Robert Welch, founder and head of the John Birch Society, might not be considered that far outside the mainstream by today’s standards.
-- Ap PhotoBefore Moms for Liberty, before MAGA, before the Tea Party, there was a relatively small but vocal movement whose members were generally recognized – except by themselves – as residents of the loony far right: the John Birch Society.
Begun in 1958 by Robert Welch, a retired candy maker of Sugar Daddies and Junior Mints wealth who saw dark political conspiracies in every direction, it was named for a U.S. military intelligence officer killed by Chinese Communist troops in 1945. The group ardently opposed communism, for which it had a rather broad definition that included the civil rights movement and “one-world government,” especially the United Nations.
How fringe was it? Welch believed Dwight Eisenhower was a communist agent. His group viewed the introduction of fluoride into drinking water as a Soviet plot to poison Americans. Even Barry Goldwater and William F. Buckley considered Welch beyond the pale.
I had assumed Birchers more or less faded into oblivion along with other societal relics of that era like sock hops, TV Westerns and beatniks. But as a recent article in The Atlantic magazine noted, “The organization, once relegated to the outermost edges of the conservative movement, now fits neatly into its mainstream.”
As with any group hoping for relevance today, it features a website promoting its agenda and you don’t even need to sign an oath or provide a secret password to gain entry. It invites anyone to “Be part of the patriot movement to protect and restore American freedom, independence, and our God-given rights.”
With an interactive map, it allows a visitor to click on any state to view “Action Alerts” and learn about certain proposed legislation and the group’s official position on it. It also includes handy, pre-written messages to send to lawmakers urging them to support/oppose the legislation. Hey – why think for yourself?
I took a look at the alerts for Tennessee, and guess what: The Birchers really like some stuff Tennessee legislators have filed.
Two companion bills the website champions weren’t even on my highly tuned radar for kooky proposals: They would allow the state treasurer “to purchase and sell precious metal bullion or specie that will be directly owned by the state.”
“If enacted, these bills would officially recognize gold and silver as legal tender, a major step toward returning to constitutional adherence and treating gold and silver as currency,” the Birch site says.
If you’ve ever nodded off while listening to someone argue for a “return to the gold standard,” you know what this is about. I tend to tune out at any mention of the word “specie.”
Another alert supports bills to reject federal funding for education as “a major step toward restoring state sovereignty and pushing back against federal overreach.”
And speaking of state sovereignty, the Birchers are big fans of the latest – and seemingly unending – effort to assert Tennessee’s “right” to nullify federal laws, agency rules, presidential executive orders and such as unconstitutional.
It’s called the Restoring State Sovereignty Through Nullification Act. I’ve mentioned it and previous efforts like it before. The concept has been rejected by everyone and everything from Andrew Jackson to the Supreme Court, but Birchers beg to differ, asserting that the bills “are firmly grounded in the text of the U.S. Constitution.”
“If our leaders adhered consistently to the Constitution,” the Birch site says, “80% of the federal government would be declared unconstitutional, and the situation will likely get worse under the Biden administration.”
Not all the Birch alerts support Tennessee legislative measures. The current push to expand school vouchers, for instance, is flatly rejected.
“Although these proposals might sound good,” the alert says, “they severely threaten individual freedom and parental rights by shackling parents and religious schools to government funding – and the various strings attached. It is imperative that state legislators oppose vouchers and ESAs and instead protect educational freedom!”
Don’t get the idea that Birchers support public schools, though, because they consider them “beyond repair.”
“Accordingly, every level of government should end all support for any government school – and any other institution – that indoctrinates children against Americanist and Judeo-Christian values.”
One Tennessee measure the Birch alerts don’t mention, but I’m sure would win favor, is a House joint resolution calling for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations.
A series of “Whereas” clauses argues for the move. In a nutshell, it claims that “the U.N. often pursues an agenda that runs counter to what America’s policy goals should be.”
I’m sure Robert Welch, wherever he may be now, is smiling.
Joe Rogers is a former writer for The Tennessean and editor for The New York Times. He is retired and living in Nashville.