Comments on: John Birch Society

By: Neil Stevens

Neil Stevens — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:17:00 +0000

By: Ender

Ender — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:26:12 +0000

I speak from experience because about 12 years ago, when I was in college, I actually went to some of their meetings, as a young conservative christian.

Basically they strongly believe in the conspiracy theories such as World Domination by the New World Order where CFR (Council on Foreign Relations), counting several US Presidents as members, and the Trilateral Commission are the chief conspirators.

They used to be anti-semitic and mainly anti-communist but have since moved on to the organizations above as the main culprits behind the evil World Wide Conspiracy.

Their core principles are good and conservative but overall they are way out there on the fringe.

By: Achance

Achance — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:25:22 +0000

and Barry Goldwater’s relations with it. Generally, Buckley thinks, as do I, that the found, Welch, was a nut, but like McCarthy, that doesn’t mean he was wrong about everything.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/goldwater–the-john-birch-society–and-me-11248

By: Achance

Achance — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:55:02 +0000

It really was controversial in its day, published in ’64. The Left, both Republican and Democrat left, just HATED it.

By: samdallas

samdallas — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:46:51 +0000

Never heard of the book. Sounds provocative– usually means it will at leat be entertaining.

By: Achance

Achance — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:37:46 +0000

for a pretty good look at the World the way the Birchers of the 50s and 60s saw it. A lot of what the Birchers got crossthreaded with “mainstream” conservatives like Buckley over was their attacks on Eisenhower and, especially, Earl Warren. While there was plenty to attack in an America trying to find its way out of 36 years of leftist Democrat rule, the Birchers’ stridency was thought to do more harm than good, and probably rightly so. And as the Southerners themselves learned the hard way, opposing civil rights for blacks on states’ rights grounds was going nowhere in an America being bombarded with TV pictures of fire hoses, police dogs, and night sticks with a lynching or other murder thrown in for good measure from time to time. Because of this the Birchers generally got lumped in together with the militias like the Patriots in Action and Minutemen and, unfortunately, with the KKK.

And I’ll give you a hint, you won’t find much to disagree with in “None Dare Call it Treason.”

By: samdallas

samdallas — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:15:34 +0000

Neil is it just one of their officers or is official JBS view that Ike may have been red? I am with Jaded on not throwing them under the bus unless they have an official position now that is nuts. That one of their officers holds a position that is nuts would be worrisome, but not fatal IMO.

By: JadedByPolitics

JadedByPolitics — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:00:21 +0000

Constitutionalists or Federalists…..I think a whole heck of a lot of people are becoming that as well. I will say this for the age of Obama there are a MASSIVE number of Americans who suddenly know more about the Constitution then the public school system or colleges have ever taught them! I take that to be a positive.

With regards to private groups I don’t always agree with the Heritage Foundation however I do hear them out when they have something to say. It is all relative in the end because when you listen and take away with at least 1/2 of what any group has to offer you suddenly become more knowledgeable then you were prior to NOT hearing them at all.

AGAIN I am not a Bircher but I am not going to throw them down as irrelevant because that is what the lefties would want me to do.

By: Neil Stevens

Neil Stevens — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:56:14 +0000

I’ve seen no evidence of that. Just weirdness.

If they weren’t good enough for Buckley, I’m perfectly willing to keep them out of the movement if they ‘re still clinging to the same divergent views.

By: Neil Stevens

Neil Stevens — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:55:06 +0000

Any Republican candidate that has won a primary has gotten the approval of the mainstream party base.

The JBSers aren’t even entirely Republican.