jim katta]

I'm so glad she wrote this book. now she has for sure isolated herself almost completely. I watched this loud mouth on live tv, and this woman has a karmic bitch smack coming the likes few have seen before.

[Socratesabroad]

I'm so glad she wrote this book. now she has for sure isolated herself almost completely.

Well, not completely. I, for one, am glad - as a historian by education and gadfly by desire - that not everyone is towing the line on historical interpretation of Japanese internment.

Admittedly, time in Japan has affected my view of the Japanese and internment (to the pro- side actually). But what put a face to the times was the TAL episode I mentioned earlier in the thread. Listen to the unrepentant members of the establishment and seen if you aren't similarly persuaded in even the slightest way...

[emperor]

- Another forgotten bit of history: the February 1942 Japanese attack on Goleta, California -- the first foreign attack on the U.S. mainland since the War of 1812

The first Japanese attack on the U.S. mainland occurs when an I-17 submarine fires 13 shells at an oil refinery near Goleta, Southern California. $500 damage was inflicted. It was not clear why this target was chosen until much later, when it was found that the commander of this particular submarine had visited the site in the 1930s and stumbled into a field of prickly pear cactus. Captain Nishino never forgave the ridicule he received from his American hosts that day.

I think theres a valid reason this became a "forgotten bit of history"...

[Mulboyne]

EJCJS: Issues of Historical Interpretation in Michelle Malkin's "In Defense of Internment"

This essay discusses the controversial work by Michelle Malkin (2004) entitled In Defense of Internment. Malkin is an ex-FOX news commentator in the United States who supports racial profiling in the war on terrorism. Malkin explores historical questions related to Japanese-American internment during World War II as a justification for a new policy on racial profiling. Her book offers us a chance to look at how history can be used to buttress anti-democratic policies. Sharply rebuked by many American historians, this treatise possesses problematic methodological issues and raises serious questions in terms of the direction that democracy should take with civil liberties. As part of the open debate that she promotes, this paper addresses some of the more critical errors in her historical analysis and polemical work, which she continues to promulgate on her personal website in rationalizing the concept of objective discrimination...more...

[American Oyaji]

She used to write for the Hiragana Times.

[Mulboyne]

Letter to the Casper Star-Tribune:

Revisionists insult fallen heroes

Some interesting facts, corrections and the other side of the story to add to your May 3 headline, "Make people remember," regarding Heart Mountain Relocation center. It was not until 1942 that all enemy aliens were excluded from the west coast military zone. Some 112,000 Japanese enemy aliens and their American born offspring took advantage of free room and board provided by our government in a time of war. Facts regarding the World War II relocation continue to be distorted. Al Simpson and Norm Mineta and others continue to prey upon the sympathies of Americans by sending them on a guilt trip. We have nothing to feel guilty about. The guilt lies with those who continue to bilk millions of American tax dollars for undeserved shrines. Mineta and Simpson will never reveal the truth that caused the relocation -- although Simpson was not too far off when he remarked, "you knew something bad was in there, something very sinister was in that place."

Years prior to the dastardly sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, literally hundreds of militant pro-Japan organizations infiltrated our entire West Coast. The memberships numbered in the thousands. All were collecting funds for the soldiers of Japan. All were supporting the atrocities in China and all "pledged to sabotage railroads and harbors, etc., in time of emergency." These are the people who were evacuated from the west coast! The spies that radioed messages to Tokyo regarding our military and troop ship movements. These same people were housed at Heart Mountain. Gasoline is nearing $5 a gallon and some stores are limiting food purchases. Do taxpayers really want to foot the bill to resurrect old relocation centers? Americans do not have bottomless pockets and our treasury is not a Japanese personal piggy bank.

We are still waiting for Japan's apology and reparations for our remaining Bataan Death March survivors. Our National Park Service lacks funds to maintain present parks. Why create more? The USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor went down with her crew who remain entombed to this day in her hull. Who put it there? In memory of all WWII military who didn't make it home, please read "MAGIC" The Untold Story by David Lowman at the Casper and Glenrock libraries.

This letter is from a World War II, USMC, Iwo Jima survivor.

EDDIE ROY, Casper

[Catoneinutica]

And, in other NJR (unless, of course, one accepts Malkin's absurd premise) historiographical news:

A Dutch artist was arrested for drawing cartoons which were deemed by the Dutch government to be "controversial":

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/05/16/cartoons_lead_to_arrest_of_dutch_artist/9849/

When? Last week.

[Charles]

...hundreds of militant pro-Japan organizations infiltrated our entire West Coast. The memberships numbered in the thousands. All were collecting funds for the soldiers of Japan. All were supporting the atrocities in China and all "pledged to sabotage railroads and harbors, etc., in time of emergency."

Gawd I can't wait for all those cranky old WWII vets to die off. News flash: WWII ended over 60 years ago. Three generations have been born since then, and none of them give a shit about your PTSD.

[Catoneinutica]

:rolleyes:

Gawd I can't wait for all those cranky old WWII vets to die off. News flash: WWII ended over 60 years ago. Three generations have been born since then, and none of them give a shit about your PTSD.

Surely you troll, Charles! Those cranky old farts helped save the world from Euro- and J-fascism.

That said, after the Iraq debacle I hope the US assumes a firmly non-interventionist posture. The next time genocide rears its head in Europe, as it did in the 90s in Bosnia, let the EU sort it out. And the next time bombs come raining down on Coventry, let the flaccid Brits deal with it (I suggest calling in that elite squad of English seamen - and seawomen! - who dealt so courageously with the Iranians).

[Tsuru]

And, in other NJR (unless, of course, one accepts Malkin's absurd premise) historiographical news:

A Dutch artist was arrested for drawing cartoons which were deemed by the Dutch government to be "controversial":

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/05/16/cartoons_lead_to_arrest_of_dutch_artist/9849/

When? Last week.

I can't wait to leave.

edit: To elaborate, he was picked up at his house by no less than ten officers of the law, his house was searched and "evidence" taken without prior notice or court order. This is unconstitutional and illegal in this country, but apparently that doesn't matter as this was decided by the Dutch MoJ himself. Our government is taking after the US one to the point where it becomes scary.

Still, I would expect charges to be pressed.

[Charles]

Surely you troll, Charles! Those cranky old farts helped save the world from Euro- and J-fascism.

And they will never shut up about it. Those old soldiers never die, yet they refuse to fade away. The world has moved on, but they are still fighting WWII.

The fact is, there were no 5th columnists amongst the internees. There was only ONE confirmed case of a Japanese spy (in Hawaii, he helped prepare for the Pearl Harbor attack) while there were at least 8 German spies captured that I am aware of.

[Takechanpoo]

Years prior to the dastardly sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, literally hundreds of militant pro-Japan organizations infiltrated our entire West Coast. The memberships numbered in the thousands. All were collecting funds for the soldiers of Japan. All were supporting the atrocities in China and all "pledged to sabotage railroads and harbors, etc., in time of emergency." These are the people who were evacuated from the west coast! The spies that radioed messages to Tokyo regarding our military and troop ship movements. These same people were housed at Heart Mountain. Gasoline is nearing $5 a gallon and some stores are limiting food purchases. Do taxpayers really want to foot the bill to resurrect old relocation centers? Americans do not have bottomless pockets and our treasury is not a Japanese personal piggy bank.

This story is worth inspecting deeply despite this white dotard being a racist. History is to be rewritten by discovering new facts. It is the same as Nanjin incident and comfort women problem. We have not to reject them as "revisionists".