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{{cquote|Any reasonable person will conclude that the new documentation of Hiss’s assistance to Soviet espionage, along with the massive weight of prior accumulated evidence, closes the case. Given the fervour exhibited by his loyalists, it is unlikely that anything will convince the remaining diehards. But to serious students of history, continued claims for Hiss’s innocence are akin to a terminal form of [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6731654.ece ideological blindness].}}

{{cquote|Any reasonable person will conclude that the new documentation of Hiss’s assistance to Soviet espionage, along with the massive weight of prior accumulated evidence, closes the case. Given the fervour exhibited by his loyalists, it is unlikely that anything will convince the remaining diehards. But to serious students of history, continued claims for Hiss’s innocence are akin to a terminal form of [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6731654.ece ideological blindness].}}

Robert J. Goldstein, [http://catalog.oakland.edu/preview_entity.php?catoid=11&ent_oid=231&returnto=494 professor emeritus of Political Science at Michigan's Oakland University], admits that his "political views" are "at odds with" Klehr's, but concedes that Klehr and Haynes "quite reasonably" conclude that Hiss was "[http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/91718.html unquestionably]" an espionage agent. The Hiss case "is a controversy that should have died 30 years ago and hasn't only because of the efforts of [http://hnn.us/articles/106101.html a small, vocal group] that is absolutely convinced that Hiss was an innocent victim," agrees Steven T. Usdin, author of Yale University Press' ''Engineering Communism''.

Robert J. Goldstein, [http://catalog.oakland.edu/preview_entity.php?catoid=11&ent_oid=231&returnto=494 professor emeritus of Political Science at Michigan's Oakland University], admits that his "political views" are "at odds with" Klehr's, but concedes that Klehr and Haynes "quite reasonably" conclude that Hiss was "[http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/91718.html unquestionably]" an espionage agent. The Hiss case "is a controversy that should have died 30 years ago and hasn't only because of the efforts of [http://hnn.us/articles/106101.html a small, vocal group] that is absolutely convinced that Hiss was an innocent victim," agrees Steven T. Usdin, author of Yale University Press' ''Engineering Communism''.

Yeshiva University Professor Ellen Schrecker [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/comment16.htm defends American Communist spies] as demurring from "[http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/28/magazine/cold-war-without-end.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all traditional forms of patriotism]"<ref>Ellen Schrecker, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=gaZrQgAACAAJ Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America]'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1998), p. 188</ref> (though critics object that their patriotism was entirely traditional&mdash;toward the Soviet Union);<ref>The Rosenbergs, for example, were "loyal unto death [http://www.reason.com/news/show/29095.html to the Soviet Union]."</ref> but even she concedes, "There is now [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/comment15.htm too much evidence from too many different sources] for anyone but the most die-hard loyalists to argue convincingly for the innocence of Hiss." Hiss is "among those whose long-suspected involvement in such Soviet espionage seems to be [http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/09/reviews/990509.09issermt.html confirmed by the Venona cables]," writes Hamilton College history professor Maurice Isserman, probably the best regarded of the left-wing scholars of Communism. "Let's face it," concludes Isserman, "[http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/28/magazine/cold-war-without-end.html?pagewanted=all the debate just ended]."

Yeshiva University Professor Ellen Schrecker [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/comment16.htm defends American Communist spies] as demurring from "[http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/28/magazine/cold-war-without-end.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all traditional forms of patriotism]"<ref>Ellen Schrecker, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=gaZrQgAACAAJ Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America]'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1998), p. 188</ref> (though critics object that their patriotism was entirely traditional&mdash;toward the Soviet Union);<ref>Like a Soviet Nathan Hale, the Rosenbergs, for example, were "loyal unto death [http://www.reason.com/news/show/29095.html to the Soviet Union]." Likewise, when Hitler attacked the USSR in September 1939, the Lillian Hellman actually cried out, "[https://reason.com/archives/2000/06/01/hollywoods-missing-movies/print The motherland has been invaded]."</ref> but even she concedes, "There is now [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/comment15.htm too much evidence from too many different sources] for anyone but the most die-hard loyalists to argue convincingly for the innocence of Hiss." Hiss is "among those whose long-suspected involvement in such Soviet espionage seems to be [http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/09/reviews/990509.09issermt.html confirmed by the Venona cables]," writes Hamilton College history professor Maurice Isserman, probably the best regarded of the left-wing scholars of Communism. "Let's face it," concludes Isserman, "[http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/28/magazine/cold-war-without-end.html?pagewanted=all the debate just ended]."

"No amount of documentation, including the fact that documents Vassiliev copied unambiguously identify him as a Soviet agent, can persuade these true believers otherwise." [http://www.bu.edu/ir/faculty/bacevich.html Boston University professor] Andrew J. Bacevich concurs, "Diehards will still contend that Hiss was innocent." But, he adds:

"No amount of documentation, including the fact that documents Vassiliev copied unambiguously identify him as a Soviet agent, can persuade these true believers otherwise." [http://www.bu.edu/ir/faculty/bacevich.html Boston University professor] Andrew J. Bacevich concurs, "Diehards will still contend that Hiss was innocent." But, he adds: