Michael Wolfe

Most of us Tea Partiers know what its like to be slandered. Whether it’s being labeled racist, “astro-turf,” anti-government, etc. The far left in this country is busy doing its best to thwart the revival of interest in government by those who wish to see it smaller and more constitutional. But sometimes the damage is done by one of our own, that so believes in moderates that he is willing to throw under the bus those groups that have been stigmatized by the main stream media for decades, and whom is willing to cast off the concept of long term strategies to focus solely on one election at a time. These individuals believe in the so called inevitable march of “liberal democracy,” (most tea partiers and birch members would tell you we are a republic not a democracy) and that societal evolution is such that totalitarianism (such as communism and fascism) can never again threaten America or the rest of the world. Upon mentioning the fact that at a town hall meeting in the international Union SEIU’s union hall I saw the distribution of the People’s Weekly World, he proceeded to say that the Communists were the left’s radicals, like the John Birch Society was the right’s radical group. This likely stems from the fact that he believes totalitarianism is dead, and an unsubstantiated slur from the far left that the JBS was somehow a racist organization (those of us in the tea party should be all too familiar with this slander, and . Whatever the reasons, it was clear this gentlemen had no understanding of the Birch Society, or of the Tea Party and 9/12 movement in general. Which was shocking to me, seeing as he was addressing such a group. Most of us happen to believe the government is rapidly expanding and moving towards socialism. The only real element of doctrine some tea partiers may disagree with the JBS is on the element of foreign policy, however there are numbers among the Tea Party who endorse that as well, seeing the value in the US curtailing its policy of nation building and redistributing American wealth in the form of foreign aid and “free” world policing. However, this hardly makes the JBS more radical than the tea party! The JBS has been right along side the tea party in ohio collecting signatures for the Health Care Freedom Amendment, and it has been in the arena fighting since the days of open Communism. Today the concerns are similar, with the old left preferring the term “progressive” over communist, and operating under the authority that has been ceded thus far to the United Nations. Our institutions are grand, but they are not immune to corruption at the hands of progressive radicals bent on “fundamentally transforming” this country. One can see how over the past century power has been consolidated in Washington in general, and in the presidency in particular (From FDR’s gold seizures to vast executive bureaucracies in the EPA, FDA, DoE, HUD, DHS, TSA to Obama’s recent interventions by fiat in Libya). Focus on the immediacy of an election is good, but it should not be at the expense of creating an electorate educated in the foundation of constitutional liberty and the nature and doctrines of those who oppose it. This has been a part of both the Tea Party and the John Birch Society. Long term strategy and understanding of the true nature liberty as well as of those who oppose it is essential to defending liberty. As to communism being dead, why not visit the party’s official website, http://www.cpusa.org and seeing for yourself the praise they lavish upon many of the Obama administration’s policies and agenda items. Even in Europe, masses of people are being stirred up by communists and socialists against austerity measures designed to save governments hemorrhaging euros due to massive socialist welfare states. Communism is dead in a sense, that few want to be identified as such. But the underlying philosophies are alive and well. As is progressive internationalism in organizations like The Council on Foreign Relations, the SEIU, George Soro’s Moveon.org, and any organzations promoting and funding the United Nation’s Agenda 21.

I had the opportunity to meet up with members of the John Birch Society in 2009. They were hosting a speech by the Society’s president McManus, a speech about the economic crises and I decided to go and see what they were about. As it turned out, what they were saying was in line with the Tea Party’s stance on the size and scope of government spending. Afterwards I was able to grill some members about the Society, most notably the racist issue because I will not ever knowingly associate with a group that does harbor racist ideologies. As it turns out, the nebulous charges I had heard as a youth were as accurate as those thrown against the Tea Party today. To sum it up. I joined two organizations and one movement in 2009: The Union County 9/12 Group, the John Birch Society and the Tea Party. All of these are, in a sense, radical organizations, but to those concerned with liberty, they are hardly radical, but are practical and essential allies to the cause. But the empty charges of “out of the mainstream” really aren’t holding water any more as more and more people continue to wake up to the dangers presented by an out of control federal government.

An interview with the president of the JBS on the floor of the We The People Convention.

If you would like to find out more about the John Birch Society, and how they have been aiding the cause of Liberty in America, check out the following sites:

http://www.thenewamerican.com

http://www.jbs.org

Robert Owens, The Ohio Liberty Council’s Tea Party PAC endorsed 2010 candidate for Ohio Attorney General is the head of the Delaware, OH Chapter of the John Birch Society.