redfish I don't know enough about Zinn's full views on the subject but there are a lot of leftist-type academics who aren't only against the American government but are big critics of Western culture and society, and often in particular, American culture and society. I think its fair to call those people 'anti-American'--and its something they would call themselves, actually. I think people can appreciate the intellectual work of people outside of the mainstream though even if they disagree with it.

Patrick Glenn nicrivera: in the spirit of Orson's post, I'll leave the question of whether Zinn might be regarded as "anti-American" alone for now. But you miss the mark when you write that "Zinn was extremely critical of the American government, but being anti-government is not the same thing as being anti-American. Americans seems to lost the distinction between government and country, and therefore, criticism of government is all-too-often labeled as 'anti-American.'" I did read enough of Zinn's, A People's History of the United States to recall that he was harshly critical of the actions of many Americans in history - individuals and groups - who were not part of any government agency, etc. Indeed, if you accept Zinn's thesis that Americans were guilty of committing genocide against Native Americans, for example, the historical record would suggest that the U.S. government (and many state governments, for that matter) was often in a reactive mode, whereas private parties tended to be the aggressors.