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This article appeared in the December 3, 2007 edition of The Nation.

November 14, 2007

BATS MALIGNED...

Athens, Ohio

How ironic and sad that in an article on "The New Right-Wing Smear Machine" [Nov. 12] as well as on your cover, you use the innocent, maligned bat to suggest creepy evil. It goes to show that even the most well-intentioned sometimes inadvertently make use of coded, emotionally charged stereotypes, considered culturally acceptable until we are alerted to their insidious nature. I think you owe it to bats and to the balance of nature dependent on their voracious insectivorous behavior (at least for the species you depict) to issue an apology.

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