Harry Dean: Memoirs

[Paul Trejo]

Thank you for reminding readers of the origins of the Edwin Walker thread, but why mention who started it, anymore? All things considered, why does it matter? At some point, is it not disingenuous to add "started by Jim Root"? ...

Tom, since you're unfamiliar with the Edwin Walker thread -- started by Jim Root -- you're probably also unaware that the new theme of that thread, which I will continue today, namely, the homosexuality of Edwin Walker, was pioneered through the ground-breaking work of Jim Root.

Jim Root personally visited Edwin Walker's home town, Center Point, Texas, and interviewed the neighbors among whom Edwin Walker grew up. These neighbors told Jim Root personally that Edwin Walker's struggles with homosexuality began at a young age.

This is vital psychological as well as sociological data about Edwin Walker, my suspect #1 in the assassination of JFK.

But Tom, this discussion belongs in the Edwin Walker thread, and not in the Harry Dean thread. In the future, please direct your insults about my work on the Edwin Walker thread to the appropriate thread.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited June 2, 2013 by Paul Trejo

[Paul Trejo]

Getting back to Guy 'Gabby' Gabaldon, whom Harry Dean names as second to Edwin Walker as leader of the ground crew in the Dallas team to transform Lee Harvey Oswald into the patsy for the assassination of JFK:

Guy Gabaldon was an honorable man -- he was awarded the Navy Cross Medal -- the Navy's second highest honor -- for single-handedly capturing 1,500 Japanese soldiers in the Pacific theater of World War Two. (That's ten times the number of prisoners captured by Sergeant York, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor.)

Gabaldon was yet a simple man; a truthful man, although not an educated man. When he discovered the John Birch Society, he, like the resigned Major General Edwin Walker, reached his highest pinnacle of intellectual achievement.

This was most unfortunate for the USA, because this placed an honorable, hard-working, dedicated and fearless soldier in the hands of the treasonous doctrines of Robert Welch, who preached that FDR, Truman, Eisenhower and JFK were all Communist traitors.

Guy Gabaldon was a family man -- a regular guy, and a war hero. He had not been twisted by a lifetime of "living in the closet," the way Edwin Walker had been twisted. Yet Guy Gabaldon was a "true believer" in the radical right-wing doctrines of the John Birch Society.

For such a man of action, it can be deadly to convince him of a false doctrine. Guy Gabaldon believed with all his heart that any Communist traitor must die, and since Robert Welch "proved" that JFK was a Communist traitor, then clearly JFK must die. It was patriotism, as far as Guy Gabaldon was concerned.

As one of the few East Los Angeles Chicano soldiers who was also a World War Two holder of the Navy Cross Medal, Guy Gabaldon was looked upon as a hero by two other Chicano soldiers from East L.A., namely, Loran Hall and Larry Howard.

According to Harry Dean, Loran Hall and Larry Howard would do anything that Guy Gabaldon wanted done. Both Hall and Howard had served courageously in the US military, and were, in 1962-1963, now serving many groups that tried to KILL FIDEL CASTRO. This included Interpen, run by Gerry Patrick Hemming. (Naturally, then, they would be quite friendly towards Minutemen.)

I can vouch for the fact that Harry Dean is an articulate and friendly fellow, and he also loved Southern California, his new home in 1960. As a member of the John Birch Society (and the Minutemen) Harry Dean was delighted to make friends with Guy Gabaldon, Loran (Lorenzo) Hall and Larry (Alonzo) Howard.

It is based on Harry's friendship with these men that Harry was allowed into the inner circle, the exclusive and secret "RID" organization of the John Birch Society, and told about the plot to kill JFK and make Lee Harvey Oswald into the scapegoat for the crime.

Harry had heard a lot of talk about killing JFK from the Minutemen training camps he'd attended. It was the most common topic of conversation there. Harry was also a close and personal friend of Guy Gabaldon -- an honorable man -- and at first Harry thought this was a splendid idea.

To pursue Harry's account of the JFK assassination -- which is in my opinion the most important account by a living witness today -- I recommend that the reader view a 1998 video entitled "EAST L.A. MARINE", which includes interviews of Guy Gabaldon himself.

Also, for a quick look at the man, here is footage on YouTube showing Guy Gabaldon being awarded the Navy Cross Medal: youtube.com/watch?v=MVKEdyt_mvo

Best regards,
--Paul Trejo
<edit typos>

Edited June 7, 2013 by Paul Trejo

[Paul Trejo]

To the best of my knowledge, the only JFK assassination eye-witness who has named WW2 hero, Guy Gabaldon, in connection with the murder of JFK, is Harry Dean.

For the past year and a half I've focused almost entirely on resigned Major General Edwin Walker, and have slanted my research toward his biography. Starting this week, however, I've turned my attention to Guy Gabaldon. Gabaldon's personality is a little bit closer to my own, insofar as he was also a Chicano from East Los Angeles.

I've only begun exploring Guy Gabaldon in detail, as I'd previously found very little information about him, aside from Wikipedia and the controversy over whether he was gypped out of a Medal of Honor for single-handedly capturing more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers at Saipan. (Sergeant York was awarded that medal for capturing around 150 German soldiers). Instead, Guy Gabaldon was awarded the SIlver Star, and then some years later that was upgraded to a Navy Cross Medal.

In my conversations with Harry Dean over the past year, I've obtained more information about Guy Gabaldon than we find in Harry's 2001 manuscript/book, Crosstrails. For one thing, Harry told me that he was very close friends with Guy "Gabby" Gabaldon since the middle of 1962. They llived fairly close to each other in Southern California. Gabaldon had a house in El Monte at the time, and Harry and his wife would visit Gabby and his wife in El Monte.

It was through Gabby that Harry Dean met Loran (Lorenzo) Hall and Larry (Alonzo) Howard, who were major fans of Gabby. They met in the context of the John Birch Society.

Gabby was interesting on a number of counts. He was a PFC Marine, and he earned the Navy Cross Medal, and was honored in the live TV show, This is Your Life in 1957. Then, a war movie was made about his life and exploits. The movie is named, Hell to Eternity (1960) and it stars Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen and Vic Damone. That much was well known.

Less well-known perhaps, is the 1998 documentary video about Gabby, entitled, East L.A. Marine. This video features friends and fans of Gabby, his former C.O., and an interview with Gabby himself at 64 years of age.

Yet all of that content might be considered predictable. That's why I think the best resource on the life of Guy Gabaldon is probably the book that he himself wrote, entitled, Suicide Island: Saipan, which was modified several times and finally published in 1990, under the title, America Betrayed.

There can be no doubt that PFC Guy Gabaldon was a patriotic war hero. Yet it is just as clear that Gabby was not a scholar of political science. He was mostly influenced by the John BIrch Society, and his prejudice against JFK and RFK (and Ted Kennedy) shows through clearly through the pages of his book.

Guy Gabaldon mildly (not forcefully) resented the fact that he was given the Silver Star Medal, although Sergeant York was awarded the Medal of Honor for capturing several times fewer enemy soldiers in World War I. Gabby felt sure this was part of the culture of racial segregation of the US Military during World War II, and he didn't talk much about it until some years later when his Silver Star Medal was replaced by the Navy Cross Medal in an official ceremony.

This was a higher honor, just under the Medal of Honor. But the publicity and the change did annoy Gabby, and then he did talk about it publicly. (For another thing, he later resented that a tall, white guy had played his part in Hell to Eternity.)

Gabby considered himself a die-hard American patriot, anyway, and he devoted all his spare time to the struggle against Communism. Unfortunately, starting in 1954, Southern politicians were so angry about the Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren's Brown decision to racially integrate public schools, that they invented a new strategy -- they claimed that the Civil Rights movement was actually a Communist movement, and that the NAACP was controlled from Moscow.

Of course, that was a Big Lie, but it worked to unify the racists of the Deep South with the Anticommunists in the rest of the USA. The right-wing in America became very powerful with this Southern strategy (the final hurrah of the Southern Democrats, before nearly all converted to the Republican Party). One of the many outcomes of this Southern strategy was the wildly successful John Birch Society (JBS). The first and foremost slogan of the JBS was, "Impeach Earl Warren." This was their rallying cry coast to coast, although it was the Southerners who understood this cry the best.

I say, unfortunately, because the JBS doctrine became the new orientation of Guy "Gabby" Gabaldon, World War II hero and holder of a Navy Cross Medal. What was pernicious about the JBS was not their Anticommunism, but how they defined Communism -- as a plot run from Washington D.C. In the opinion of the JBS, all US Presidents starting with FDR were Communist traitors.

For hundreds of thousands of Americans with little or no advanced education in political science, this doctrine was an ego-boost. Ordinary men could feel superior to their Washington leaders by simply reading one of the JBS pamphlets. Sadly, three key men in 1961 fell for the JBS doctrine, namely, Edwin Walker, Guy Gabaldon and Harry Dean. In the hands of genuine patriots with brilliant military careers, the doctrine that JFK was a Communist traitor would prove fatal.

The eventual meeting of Walker-Gabaldon-Hall-Howard-Rousselot-Dean within the context of the JBS, says Harry Dean, would eventually lead to the transformation of Lee Harvey Oswald into the patsy of the JBS plot to rid the USA of JFK.

I've found Harry's new information about Guy Gabaldon, Loran Hall, Larry Howard and the Southern California Minutemen regarding the assassination of JFK to be so volumnous and so interesting that I've entered into an agreement with Harry to publish the next edition of Crosstrails. This new edition will be greatly expanded with many more more factual details, and should be ready for publication by the end of this summer.

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

<edit typos>

Edited June 8, 2013 by Paul Trejo

[Ernie Lazar]

This all a bunch of trype-there is no official connection between my church and the JBS. Salt Lake put out a letter forbiding ANY political mtgs in Church bldgs long ago.

I've served on Executvie Councils over the last 30yrs and have never heard JBS even mentioned. I don't know if Harry got excommunicated or what, but his bitterness towards the LDS shines through.

Evan, I myself don't emphasize all aspects of Harry Dean's memoirs. I emphasize only what he saw with his own eyes, i.e. that he witnessed General Walker, Congressman Rousselot, Guy Gabaldon, Loran Hall, Larry Howard and himself in a meeting, making a pact to make Lee Harvey Oswald into the patsy for a plot involving select John Birch Society leaders and Minutemen.

That, to me, is a handful to work with.

As for Harry's animus regarding the LDS, I personally avoid it because of a lack of evidence. It is well known that in 1963, the thirteenth President of the LDS was Ezra Taft Benson, and it is also accepted that Mr. Benson was a member of the John Birch Society in 1963.

Now, one might try to generalize based on those facts, but I won't generalize. Harry Dean doesn't claim that Ezra Taft Benson was present at that historical meeting which he describes in detail. It is probable, then, that Mr. Dean merely speculates that Mr. Benson participated -- and I won't work with mere speculation. So, I omit this clause from my appreciation of Harry Dean's valuable witness.

I do regard the John Birch Society (JBS) to be un-American, although I admit that Robert Welch was crafty in his efforts to make the JBS appear to be super-American. It seems to me that both Harry Dean and Ezra Taft Benson were misguided into believing that the JBS members were super-patriots, rather than unpatriotic.

For example, many JBS members had no idea that their famous slogan, "Impeach Earl Warren," had racist roots, shared with the White Citizens' Council in the South, which demanded a reversal of Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren's Brown decision to racially integrate US public schools.

Harry Dean told me personally that this never dawned on him. Robert Welch had declared that the JBS was not racist, and that was taken as read. Harry Dean himself is not a racist and never was one. Nevertheless, the JBS demanded the repeal of the Brown decision longer than any other group in the USA (except for the KKK).

Further, I believe Harry Dean failed to take into account that the leadership of the LDS was actually critical of Ezra Taft Benson's membership in the JBS. Furthermore, later Presidents of the LDS refused membership in the John Birch Society. That, to me, is strong evidence.

Harry Dean -- whose eye-witness account is supremely valuable -- was not really an eye-witness to any participation of LDS leadership in the JFK assassination. So I personally discount that part of his account.

Harry does say that he knew a number of LDS members in both the JBS and the Minutemen; however, that proves nothing about any leadership role. Also, I gather that plenty of LDS members opposed the policies of the JFK administration -- yet that also proves nothing about any leadership role in the JBS.

I repeat -- the clause in which Harry Dean tries to blame the LDS for the sins of the JBS is not only removable, it is unimportant to Harry Dean's contribution to JFK research. I have advised Harry to remove that clause in future versions of CrossTrails, and he told me that he would seriously consider my request.

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

<edit typos>

Paul:

There is no credible fact-based evidence to support your contention that Ezra Taft Benson was a JBS member. He did endorse Robert Welch and the JBS -- but senior officials of the LDS Church were quite hostile toward the JBS.

For example, see (Salt Lake City) 1/4/63 Deseret News article, page B1, entitled "Church Sets Policy In Birch Society", for the following First Presidency quote:

"We deplore the presumption of some politicians, especially officers, co-ordinators and members of the John Birch Society, who undertake to align the Church or its leadership with their partisan views.

"We encourage our members to exercise the right of citizenship, to vote according to their own convictions, but no one should seek or pretend to have our approval of their adherence to any extremist ideologies

"We denounce communism as being anti-Christian, anti-American, and the enemy of freedom, but we think they who pretend to fight it by casting aspersions on our elected officers or other fellow citizens do the anti-Communist cause a great disservice."

Also see October 1992 Stake Presidents document entitled "Profile of the Splinter Group Members Or Others With Troublesome Ideologies" which lists 20 warning signs of apostasy. Third on the list was "John Birch membership or leanings."

There is a long history of internal disputes about the JBS and its doctrines within the Mormon hierarchy. In October 1961, for example, Ezra Taft Benson stated that "the internal threat to the American way of life is in the secret alliance which exists between the more advanced Social Democrats and the hard-core Communist conspiracy" and he described the "insidious infiltration of communist agents and sympathizers into almost every segment of American life" -- thus aligning himself with JBS dogma.

First Presidency counsellor Hugh Brown interpreted these remarks as endorsing JBS doctrine and he subsequently answered an inquiry about the JBS by writing that "we [the First Presidency] are definitely against their methods" and he observed that "we do not think dividing our own people, casting reflections on our government officials, or calling everybody a Communist who does not agree with the political views of certain individuals is the proper way to fight Communism." [brown 12/18/61 letter to Mrs. Alicia Bingham].

In April 1962 Brown wrote, in an obvious reference to the Birch Society: "Let us not undermine our government or accuse those who hold office of being soft on communism...{or} by destroying faith in our elected officials under the guise of fighting communism." [ Improvement Era , June 1962, "Honor The Priesthood", page 450]

After Ezra Taft Benson explicitly endorsed the JBS, Brown described himself as "disgusted" with Benson's pro-JBS activities and if they did not cease, he suggested "some disciplinary action should be taken." [Hugh Brown to Gustive O. Larson, 11/11/62].

In October 1962, Ezra T. Benson's son, Reed, became JBS Coordinator in Utah. Reed used chapels to speak to stake meetings about the JBS. Hugh Brown wrote in November 1962 that "It is certainly regrettable [benson] is permitted to continue to peddle his bunk in our Church houses."

For more details regarding disciplinary actions taken by the LDS Church against Ezra Taft Benson because of his links to the JBS, see D. Michael Quinn's article entitled "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts" in the Summer 1993 issue of the Mormon journal, Dialogue.

With respect to Harry Dean's absurdities about Mormon control or creation of the JBS:

1. In a May 1961 Welch letter to attorney Neil McCarthy, Welch wrote to McCarthy that approximately one-half of JBS membership was Catholic, one-half of the field staff was Catholic and two-thirds of the Home office employees (in Belmont MA) were Catholic.

2. Father Francis Fenton (a JBS National Council member) declared in a 3/31/72 speech in Jackson MS about the JBS that JBS had 100,000 members of whom 40% are Catholic. Fenton also reported that "five of the 28 members of the Society's controlling council are Catholics…"

Many of the most significant officers, speakers, and writers for the JBS have been Catholic -- including, for example, their Research Director, and their former Public Relations Director who is now JBS President (John McManus).

With respect to Dean's latest absurdity in the recently released eBook which you co-wrote with him that, after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, the Birch Society used that incident "as a means to drive its membership into the hundreds of thousands" -- the reality is starkly different.

Based upon financial reports which the Commonwealth of Massachusetts required organizations like the JBS to submit annually, we can reliably estimate that the JBS had about 14,000 members in 1961.

In September 1960, Robert Welch reported to his National Council that the JBS had 324 chapters and 5300 members.

In the December 1960 JBS Bulletin, page 4, Robert Welch declared that "we have been doubling in size approximately once every four months" (i.e. 25% per month), Based upon financial reports submitted to Massachusetts, this seems very plausible.

See New York Herald Tribune article 12/22/63, p4 “John Birch Presses On” which quotes from 1962 annual report filed by JBS with Commonwealth of Massachusetts:

The 1962 income was comprised of $296,326 from dues and the rest was from sales of literature.

Assuming $18 average dues ($24 men, $12 women), the number of JBS members in 1962 would be 16,462.

POSTSCRIPT:

Two other brief comments concerning assertions I have seen in this forum:

1. J. Edgar Hoover involved with Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker?

One FBI memo which summarizes the activities of Walker produced a hand-written comment by Hoover on the summary memo about Walker. "He is nuts"

In addition, the FBI used a form to communicate to the Secret Service (and other agencies) adverse information from its investigations into political extremists. Walker had the "honor" of being cited on one of those forms sent to the Secret Service.

In May 1965, the FBI sent form FD-376 to Chief, U.S. Secret Service on Walker, checking off category, “Subversives, ultrarightists, racists, and fascists who meet one or more of the following criteria” – and marking box © which is: “Prior acts (including arrests or convictions) or conduct or statements indicating a propensity for violence and antipathy toward good order and government.”

2. Birch Society officials supported Walker.

In a 10/8/62 memo to all National Council members, Welch stated that Walker began taking advice from J. Evetts Haley and Medford Evans and Welch observed: "Not only does that advice seem to many of us to leave much to be desired in the matter of soundness; but much more recently Walker has also been listening to advice from another source and refusing to pay attention to those who have tried to caution him about this source, and it is one which we do not trust at all, even as to good intentions."

Welch described the potential for "very serious embarrassment to conservatives and the conservative cause in general if Walker continues to listen to that advice." This is a reference to Walker's involvement with the anti-semitic crowd which owned American Mercury magazine [first, Russell Maguire and then Gerald Winrod's organization, Defenders of the Christian Faith and later Willis Carto's Legion for the Survival of Freedom.]

When Russell Maguire took over as publisher of American Mercury, he made some dramatic staff changes. He hired some well known New York conservative anti-communists. John A. Clements became Editor. Columnists and regular contributors included: J.B. Matthews, Ralph deToledano (author of “Seeds of Treason”) George Fielding Eliot (who was military editor) and columnists Howard Rushmore and Eugene Lyons.

In September 1955, the entire top staff of the Mercury (listed above) resigned en masse. Frederick Woltman, the investigative reporter who was awarded the 1946 Pulitzer prize for his articles in the New York World Telegram and Sun on Communist infiltration of labor unions, was personally acquainted with the entire AM staff. He wrote: “The editors resigned feeling that attempts were being made to introduce anti-Semitic material into the Mercury.” [Time magazine, 10/3/55, page 72, “Blowup At The Mercury.”]

A January 1956 FBI memo (based upon input from J.B. Matthews and other persons acquainted with Maguire) discussed Maguire’s changes at AM and his “anti-Semitic focus”.

The memo reported that: “Maguire attempted to get John A. Clements, editor, to emphasize in special articles the fact that there are ‘too many Jews’. Clements refused to permit anti-semitic material to creep into the magazine despite Maguire’s constant agitation on this subject. Following this, Clements and others connected with the magazine reportedly resigned in mass.” Another FBI memo observed that: “Maguire is very close to being fanatical on the subject of Communist infiltration and how far they’ve gone.”

Edited October 17, 2013 by Ernie Lazar

[Paul Trejo]

Paul:

There is no credible fact-based evidence to support your contention that Ezra Taft Benson was a JBS member. He did endorse Robert Welch and the JBS -- but senior officials of the LDS Church were quite hostile toward the JBS.

...

Ernie,

I agree with you, and I want to point out that Harry changed his long-standing position about the Mormons this year after discussions with me.

Aside from the fact that we have no proof that Ezra Taft Benson was a card-carrying member of the JBS, we surely have evidence that he was an outspoken advocate of the JBS, and for a person of that social stature to publicly advocate a political organization -- that is more powerful than donating a few dollars and carrying a card in one's wallet.

If Benson was not actually a member of the JBS, that does not change his public advocacy. What Harry finally agreed about this year, was the fact that Benson was officially the *only* Mormon leader to advocate the JBS and all other official leaders of the Mormons publicly deplored the JBS.

Thus Harry has withdrawn his position that the Mormons were the driving, spiritual force behind the John Birch Society. It was only his opinion, based on his personal observations, anyway.

IMHO, Harry was justified in his opinions by the fact that Benson advocated racial inequality in the Mormon Church, just as Robert Welch and the John Birch Society in general called to "Impeach Earl Warren" which is code-speak for "Repeal the Brown Decision" which is code-speak for "Reverse Racial Integration of Public Schools."

In other words, this political feature -- which successfully and unfortunately passed itself off as Anticommunism -- was a feature held in common by Ezra Taft Benson and Robert Welch.

So, Harry Dean's opinions on the topic of Mormonism did not rest on official evidence -- but his intuition was keen, and there were relationships that still bear review after fifty years.

Thanks for continuing this discussion, Ernie. I would point out here that Harry Dean and I have published his latest Confessions in an eBook through Smashwords. It can be found at this URL:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/367550

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited October 18, 2013 by Paul Trejo

[Ernie Lazar]

Paul:

There is no credible fact-based evidence to support your contention that Ezra Taft Benson was a JBS member. He did endorse Robert Welch and the JBS -- but senior officials of the LDS Church were quite hostile toward the JBS.

...

Ernie,

I agree with you, and I want to point out that Harry changed his long-standing position about the Mormons this year after discussions with me.

Aside from the fact that we have no proof that Ezra Taft Benson was a card-carrying member of the JBS, we surely have evidence that he was an outspoken advocate of the JBS, and for a person of that social stature to publicly advocate a political organization -- that is more powerful than donating a few dollars and carrying a card in one's wallet.

If Benson was not actually a member of the JBS, that does not change his public advocacy. What Harry finally agreed about this year, was the fact that Benson was officially the *only* Mormon leader to advocate the JBS and all other official leaders of the Mormons publicly deplored the JBS.

Thus Harry has withdrawn his position that the Mormons were the driving, spiritual force behind the John Birch Society. It was only his opinion, based on his personal observations, anyway.

IMHO, Harry was justified in his opinions by the fact that Benson advocated racial inequality in the Mormon Church, just as Robert Welch and the John Birch Society in general called to "Impeach Earl Warren" which is code-speak for "Repeal the Brown Decision" which is code-speak for "Reverse Racial Integration of Public Schools."

In other words, this political feature -- which successfully and unfortunately passed itself off as Anticommunism -- was a feature held in common by Ezra Taft Benson and Robert Welch.

So, Harry Dean's opinions on the topic of Mormonism did not rest on official evidence -- but his intuition was keen, and there were relationships that still bear review after fifty years.

Thanks for continuing this discussion, Ernie. I would point out here that Harry Dean and I have published his latest Confessions in an eBook through Smashwords. It can be found at this URL:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/367550

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

Well. Paul, I am happy to learn that Harry has withdrawn his accusation. However, I am a bit troubled by your comment that:

"Thus Harry has withdrawn his position that the Mormons were the driving, spiritual force behind the John Birch Society. It was only his opinion, based on his personal observations, anyway."

Making broad derogatory accusations should be made with more care than merely expressing a personal "opinion" -- particularly when somebody claims to have special expertise or knowledge and, thus, is in a position to influence other people's judgments and conclusions. Also, the JBS position re: race relations is more complicated than what Harry (or perhaps even you) realize. I struggle with this myself but I have always defended the JBS against charges that it is a racist organization. It is insensitive and during its early history it defended white privilege (as did most of our society) but it was not an explicitly racist organization -- which is why, of course, it was able to attract scores of African Americans as members and supporters -- including prominent black intellectuals such as George Schuyler.

[Paul Trejo]

Well. Paul, I am happy to learn that Harry has withdrawn his accusation...

...Also, the JBS position re: race relations is more complicated than what Harry (or perhaps even you) realize. I struggle with this myself but I have always defended the JBS against charges that it is a racist organization. It is insensitive and during its early history it defended white privilege (as did most of our society) but it was not an explicitly racist organization -- which is why, of course, it was able to attract scores of African Americans as members and supporters -- including prominent black intellectuals such as George Schuyler.

Ernie, the racist element in the John Birch Society was encrypted in its most enduring slogan, "Impeach Earl Warren."

That slogan -- which persisted for decades -- is code-speak for "Reverse the Brown v. the Board of Education decision."

When decrypted, that message means, "Re-segregate our Public Schools."

This slogan was not news to Southern folks or Dixiecrats -- in fact the JBS borrowed that strategy from the pre-Dixiecrat politicians. The enduring Southern slogan that "Race mixing is Communism" is politically inherent within the JBS slogan, "Impeach Earl Warren."

It is unfortunate that many Northerners -- even Black intellectual Northerners -- did not understand the implicit meaning of this enduring attack on Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren -- the man who gave America the "Brown decision" back in 1954, sparking a massive resistance to US Public Schools, especially in the South (a resistance that still has aftershocks today with Tea Party rants against US Public Schools).

By the way -- Harry Dean and I decided to promote our new eBook by chopping the price in half for Halloween.

Start with this URL: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/367550

When you click to buy it, use this Smashwords Coupon Code: TV42T

Then, the price of our eBook will be only $4.99 instead of $9.99.

For those Forum readers who wanted to read what Harry said about the JFK assassination in his "Crosstrails" manuscript, and were willing to pay $10 a copy, we can say that our new eBook (Harry Dean's Confessions: I Might Have Killed JFK) contains all the JFK related information of Crosstrails, and much more.

Now you can read more than 190 pages of Harry Dean's confessions for $4.99.

This offer expires on Halloween - one week from today.

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited October 24, 2013 by Paul Trejo

[Ernie Lazar]

Well. Paul, I am happy to learn that Harry has withdrawn his accusation...

...Also, the JBS position re: race relations is more complicated than what Harry (or perhaps even you) realize. I struggle with this myself but I have always defended the JBS against charges that it is a racist organization. It is insensitive and during its early history it defended white privilege (as did most of our society) but it was not an explicitly racist organization -- which is why, of course, it was able to attract scores of African Americans as members and supporters -- including prominent black intellectuals such as George Schuyler.

Ernie, the racist element in the John Birch Society was encrypted in its most enduring slogan, "Impeach Earl Warren."

That slogan -- which persisted for decades -- is code-speak for "Reverse the Brown v. the Board of Education decision."

When decrypted, that message means, "Re-segregate our Public Schools."

This slogan was not news to Southern folks or Dixiecrats -- in fact the JBS borrowed that strategy from the pre-Dixiecrat politicians. The enduring Southern slogan that "Race mixing is Communism" is politically inherent within the JBS slogan, "Impeach Earl Warren."

It is unfortunate that many Northerners -- even Black intellectual Northerners -- did not understand the implicit meaning of this enduring attack on Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren -- the man who gave America the "Brown decision" back in 1954, sparking a massive resistance to US Public Schools, especially in the South (a resistance that still has aftershocks today with Tea Party rants against US Public Schools).

By the way -- Harry Dean and I decided to promote our new eBook by chopping the price in half for Halloween.

Start with this URL: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/367550

When you click to buy it, use this Smashwords Coupon Code: TV42T

Then, the price of our eBook will be only $4.99 instead of $9.99.

For those Forum readers who wanted to read what Harry said about the JFK assassination in his "Crosstrails" manuscript, and were willing to pay $10 a copy, we can say that our new eBook (Harry Dean's Confessions: I Might Have Killed JFK) contains all the JFK related information of Crosstrails, and much more.

Now you can read more than 190 pages of Harry Dean's confessions for $4.99.

This offer expires on Halloween - one week from today.

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

Paul: Anybody who knows anything about me -- knows that I have been a JBS critic for more than 40 years. Birchers have called me "a Communist", "a Communist sympathizer", "a New World Order stooge", "a neutralizer", "a disinformation agent" "a disinformer", "a Fed Gov agent", "a false patriot", "obsessed", "a government shill", "a xxxx", and "an agent of totalitarianism". And the JBS blocks me from posting messages on their website.

Nevertheless, I think you are mistaken in your analysis. "Impeach Earl Warren" was not code for re-segregate our public schools. There were many reasons why the JBS wanted to impeach Warren -- including the fact that the JBS believed that the Warren Court routinely was making what the JBS considered "pro-Communist" decisions with respect to internal security cases (Smith Act cases in particular). The official position of the JBS was that it opposed coerced (i.e. government mandated) integration and coerced segregation.

I know this is a VERY difficult matter to discuss rationally and fairly -- especially for those of us who believed in and supported our civil rights movement. General conservative political philosophy thinks of society as a living organism. It also believes that broad major changes should evolve over time and they should be based upon wide-spread consensus within society in order to assure the smoothest and most conflict-free implementation. And, of course, such changes should originate with elected legislative bodies (not unelected courts).

So....principled conservatives who in many cases were pro-civil rights (and they even financially supported civil rights organizations such as NAACP) nevertheless were critical of the Warren Court because they thought it violated constitutional principles with respect to federal/state powers AND they feared the adverse consequences which would ensue when there was not a general public consensus in most of our southern states about the desirability of full integration.

Obviously, racism comes in many different forms. For some it is gutter language and behavior. For others it is indifference and lack of empathy for less fortunate people based solely upon skin color or perceived ethnic background. The Birch Society was never an explicitly racist organization. It did not use gutter language when referring to blacks, asians, latinos, etc. It welcomed as members ALL people who shared the views of the JBS -- no matter what their racial or religious or ethnic background. BUT, the JBS did defend white privilege and it was blind to the real-world consequences of Jim Crow laws and customs.

[Paul Brancato]

Ernie - I think you might be splitting hairs just a bit. In any case I am going to order Dean's book and read what he has to say.

Do you not think that states rights activists are often racists? The history of that goes way back.

[Ernie Lazar]

Ernie - I think you might be splitting hairs just a bit. In any case I am going to order Dean's book and read what he has to say.

Do you not think that states rights activists are often racists? The history of that goes way back.

States rights advocates cannot be pigeonholed into one broad derogatory category. Some definitely were racists and they used "states rights" as a cover for their bigoted sentiments.

Others (such as Sen. Barry Goldwater) were entirely honorable, decent, intelligent, and principled people who genuinely had concerns about how, as a society, we make laws and apportion responsibility between the state and federal governments. (Goldwater was a founding member of the NAACP chapter in Phoenix and he fought segregation and financially contributed to civil rights causes). See: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/346861/desegregation-brown/page/0/1

With respect to the Birch Society -- it is NOT "splitting hairs" to make careful and rational distinctions. Just as YOU would expect someone to understand YOUR motives and sentiments BEFORE making pejorative statements about you and your family -- so, too, should all of us demand that political differences not devolve into immediate name-calling.

[Paul Brancato]

Sure there are principled conservatives. But calling out states rights champions who are using the term as a cover for their racist views is necessary. I am not foolish enough to call all conservatives racist, or even all JBS members racist. But the interlock between the far right and the racist south is very real.

[Ernie Lazar]

Sure there are principled conservatives. But calling out states rights champions who are using the term as a cover for their racist views is necessary. I am not foolish enough to call all conservatives racist, or even all JBS members racist. But the interlock between the far right and the racist south is very real.

And nobody is objecting to calling out racists who use states rights to cover their bigotry (such as, for example, Mississippi's Senator James Eastland who authored a major anti-Warren Court diatribe).

But my objection pertains to the Birch Society. No genuinely racist or anti-semitic organization attracts minorities in the hundreds. The Birch Society has employed African-Americans and hispanics as speakers; it has welcomed all races and religious traditions as members, as its chapter leaders, as its section leaders and as its Coordinators. And it has attracted many extremely prominent, respected individuals whose name has never been connected to any sort of intolerance or bigotry -- including people like Warren Buffet's father (Cong. Howard Buffett) and numerous Governors, U.S. Senators, Congressmen, Mayors, law enforcement professionals, the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, the Dean of Notre Dame University's Law School and scores more examples.

It is easy to demonize entire categories of human beings -- just because they have different political beliefs or convictions. THAT is what the Birch Society does so well. We should NOT mimic their behavior!

Edited October 25, 2013 by Ernie Lazar

[Paul Brancato]

It seems that you know a lot more about the JBS than I do. How would you describe the JBS in 1963 in LA, or Dallas, or New Orleans?

[Ernie Lazar]

I describe the JBS as an ultra-conservative or right-wing extremist movement which often believes and promotes absurd and irrational conspiracy theories. Most large organizations attract weirdos and wackos or low-information adherents who easily succumb to simplistic ideas which serve to support their personal political preferences.

Nevertheless, it is wrong to describe the JBS (as an organization) as racist or bigoted. Just like it was wrong in the 1960's for right-wing extremists to make no distinctions between Communists versus liberals and socialists.

Dumbing-down our conversations is what political extremists thrive upon. They always portray themselves as innocent victims of deliberate outrageous lies and pejorative publicity.

[Paul Trejo]

Paul: Anybody who knows anything about me -- knows that I have been a JBS critic for more than 40 years. Birchers have called me "a Communist", "a Communist sympathizer", "a New World Order stooge", "a neutralizer", "a disinformation agent" "a disinformer", "a Fed Gov agent", "a false patriot", "obsessed", "a government shill", "a xxxx", and "an agent of totalitarianism". And the JBS blocks me from posting messages on their website.

<snip>

Obviously, racism comes in many different forms. For some it is gutter language and behavior. For others it is indifference and lack of empathy for less fortunate people based solely upon skin color or perceived ethnic background. The Birch Society was never an explicitly racist organization. It did not use gutter language when referring to blacks, asians, latinos, etc. It welcomed as members ALL people who shared the views of the JBS -- no matter what their racial or religious or ethnic background. BUT, the JBS did defend white privilege and it was blind to the real-world consequences of Jim Crow laws and customs.

Ernie, it's good to learn more about you. I take your point that not every JBS member was a racist.

I also take your point that Robert Welch, who chose to expand his organization as far as possible, could not use OVERT racism as a tactic. He would have failed. Instead, he used COVERT racism. You yourself admitted that "the JBS did defend white privilege," so we are not far apart in opinion on this point.

This was not a unique situation. The White Citizens' Councils (WCC) that started up in 1954 in Mississippi in reaction to Earl Warren's Brown Decision, openly stated in their by-laws that KKK members and tactics would be excluded, because they saw clearly that America would no longer tolerate the KKK (although the KKK still flourished in the South, just as they still flourish in some Southern counties to this very day).

To that end, the WCC changed their name to Citizen Councils. They had the same platform -- to reverse the Brown Decision -- but they deliberately concealed their OVERT racism, and promoted a COVERT racism. The strategy worked -- they expanded their membership exponentially -- almost overnight (c.f. The Citizens Council, by Neil R. McMillen, 1994).

It would be a mistake to underestimate the widespread influence of this pre-Dixiecrat movement in the 1950's -- it was massive throughout America. Their main message was that the Brown Decision was COMMUNISM. They advocated the impeachment of Earl Warren.

Robert Welch openly said that he welcomed all forms of Anticommunists. He was probably aware of the fact that the Southern variety of Anticommunism had already been organized in "Citizens Councils." They formed a strong wing within the JBS. I do agree with you that they did not dictate policy to Robert Welch -- but they were welcomed with open eyes.

I realize that because of these facts, one cannot say that the JBS was "racist," simply because they rejected any semblance of OPEN and OVERT racism (just as the WCC's did). Still, as you said, Ernie, "the JBS did defend white privilege." It remains a paradox that a Black intellectual would ever join a group that defended white privilege, but we know it does happen (just as homosexuals will join the Republican Party or some other political party that refuses to recognize full civil rights for homosexuals).

I do recognize that nuances must be openly viewed -- and that is what I want to do with regard to the JBS -- their stand on the racial question in the USA is nuanced -- it is not easy to define.

Most importantly, for purposes of this thread, I would point out that "Harry Dean's Confessions" clearly state that Harry himself saw no racism of any kind among Southern California JBS members. None. Zero. Zip.

I accept Harry's account. The main US political focus in 1961-1963 was on Cuba -- and not on the Negro question -- although Martin Luther King made some of his greatest strides in 1963, and frightened many Father-Knows-Best Americans. This was simply viewed as COMMUNISM by the JBS (and by Harry).

Racism was COVERT in the JBS, that is my point, and I think your comment is a concession to my point.

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited October 25, 2013 by Paul Trejo