Topic: Newsmax
First, it was Christopher Ruddy. Now Dick Morris is the second Newsmax columnist to bravely defend Teddy Roosevelt while serving a promotional purpose.
From Morris' May 6 column:
In political campaigns, we consultants are always seeking opportunities for our candidates to speak for themselves without passing through the prism of editorial and journalistic opinion. We buy ads, we schedule debates, we set up town hall meetings, all to reach and communicate directly with the public without media intermediaries.
Imagine the frustration of a dead historical figure from the past, now able to communicate with modern generations only through the distorted lens of history. If you think journalists are bad, wait until you meet historians!
Now, Daniel Ruddy has freed former President Theodore Roosevelt from these shackles and given him a chance to address us directly, articulating his view of American history without the varnish of modern historical fashion. In his new book, Theodore Roosevelt's History of the United States, Ruddy has mined the words of the great man and organized them into a newly created history of the US up to the time of TR's death in 1919.[...]
But the most fascinating aspect of Ruddy's history is what it tells us about our modern era. As we see history through the eyes of a president writing from 1890-1919, we realize how distorted is our view of our past. We come to see that to take for granted what we have been told about our ancestors is a bit like only learning about our modern era from the New York Times! We come to realize a need to step outside of ourselves and learn about the past as our ancestors saw it without the bias and prejudice with which a largely liberal group of historians has jaundiced it.
Daniel Ruddy, by the way, is Christopher Ruddy's brother. The latter disclosed this conflict of interest in his column shilling for the book; Morris does not.
Then again, Morris has a history of failing to disclose his personal or financial interests in the causes he shills for.
P.S. The logrolling isn't confined to the website. The May issue of Newsmax's magazine contains Christopher Ruddy's column on Roosevelt -- as well as a full-page ad for Daniel Ruddy's book.
