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But even at ''The Nation'', the ardor for Hiss would appear to be cooling. Bird and Chervonnaya, for example, write&mdash;in an article ''defending'' Hiss&mdash;"We do not propose to address the larger question of whether Hiss was [http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-mystery-of-ales-2/ guilty or innocent of espionage]." Another recent defense of Hiss, by [http://www.thenation.com/node/22687 ''Nation'' contributor] Robert L. Weinberg "deliberately takes no position" on the issue of whether "[http://www.nacdl.org/__852566CF0070A126.nsf/0/006CB2391D988158852574940067BE2E Alger Hiss was in fact guilty] of spying."<ref>Rather than deny that Hiss was a spy, Weinberg argues technicalities, such as "whether Hiss would have been 'not guilty' of the perjury charge in the indictment as a matter of law, [http://www.nacdl.org/__852566CF0070A126.nsf/0/006CB2391D988158852574940067BE2E even if he were found to have been a Soviet agent]."</ref> ''Nation'' [http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/eric_alterman columnist] Eric Alterman likewise writes regarding Hiss, "I take no position on guilt or innocence."<ref>Eric Alterman, "[http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/venona4.html I Spy With One Little Eye]," ''The Nation'', April 29, 1996, pp. 20-24. A decade later, Alterman still found the evidence inconclusive, although he grudgingly admitted that it had titled "toward Chambers’ version of late and [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9579023/ against Hiss]."</ref>

But even at ''The Nation'', the ardor for Hiss would appear to be cooling. Bird and Chervonnaya, for example, write&mdash;in an article ''defending'' Hiss&mdash;"We do not propose to address the larger question of whether Hiss was [http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-mystery-of-ales-2/ guilty or innocent of espionage]." Another recent defense of Hiss, by [http://www.thenation.com/node/22687 ''Nation'' contributor] Robert L. Weinberg "deliberately takes no position" on the issue of whether "[http://www.nacdl.org/__852566CF0070A126.nsf/0/006CB2391D988158852574940067BE2E Alger Hiss was in fact guilty] of spying."<ref>Rather than deny that Hiss was a spy, Weinberg argues technicalities, such as "whether Hiss would have been 'not guilty' of the perjury charge in the indictment as a matter of law, [http://www.nacdl.org/__852566CF0070A126.nsf/0/006CB2391D988158852574940067BE2E even if he were found to have been a Soviet agent]."</ref> ''Nation'' [http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/eric_alterman columnist] Eric Alterman likewise writes regarding Hiss, "I take no position on guilt or innocence."<ref>Eric Alterman, "[http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/venona4.html I Spy With One Little Eye]," ''The Nation'', April 29, 1996, pp. 20-24. A decade later, Alterman still found the evidence inconclusive, although he grudgingly admitted that it had titled "toward Chambers’ version of late and [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9579023/ against Hiss]."</ref>

Others connected with ''The Nation'' go further: Max Holland, a [http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=34303 contributing editor at the ''Nation''], writes that "Alger Hiss has been proven to be the 'Ales'

Others connected with ''The Nation'' are more candid: Max Holland, a [http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=34303 contributing editor at the ''Nation''], writes that "Alger Hiss has been proven to be the 'Ales'

code-named in the Venona intercepts."<ref>Max Holland, "[http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/jcws.2009.11.3.144 I. F. Stone: Encounters with Soviet Intelligence]," ''The Journal of Cold War Studies'', Vol. 11, Issue 3 (Summer 2009) p. 164, fn. 61</ref> Former [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8013479.html Harvard Law professor] and [http://www.thenation.com/node/22680 ''Nation'' contributor] Susan Estrich (author of ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=WA5XUA4v-roC The Case for Hillary Clinton]'') admits that "liberal efforts over the years to champion the Rosenbergs, or Alger Hiss, as something other than Communists [http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=17066 were misguided]." Cold War scholars have now "[http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=if_stone_journalist_and_spy nailed Alger Hiss]," agrees ''Nation'' [http://www.thenation.com/authors/todd-gitlin contributor] [[Todd Gitlin]] "&mdash;a nailing long overdue on the left." [http://www.thenation.com/authors/jim-sleeper ''Nation'' contributor] Jim Sleeper, posting on the [http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2009/07/more-on-the-tabloidization-of-tpm.html liberal] Talking Points Memo blog, concurs, "it's obvious now that many leftists" defended Hiss "long beyond the point where it made political, moral, or even [http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/29/an_imperturbably_valiant_lawyer/ simple cognitive sense]." "Vociferously atheistic," self-styled "radical" Christopher Hitchens&mdash;one of the "25 [http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/22/influential-media-obama-oped-cx_tv_ee_hra_0122liberal.html most influential liberals] in the U.S. media" (and [http://www.thenation.com/authors/christopher-hitchens long-time columnist] for ''The Nation'')&mdash;calls the myth of Hiss's innocence "one of the most persistent (and [http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/36492.html repelling) myths] of the [[fellow traveller|fellow-traveling]] Left."<ref>"[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/nyregion/15donohue.html Militant atheist]" Hitchens writes of once quipping to the hostess of a dinner party he attended with Alger Hiss, "Why don't we secure the doors and say: 'Look, Alger, it's just us. Come on. You're among friends. Tell us why you really did it.'" (Christopher Hitchens, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=RBGmrDnBs8UC Unacknowledged Legislation: Writers in the Public Sphere]'' [London: Verso, 2000] ISBN 1859847862, pp. 105-106) Hitchens (who says he is considering writing a book called ''Guilty as Hell: A Short History of the American Left'') suggests that  the answer is, "because he thought he was [http://www.hoover.org/multimedia/uk/2932161.html onto a winner]."</ref>

code-named in the Venona intercepts."<ref>Max Holland, "[http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/jcws.2009.11.3.144 I. F. Stone: Encounters with Soviet Intelligence]," ''The Journal of Cold War Studies'', Vol. 11, Issue 3 (Summer 2009) p. 164, fn. 61</ref> Former [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8013479.html Harvard Law professor] and [http://www.thenation.com/node/22680 ''Nation'' contributor] Susan Estrich (author of ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=WA5XUA4v-roC The Case for Hillary Clinton]'') admits that "liberal efforts over the years to champion the Rosenbergs, or Alger Hiss, as something other than Communists [http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=17066 were misguided]." Cold War scholars have now "[http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=if_stone_journalist_and_spy nailed Alger Hiss]," agrees ''Nation'' [http://www.thenation.com/authors/todd-gitlin contributor] [[Todd Gitlin]] "&mdash;a nailing long overdue on the left." [http://www.thenation.com/authors/jim-sleeper ''Nation'' contributor] Jim Sleeper, posting on the [http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2009/07/more-on-the-tabloidization-of-tpm.html liberal] Talking Points Memo blog, concurs, "it's obvious now that many leftists" defended Hiss "long beyond the point where it made political, moral, or even [http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/29/an_imperturbably_valiant_lawyer/ simple cognitive sense]." "Vociferously atheistic," self-styled "radical" Christopher Hitchens&mdash;one of the "25 [http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/22/influential-media-obama-oped-cx_tv_ee_hra_0122liberal.html most influential liberals] in the U.S. media" (and [http://www.thenation.com/authors/christopher-hitchens long-time columnist] for ''The Nation'')&mdash;calls the myth of Hiss's innocence "one of the most persistent (and [http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/36492.html repelling) myths] of the [[fellow traveller|fellow-traveling]] Left."<ref>"[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/nyregion/15donohue.html Militant atheist]" Hitchens writes of once quipping to the hostess of a dinner party he attended with Alger Hiss, "Why don't we secure the doors and say: 'Look, Alger, it's just us. Come on. You're among friends. Tell us why you really did it.'" (Christopher Hitchens, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=RBGmrDnBs8UC Unacknowledged Legislation: Writers in the Public Sphere]'' [London: Verso, 2000] ISBN 1859847862, pp. 105-106) Hitchens (who says he is considering writing a book called ''Guilty as Hell: A Short History of the American Left'') suggests that  the answer is, "because he thought he was [http://www.hoover.org/multimedia/uk/2932161.html onto a winner]."</ref>