Has anyone else here been involved with the John Birch Society?

[tailfins]

My early political involvement manifested itself by joining the John Birch Society. While they occasionally go off the deep end, they are right on most issues and work their butts off helping conservatives get elected. I consider them the 1950s version of the T.E.A. Party, however they are still around today. Below is a link to their website:

http://www.jbs.org/

Below is the freedom index, showing how individual Congressmen/Senators voted with the JBS:

http://www.thenewamerican.com/freedomindex/


Sen. Ted Cruz (http://www.thenewamerican.com/freedomindex/profile.php?id=C001098) - 95%


Sen. Elizabeth Warren - 0%

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

My early political involvement manifested itself by joining the John Birch Society. While they occasionally go off the deep end, they are right on most issues and work their butts off helping conservatives get elected. I consider them the 1950s version of the T.E.A. Party, however they are still around today. Below is a link to their website:

http://www.jbs.org/

Below is the freedom index, showing how individual Congressmen/Senators voted with the JBS:

http://www.thenewamerican.com/freedomindex/

I once fell out of a birch tree and had two friends named Birch, Richard and Calvin. Both were certified long haired hippies in the late 60's... My older sister thought Calvin to be the most beautiful
man alive even over Elvis Presley.. Alas , they had older sisters that were both very pretty, about 14/15 years older and married with kids. One was hotter than a damn 3 dollar pistol too.;)--Tyr

[aboutime]

Funny you should ask. But. My only connection with the JB Society came...the day I applied to enlist in the NAVY, back in 1964.

One of the questions was: "Have you now, or have you ever been a member of the John Birch Society.

Back then. After the Kennedy assassination, and remembering the "BLACK LIST" discussions of Senator McKarthy and his hunt for Communists. Though I had no idea at the time, what the JBS was. I knew, saying YES, would have eliminated me instantly from joining the navy.

Today. I steer clear of such things. Having more confidence in MY OWN, self-learned, self-invested discoveries that allow me to avoid being caught in the trappings of Ideology driven, near conspiracy theory Non-thinking.

[tailfins]

Funny you should ask. But. My only connection with the JB Society came...the day I applied to enlist in the NAVY, back in 1964.

One of the questions was: "Have you now, or have you ever been a member of the John Birch Society.

Back then. After the Kennedy assassination, and remembering the "BLACK LIST" discussions of Senator McKarthy and his hunt for Communists. Though I had no idea at the time, what the JBS was. I knew, saying YES, would have eliminated me instantly from joining the navy.

Today. I steer clear of such things. Having more confidence in MY OWN, self-learned, self-invested discoveries that allow me to avoid being caught in the trappings of Ideology driven, near conspiracy theory Non-thinking.

Talk about things being turned upside down: The John Birch Society was allied with Senator McCarthy with a desire to carry on his patriotic work of seeing to it that Communists didn't achieve positions of power.

[ernie1241]

My early political involvement manifested itself by joining the John Birch Society. While they occasionally go off the deep end, they are right on most issues and work their butts off helping conservatives get elected. I consider them the 1950s version of the T.E.A. Party, however they are still around today. Below is a link to their website:

http://www.jbs.org/

Below is the freedom index, showing how individual Congressmen/Senators voted with the JBS:

http://www.thenewamerican.com/freedomindex/


Tailfins: If you think the JBS has been "right on most issues" -- then you must have a very strange methodology for making that evaluation. Virtually the entire conservative movement in our country has rejected the JBS as an irrational, irresponsible, and extremist organization. During the 20th century, many postwar conservative politicians, intellectuals, activists, and government officials have denounced the JBS -- including, for example, Sen. Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, Russell Kirk, Frank Meyer, James Burnham, Gen. Albert Wedemeyer, Herbert A. Philbrick, J. Edgar Hoover.

When the JBS (or its surrogates) have been sued for libel, more often than not they have lost -- which is not the record of a group being "right on most issues".

[ernie1241]

Funny you should ask. But. My only connection with the JB Society came...the day I applied to enlist in the NAVY, back in 1964.

One of the questions was: "Have you now, or have you ever been a member of the John Birch Society.

Back then. After the Kennedy assassination, and remembering the "BLACK LIST" discussions of Senator McKarthy and his hunt for Communists. Though I had no idea at the time, what the JBS was. I knew, saying YES, would have eliminated me instantly from joining the navy.

Today. I steer clear of such things. Having more confidence in MY OWN, self-learned, self-invested discoveries that allow me to avoid being caught in the trappings of Ideology driven, near conspiracy theory Non-thinking.

I think you must be mistaken because the Navy (and all other branches of our military) used the same security standards employed by other agencies of our federal government, namely, they relied upon the U.S. Attorney General's List of subversive organizations -- and the JBS was never listed by the AG or by any other governmental entity (such as Loyalty Review Board, Subversive Activities Control Board, House Committee on Un-American Activities, etc.) Furthermore, many JBS members were active duty military who had security clearances.

The only agency that is on record as stating that they would not have accepted a known JBS member as an employee was the FBI. Obviously, when the core principle of an organization is that most of our national leaders (including our Presidents) were Communist traitors -- that would not be something likely to produce a favorable employment decision by the primary agency we entrust to make decisions about internal security matters.

[ernie1241]

Talk about things being turned upside down: The John Birch Society was allied with Senator McCarthy with a desire to carry on his patriotic work of seeing to it that Communists didn't achieve positions of power.

And the Birch Society (just like McCarthy) was gravely mistaken about the status of our internal security. There were no significant number of "Communists" in any "position of power" in our government. In 1962, J. Edgar Hoover falsified the entire core ideological principle of the JBS when he stated:

"The Communist Party in this country has attempted to infiltrate and subvert every segment of our society, but its continuing efforts have not achieved success of any substance. Too many self-styled experts on communism, without valid credentials and without any access whatsoever to classified factual data regarding the inner workings of the conspiracy, have engaged in rumor-mongering and hurling false and wholly unsubstantiated allegations against persons whose views differ from their own. This is dangerous business. It is divisive and unintelligent, and makes more difficult the task of the professional investigator." [Hoover statement in February 5, 1962 letter to Mrs. W.R. Brown of Bountiful Utah; also published as letter-to-editor in Tri-Cities Daily newspaper of Sheffield, Alabama on Sunday March 31, 1963. Copy of Hoover letter in FBI HQ file 94-1-369, serial #1676]

In July 1961, JBS founder Robert Welch wrote in his monthly JBS Bulletin for all JBS members that

“…we believe that there are not more than 300,000 to 500,000 Communists in our country (or about 1/4 of 1% of our population) and not more than a million allies, dupes, and sympathizers whom they can count on for any conscious support…” [JBS Bulletin, July 1961, page 14]

By contrast, in 1961, the actual number of CP members in the United States according to the FBI was 5262 --i.e. nothing remotely close to Welch's perception of 300,000 to 500,000! [See FBI New York field file 100-80638, serial #1882, which is a 6/30/61 FBI Chart of CPUSA Membership, by state, by FBI field divisions and by CPUSA Districts.]

The FBI’s Security Index was designed to track all persons it considered actually or potentially dangerous to U.S. internal security. That Index included known and suspected Communist Party members plus Communist sympathizers, leaders in Communist fronts, and anyone whom the Bureau considered a potential security risk.


At the time Welch made his statement in July 1961, the FBI’s July 1961 Security Index report listed a total of 11,833 persons of which 9899 were in the “Communist” category--which included known or suspected Party members or sympathizers.


Thus, while Welch perceived more than a million Communist operatives or sympathizers or allies, the FBI concluded that only 9899 Americans were a potential security concern. [FBI HQ file 100-358086, serial #2939].