Ernie Lazar Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 (edited) Within the past week or so, several John Birch Society members have been posting messages all over the internet in response to an opinion columnist's article published in the Washington Post newspaper by Marc A. Thiessen (link below) and reprinted in many other papers nationwide. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/yes-antifa-is-the-moral-equivalent-of-neo-nazis/2017/08/30/9a13b2f6-8d00-11e7-91d5-ab4e4bb76a3a_story.html?utm_term=.d7637cccdabe Mr. Thiessen's "crime" from the standpoint of the Birchers was his comment that: "Both the left and the right have a responsibility to police their own movements. In the 1960s, William F. Buckley excommunicated the John Birch Society, widely believed then to be anti-Semitic and a proponent of nutty conspiracy theories, from the respectable right, and today, conservatives have a responsibility to do the same with the white nationalists of the alt-right." The responses by JBS members were uniformly hostile and abusive toward Thiessen and the Post and they accused Thiessen of lying. For example, one Bircher replied as follows: "This false attack on the John Birch Society is disgraceful and totally untrue. The JBS has had Jews on its national council since day 1 and it always has expelled anti-Semites. When the state of California investigated the allegation they said: 'At any rate, our investigations have disclosed no evidence of anti-Semitism on the part of anyone connected with the John Birch Society in California, and much evidence to the effect that it opposes racism in all forms.' So now that that lie is exposed, let's turn to William Buckley, the "excommunicator." In his magazine, he wrote that whites whom he called the "advanced race" were doing the right thing by denying voting rights to blacks whom Buckley said were backward and uncivilized. Also Theissen's "American Enterprise Institute" employs a man designated by the SPLC as a 'white nationalist.' C'mon Denver Post, what's wrong with you? You should delete this ridiculous post and apologize for printing the lies of a racist loon." There are so many misrepresentations and historical falsehoods contained in these Bircher replies that I have responded at length to their claims. However, the most compelling counter-evidence comes from several former JBS members who had specific first-hand knowledge about a controversy over remarks made by former JBS President John McManus before Catholic organizations. I have posted some of that material online on Internet Archive (links below) for anybody who wants to pursue this subject: John Birch Society CEO Vance Smith letter re: anti-semitic speeches by John McManus: https://archive.org/details/032206GVanceSmithToJBSNCReMcManusAntiSemiticStatements John Birch Society CEO Art Thompson Audio Re John McManus https://archive.org/details/ArtThompsonAudioReMcManus 07-25-06 Wayne Rickert Reply To David Eisenberg Re McManus https://archive.org/details/072506RickertReplyToDavidEisenbergReMcManus 1963 Report--Calif Senate Factfinding Subcommittee On Un American Activities (pages 1-61 on JBS) https://archive.org/details/1963ReportOfCalifSenateFactfindingSubcommitteeOnUnAmericanActivities 1965 Calif Senate Factfinding Subcommittee Report on John Birch Society (which reported "a dangerous increase" in anti-Semitism within the JBS. https://archive.org/details/1965CalifSenateFactfindingSubcommitteeReportJohnBirchSociety Edited September 7, 2017 by Ernie Lazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.L Arledge Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 I recently finished reading a book on this subject, written by a young lady who grew up with JBS leaders as parents in the '60s. Fascinating read. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008ED6ATA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Lazar Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 11 minutes ago, H.L Arledge said: I recently finished reading a book on this subject, written by a young lady who grew up with JBS leaders as parents in the '60s. Fascinating read. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008ED6ATA Yes, Claire's book gives a very good idea of what it is like to live in a very dark ideological environment. She mentions me in her book because I sent her some information which she wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Clark Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 In my reading today, I came away believing the Goldwater would have been embraced by the JBS, and, likewise Goldwater would have embraced the JBS if they could have backed away from claims similar to the "Eisenhower is a Communist" claims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Lazar Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 FOR THOSE WHO MAY BE INTERESTED: I recently created two PDF files which combine all of the individual chapters which I have posted online that comprise my “Report on the John Birch Society”. My Report is based primarily upon data appearing in FBI investigative files along with material I discovered in Special Collections which are archived at various colleges and universities or in state historical societies. (1) The first PDF file is now uploaded into my Internet Archive website at the link appearing below. This is a 291-page file which is a combination of all 12 textual chapters of my Report on the John Birch Society -- updated through February 2019. https://archive.org/details/JohnBirchSocietyReport2019Combined (2) The second PDF file is a 125-page file which combines 5 webpages which I created to present an annotated "Documentary History of the John Birch Society". Most of the documents which I originally posted on these five webpages are not available publicly elsewhere. The PDF version is on Internet Archive at the following link: https://archive.org/details/DocumentaryHistoryOfJBS The combination of my JBS textual report (291 pages) plus my Documentary History file (125 pages) represents a total of 416 pages that currently comprises my JBS Report. This Report has been researched and written over a period of more than three decades. Subsequent revisions to my JBS Report will appear online on the original webpages that I created. The URL links to each chapter of my JBS Report as well links to other reports I have written are available on my Research Homepage here: https://sites.google.com/site/ernie124102/home PDF files for all my other online Reports will be uploaded onto my Internet Archive webpage in the future. Additional info available from: ernie1241@aol.com My JBS Report consists of the following chapters: Chap # Comment URL 1 FBI Evaluations of Robert Welch and the Birch Society –including an introduction to Mr. Welch’s book length “private letter”, entitled The Politician FBI HQ instructions to FBI field offices regarding Welch, the JBS, and incoming requests for FBI publications from JBS representatives are discussed in three "SAC Letters" reproduced in this Chapter. http://sites.google.com/site/ernie124102/jbs-1 2 FBI vs. JBS on Internal Security Status of United States Same as above 3 FBI vs. JBS on Alleged Communist Infiltration of Clergy and Religious Institutions Same as above 4 FBI vs. JBS on Alleged Communist Infiltration of the Department of Health, Education, Welfare Same as above 5 FBI vs. JBS on Alleged Communist Sympathies of Harry A. Overstreet, author of the 1958 book, What We Must Know About Communism http://sites.google.com/site/ernie124102/jbs-2 6 FBI vs. JBS on Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Includes discussion of: Communist strategy regarding “Negro Soviet Republic” Alan Stang’s 1965 JBS-published book, It’s Very Simple: The True Story of Civil Rights Highlander Folk School described by the JBS as a “Communist Training School” Gary Allen’s article in the JBS magazine (American Opinion) on the August 1965 Watts Riot – entitled “The Plan To Burn Los Angeles” Birch Society Comments About African American Civil Rights and Labor Leader A. Philip Randolph http://sites.google.com/site/ernie124102/jbs-3 7 FBI vs. JBS on Persons Whom JBS Claims Are “Experts” on Communism – includes discussion of former FBI Special Agents and FBI informants who endorsed the Birch Society and often were speakers under the auspices of the JBS Speakers Bureau – such as Dan Smoot, W. Cleon Skousen, Julia Brown and Lola Belle Holmes, plus material on David Gumaer, Matt Cvetic, and Karl Prussion Same as above 8 Right-Wing Critics of Robert Welch and the Birch Society http://sites.google.com/site/ernie124102/jbs-4 ALSO SEE correspondence by JBS members which I have posted on Internet Archive website here: https://archive.org/stream/JBS_CRITICS_INSIDE_JBS-1#page/n0/mode/2up 9 Documentary History of John Birch Society Documents generally not previously publicly available – including private correspondence between Robert Welch and JBS National Council members. JBS9005a also includes links to selected newspaper articles re: JBS appearing in in the Google News Archive https://sites.google.com/site/ernie1241/ https://sites.google.com/site/ernie1241a/ https://sites.google.com/site/ernie1241b/ https://sites.google.com/site/jbs9004/ https://sites.google.com/site/jbs9005a/ 10 AMERICAN OPINION SPEAKERS BUREAU Background re: individuals hired by JBS as speakers under auspices of JBS American Opinion Speakers Bureau https://sites.google.com/site/xrt013/home/jbs 11 NEW! “Racism and the JBS" This chapter is a 3-part discussion regarding the Birch Society's assertion that it is NOT a racist organization. November 2018 / 89 pages = part one September 2018 / 21 pages = part two February 2019 / 79 pages = part three PART ONE-Racism and JBS https://sites.google.com/site/aboutxr/ PART TWO-Racism and JBS https://sites.google.com/site/aboutxr/home/racism-and-john-birch-society-2 PART THREE-Racism and JBS https://sites.google.com/site/aboutxr/home/jbs-racism3 12 NEW! The Fraudulent Investigation of the JBS by Efficiency Research Bureau--Anaheim, California February 2019 / 15 pages https://sites.google.com/site/aboutxr/home/erb NOTE: Chapter 12 is the first section of a multi-part rebuttal to a February 2018 article by Bircher Alex Newman. Newman responded to anti-JBS comments that appeared on The Federalist website earlier in February. Chapter 13 will discuss JBS falsehoods regarding the 1963 Report by the California Senate Factfinding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities. That Subcommittee devoted 62 pages to their investigation regarding the JBS. 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Ernie Lazar Posted November 25, 2019 Author Share Posted November 25, 2019 A newly revised edition of Chapter 14 of my online Report on the JBS is now available. This Chapter is devoted to presenting what is probably the best available information concerning JBS membership. https://sites.google.com/site/aboutxr/jbs-members The first section concerns the number of JBS members. The second section lists some of the more prominent members/endorsers of the Society The third section is devoted to summarizing demographic information about JBS members. The last section provides miscellaneous information about the JBS. More info: ernie1241@aol.com MY RESEARCH: https://sites.google.com/site/ernie124102/home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin Ye Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 The book Age of Surveillance stated that the John Birch Society was the link between the US Intelligence Community and the private sector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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