Columnists: Aiming at Joe

All through the Viet Nam war, Columnist Joseph Alsop has been unwavering in his support of U.S. policy and highly optimistic about its eventual success. This stance has infuriated many liberals—all the more so because Alsop is considered to be a liberal on domestic issues. The gathering wrath finally poured out in print this month as two magazines—Harper's, and Robert Hutchins' the Center—published harsh attacks on the columnist.

Center examines the Alsop record. Author Edward Engberg, a fellow of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, quotes the columnist's consistently upbeat comments on the war. In 1963, Engberg points...