# Do you know what the John Birch Society is? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008 "2011-02-20T14:56:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/41 "2011-02-21T21:34:05Z")
> [@bartleby](#): > > heh, i learned about it via Mad Magazine… > > and Pogo Pogo, here. The Jack Acid Society pretty well summed them up. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/42 "2011-02-23T12:43:37Z")
I was a member from 1980-82 when the local chapter faded out, tried it again around 1989-90 & found it had moved even more to the Right & I’d moved a bit to the Left. I still check in with some of their materials & find myself agreeing with maybe 80%. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/43 "2011-02-23T14:57:05Z")
I had no idea but I’d heard the name a few times. I asked my mother and she gave me the short answer. She clearly had no love for them. I was in high school at the time. Around 10 years ago I was looking at a local paper and the letters to the editor. One reader exposed the “truth” about Planned Parenthood and how they were originally conceived as a method to keep blacks and other minorities from reproducing and diluting the white gene pool. It was signed by a JBS member. I was a little surprised at how racially tolerant he was. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/44 "2011-02-23T15:20:27Z")
I _think_ I’d heard the name before (mayhap I’ve simply spent too much time browsing furniture catalogs, though), but had no idea what it was. Clicked on the thread in order to fight my ignorance on the subject 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/45 "2011-02-23T16:42:45Z")
Yeah, thing about the John Birch Society is that they haven’t faded from history. Far from it. Once they were the laughing stock of any Republican gathering. Last year, they [cosponsored CPAC](http://www.jbs.org/press-room/5768-the-john-birch-society-announces-cpac-2010-cosponsorship). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/46 "2011-02-23T17:13:09Z")
Also Pogo. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/47 "2011-02-23T21:01:04Z")
I’ve heard of the group, and am vaguely aware that they’re a right-wing organization, but I have little to no idea of their values, objectives, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ernie1241](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a698b9/32.png) [@ernie1241](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ernie1241)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/48 "2011-02-24T23:50:31Z")
**FBI FILES ON BIRCH SOCIETY:** This report explains why J. Edgar Hoover and senior FBI officials within the Bureau’s Domestic Intelligence Division concluded in FBI memos that the JBS was “extremist”, “irrational” and “irresponsible” > **[Google Sites: Sign-in](https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fsites%2Fsystem%2Ferrors%2FWebspaceNotFound%3Fpath%3D%2Fernie124102%2Fjbs-1&followup=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fsites%2Fsystem%2Ferrors%2FWebspaceNotFound%3Fpath%3D%2Fernie124102%2Fjbs-1&ifkv=AXo7B7XJHXFa3zVtCMYFH1fmJHD7b9-siUz3M_zoowWAti2Y1qjQ5G5riJ_yiiDJvSlZH9zvCMH1&passive=1209600&service=jotspot&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&dsh=S-788194990%3A1692031544027346)** > > Access Google Sites with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use). **CONSERVATIVE CRITICS OF ROBERT WELCH and BIRCH SOCIETY:** Contrary to claims made by the Birch Society about the alleged “left-wing” origins of JBS criticism, the most potent adverse comments about the JBS have always originated from the right-side of the political spectrum. This report presents a representative sample of such comments. [http://ernie1241.googlepages.com/jbs-4](http://ernie1241.googlepages.com/jbs-4) \*\*PERSONS DESCRIBED BY BIRCH SOCIETY AS “EXPERTS” ON COMMUNISM: \*\* Two former FBI Special Agents who endorsed the Birch Society after they retired from the FBI are often cited by Birch Society members and supporters as knowledgeable, reliable, and authoritative sources of information on the communist movement. However, their FBI personnel files reveal that senior FBI officials did not have a very high regard for their post-FBI endeavors. In the case of Dan Smoot, just prior to his retirement from the FBI he was censured, placed on probation, and transferred to a small, insignificant field office as a disciplinary measure. Both reports include detailed critiques of statements and assertions made by these former FBI Special Agents. DAN SMOOT: > **[Google Sites: Sign-in](https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fsites%2Fsystem%2Ferrors%2FWebspaceNotFound%3Fpath%3D%2Fernie124102%2Fsmoot&followup=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fsites%2Fsystem%2Ferrors%2FWebspaceNotFound%3Fpath%3D%2Fernie124102%2Fsmoot&ifkv=AXo7B7VuJCnYJnvYgwoqFZAwKR0RfNIhfMEz1pwE4YM-YCBvFLf8UC7gKAfF_Ir9Opko7eBZA4cS&passive=1209600&service=jotspot&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&dsh=S1997415656%3A1692031667036006)** > > Access Google Sites with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use). W. CLEON SKOUSEN > **[Google Sites: Sign-in](https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fsites%2Fsystem%2Ferrors%2FWebspaceNotFound%3Fpath%3D%2Fernie124102%2Fskousen&followup=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fsites%2Fsystem%2Ferrors%2FWebspaceNotFound%3Fpath%3D%2Fernie124102%2Fskousen&ifkv=AXo7B7XCx5Xe21oMHgp1gwfPCFHOg_eHC7ovRzPI8aHdzk2KLOfmEjzer1SRhY0EDCy93mIESlEq3w&passive=1209600&service=jotspot&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&dsh=S68096894%3A1692031710981730)** > > Access Google Sites with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use). ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/49 "2011-02-25T21:11:27Z")
Good lord, I haven’t thought about the John Birch Society since the 1960’s. I think they pretty much died out in the 1970’s. That was the “American, Love It Or Leave It” bumper sticker group. They tried to indoctrinate everyone that America was the ideal of All Goodness and Perfection. Anyone who disagreed was the embodiment of All Badness and Putrescence. In organized groups, they’d try to intimidate neighbors into becoming the Stepford Wives, all voicing the identical rhetoric without thinking. The end of the never-ending Vietnam War, Nixon, Watergate, the exposure of CIA excesses, etc pretty much brough the end of John Birch, as well. It’s now been replace at the opposite extreme called Political Correctness. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/50 "2011-02-25T21:21:26Z")
I learned about the Birchers from the Smothers Brothers. “To my left, my brother Dick. To my extreme right, John Birch…” ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/51 "2011-02-25T21:36:01Z")
I may still have a dusty copy of _None Dare Call it Conspiracy_ floating around here somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/52 "2011-03-03T16:46:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > [John Birch Society](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG6taS9R1KM) as performed by the Chad Mitchell trio. One of life’s better earworms. > [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > “Join the John Birch Society, holding off the Reds > **We’ll use our hands and hearts, and if we must, we’ll use our heads** ” > > This wine never goes away, it just gets a new label. Indeed. I just stumbled upon the rewrite: [The George Bush Society](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oPngk3RSjc&playnext=1&list=PLA859DC83029D6108) With the George Bush Society like a holy scene, “Hallelujah’s” what we shout, but “Halliburton’s” what we mean. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/53 "2011-03-03T17:18:14Z")
The Birchers were supported by the Koch brothers dad. What a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/54 "2011-03-03T17:22:18Z")
The Birch Society faded because it was so radical and nutty. The new Kochs finance the Cato Institute and Citizens for a Sound Economy. They dressed the Birch Society in new clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/55 "2011-03-03T17:37:32Z")
The local chapter used to have a weekly recorded phone message and the highlight of my early teen years was to listen to what they were up to. It was like a reverse prank call. I’m fairly sure that they proclaimed the moon landing a hoax within a month afterward. Their office and George Wallace campaign headquarters were the ultimate goof in 1968. Ironically, I live in a red state now. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/56 "2011-03-03T20:09:46Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > For future reference, to get a more unbiased sample of responses, the titles of threads like these should be non-specific – e.g., “Have you heard of this organization?” When you put “John Birch” in the title, people who know about it and maybe have something to say on the topic are going to be more likely to click on the thread. > > And, yes, of course I know about the JBS. I actually intentionally vote in those threads for that very reason. I had never heard of it, and assumed most people in the thread probably would have. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/57 "2011-03-04T02:31:36Z")
I should have added, I’ve seen absolutely no resemblance between the Tea Party and the Birchers. The Birchers made Republicans look like liberals. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008/58 "2011-03-04T04:41:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > I learned about the Birchers from the Smothers Brothers. > > “To my left, my brother Dick. To my extreme right, John Birch…” Today, they would add 'and the Koch Brothers" (whose father supported the Birchers). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-the-john-birch-society-is/572008.md?page=2)