#1 W M or ON THE RIGHT: B le en th a- The Birch Society, t] er t) 1g ut in August 1965 -51.65 g ce ir By WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR. T HE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY is engaged in a nation- re wide drive to convince the skeptics of its respon- 'S sibility. Thousands of members of the John Birch p Society, who joined it eagerly as a fighting organiza- :- tion devoted to anti-socialism and anti-communism, it have been saying for years that the unfortunate con- k clusions drawn by Robert Welch y about Dwight Eisenhower in 1958 are y altogether extraneous to the Soci- C ety's mandate, purposes, and mode a of thought, and should therefore be "S st ignored in assessing the Society, A.D. 1965. e I I regret to say that it is in my judgment impossible to defend the n leadership of the John Birch Society :- if one reads closely even its contem- it porary utterances. I should like to d know how those members of the BUCKLEY is Society who believe that it long e since departed from the mania of Mr. Welch's conclu- it sions about Dwight Eisenhower can justify the cur- rent issue of "American Opinion," the Society's monthly magazine, with its featured article about the 7, extent ("60-80%") of Communist influence in the United States (and elsewhere). It is an unsigned, staff written article, given especial prominence. And the editor calls attention to it on the masthead page: if you want to know what is going on in the world, we strongly recommend the next 144 pages to help you find out." Mental health? "The attention of the American people was first drawn to the real problem of 'mental health on October 1, 1962, when, in obedience to the specific demands of the Communist Party, a gang t- under the direction of Nicholas Katzenbach (now At- be torney General of the U.S.), kidnaped General Edwin d A. Walker in Oxford, Mississippi Medicare? the principal object of 'Medicare' is to destroy the independence and integrity of Ameri- can physicians It will inevitably create a 'pressing shortage' of physicians and nurses. Communist prov- es inces are sure to have a surplus they will be glad to ey export to the United States to relieve the shortage." y The death of Kennedy? The Communists d were able to exploit the assassination of Kennedy." y ("It is gossip in Washington that Earl Warren suc- :- ceeded in destroying all copies of the pertinent part e of a motion picture film which showed who escorted - Jack Ruby through the police lines so that he could 5. silence Oswald.") E S Civil Rights? Selma: a horde of termites - from all over the country, led by half-crazed ministers d and professors, swarmed over the small town of Selma, y Alabama, in a typical demonstration of Communist 1, activism." The Civil Rights Act of 1964: "(It was a) f part of the pattern for the Communist takeover of 3. America." In general: (it is) an obvious fact that the whole racial agitation was designed and is directed by the international Communist conspiracy. The economic situation? "The conspiracy can now produce a total economic collapse any time that it decides to pull the chain." The lower courts? do not overlook the fine contributions made by the criminals whom the Con- spiracy has slipped into lower courts." The Supreme Court? "The theory that the War- e ren Court is working for a domestic, as distinct from n " foreign, dictatorship becomes less tenable every day." The federal government? "Communist domina- - tion of many of the departments of the federal gov- d ernment is too obvious to require much comment." d Foreign policy? "As for Viet Nam, one thing is d certain: no action really detrimental to the Commu- 1- nists is conceivable or even possible, so long as Rusk, is McNamara, and Katzenbach remain in power." The Dominican Republic, the policy that e began with the landing of Marines in Santo Domingo 1- (came) under the direction of what often seems to be 1- Communist headquarters in Washington-officially be called the State Department." ea Summary? "The important point is that Ameri- es cans can expect only defeat so long as they are com- es. manded by their enemies." S- * * s" ONE CONTINUES to wonder how it is that the y. membership of the John Birch Society tolerates such n- paranoid and unpatriotic drivel. Until the members il- rise up and demand a leadership whose programs and ed analyses are based other than on the premise that an practically every liberal politician, every confused es professor, every civil rights demonstrator, every so ideologized judge, every bungling diplomat, every avid prosecutor; everyone who wants free medicine, an and civil rights legislation, and government control of he the economy, is an agent of the Communist Con- he spiracy-until then at least they oughtn't to go about the country complaining that the Society is consis-