FrankRep
03-22-2010, 11:13 PM
The Effectiveness of The John Birch Society (http://www.jbs.org/component/content/article/962-from-the-ceo/6041-ceo-april-2010-the-effectiveness-of-the-john-birch-society)
Arthur R. Thompson, JBS CEO | JBS Bulletin
April 2010
After the initial paragraphs that follow, we present a partial listing of campaigns and events that demonstrate the effectiveness of The John Birch Society. Some of these victories resulted from the singular efforts of our organization. Others were achieved in cooperation with friendly groups and associations. In a few of these cases, the JBS started the campaigns and others climbed aboard the bandwagon. And, it has not been unusual that the work of the JBS organization/members was downplayed or completely ignored while others received the credit.
While this may appear to be umbrage, one has to remember how the Society is organized, the services we provide, coupled with the outreach capabilities of our membership with staff coordination on a national scale which is not duplicated by any other organization.
We have a “Comparison of Organizational Services and Programs” chart that tells an important story. It is available as a PDF download ( http://files.meetup.com/684064/JBSComparisonChart%202010.pdf ) that anyone can obtain to get a very good picture of how The John Birch Society far outpaces all other groups in the services and tools we provide. The chart clearly demonstrates to people you are trying to convince to join our organization just what our capabilities are. This chart is intended to show our capabilities, not to downplay the worth of any other organization. Its single page, however, demonstrates that we possess an array of capabilities that others simply do not have in total.
No better example of the success of our work on a national scale (with others participating) exists in the campaign to stop the North American Union (NAU). While other groups combated the threat posed by efforts to create the NAU with pronouncements, articles, and meetings, these activities generally amounted to preaching to the choir. Only the JBS spent the time, energy, and money to carry the message with our outreach capabilities to literally millions of opinion molders all across America.
During the several months of that particular campaign, we undertook massive literature distribution, DVD production and distribution, Internet postings to millions, appearances by speakers at Society-arranged events and other programs, radio and television interviews, and the placing of the special issue of The New American in the hands of all state legislators and members of the U.S. Congress. Then, the follow-up campaign with elected officials added weight to that impressive distribution. Further, we can only guess at the effect created by all of our chapters who worked quietly on their own during this campaign.
The result is that the drive to merge our nation with Canada and Mexico in a planned North American Union has been slowed considerably.
There are three basic reasons why the many victories our Society has achieved have not been credited to us.
1. Some battles have been completely off the radar screen of conservatives let alone the average American. These campaigns have been waged without anyone noticing either the danger or the fight. An example would be the UN’s Earth Charter (below).
2. The John Birch Society has always concentrated more on our mission and has hardly ever focused on taking credit for our victories, either nationally or locally. In addition, we have traditionally done a poor job of branding the Society and for 45 years, allowed others to do so. Therefore, many Americans have been unaware that we even exist let alone that we should be recognized for the efforts we have expended. One example is that while others hold dinners and rallies to talk to one another and gain publicity in the process, our members carry out their efforts in group and individual outreach sessions conducted in homes, businesses, and meeting rooms in order to educate and activate others. JBS has always been busy building awareness among the ill-informed and not focusing on those who are already in the fight. These activities do not generate publicity. The philosophy of the Society has always been to put our efforts and our resources into the fight, not toot our own horn.
3. The Insider-controlled media has always pointed to other organizations as the leaders of the conservative/constitutional movement. This has consistently kept people from involvement in the JBS because they weren’t aware of our existence. Part of this process has been to make others look responsible for campaigns and victories simply because they have shared head-table status with Republican leaders, even Council on Foreign Relations members, at public events.
As all of us generally do our JBS work without fanfare, even our members don’t appreciate the scope of the influence and the effectiveness of the overall JBS campaigns. Members see only their individual efforts. Because these individual or chapter efforts have not always been at a level even they would have preferred, they assume this to be the case all across the country.
Also, members have not been able to see from their local vantage point the national results that have come about through the efforts of thousands of virtually anonymous volunteers working in concerted effort on the same issue at the same time all across the country. Not being able to see the accumulated effect of these efforts, large and small, has even led some members to believe the media when told that others have achieved the goal. The media subtly gives the impression that Americans should actually join these other outfits!
However, all of the following accomplishments, and many more, amount to a story in themselves. Each not only shows that a goal was achieved; each helps to demonstrate that activity is what gets the job done, not just awareness of a problem. Since our purpose here is only to outline our results, the various means taken to achieve each goal must be left to another time.
The Committee Against Summit Entanglements.
Through this ad hoc committee in the early days of the Society, the JBS delayed the providing of dignity to the USSR during the Eisenhower administration, something Richard Nixon accomplished for Communist China in the 1970s. Eisenhower cancelled his scheduled trip to Russia as a result of our work. This program was one of the main reasons that communists and Insiders launched their smear attack on the JBS.
Support Your Local Police.
This effort prevented the nationalization of local police departments and various other forms of federal government regulation of our local police. It led to the federal agency known as the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) being abolished. Support Your Local “Whatever” then became a widely used slogan adopted by others because of the acceptance of our “Support Your Local Police” slogan. Our committees also led to the defeat of communist-inspired police review boards which were designed to hamper local police departments by destroying morale and impeding their work in countering crime and terrorism.
“Innocents Defiled.”
The JBS produced one of the first, if not the first, visual aids targeting the crime of abortion. This filmstrip was widely shown and aided in the launching of the pro-life movement.
MOTOREDE.
Our Movement to Restore Decency, MOTOREDE, was launched to stem the decline of moral standards in our country and to expose the involvement of communists promoting the turn away from traditional values. MOTOREDE was especially effective in alerting many to the danger of drug use and the harm being done to young people through inserting sex education instruction in the schools. The deterioration of community morality always leads to tyranny and this is the reason communists (some of whom were part of the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States, SIECUS) promote liberal attitudes toward morality. Our efforts stimulated the movement that became known as the Christian Right, which was started locally by many of our members. Some JBS members became prominent leaders and organizers in this work.
Black American Speakers.
Several courageous black American JBS members helped bring an end to the violence and strife of the 1960s and 1970s. The work of such heroic individuals as Julia Brown, Lola Belle Holmes, Freeman Yearling and others, plus the writing of George Schuyler, brought a truly American message to large audiences especially in the South. Numerous demonstrations and their planned riots were canceled when the truth about the communist influence behind these operations was provided to Americans of all races.
Racially-inspired Programs Exposed.
The Society thwarted communist plans to radicalize selected groups such as the American Indian Movement and the Chicano Movements led by Cesar Chavez and Reies Tijerina.
Stop Aiding Communists.
During the Vietnam War, members gathered millions of signatures on a petition to Congress calling for an end to all aid and trade with communist nations who were supplying the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong.
Equal Rights Amendment Killed.
The truly dangerous Equal Rights Amendment was stopped cold after the JBS got involved in what was originally thought to be such a bizarre proposal that it wouldn’t attract any attention. Speakers, reprints, and visits with state legislators in key states pointed out that it had next to nothing to do with the rights of women and plenty to do with building federal power over every American. Our effort turned the tide away from passage.
Constitutional Convention Blocked.
Continual calls for a Con-Con were met with reprints, videos, speakers, and personal visits to state legislators. Not only were calls blocked in some states, already passed calls for a Con-Con were wiped away in over a dozen other states when the dangers inherent in a Con-Con were made clear.
Tax Reform Immediately (TRIM).
For thirty years our TRIM committees throughout the nation exposed the actual voting records of members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Many elected officials found themselves run out of office as a result of the distribution of millions of these “report cards.” The effort proved that an informed electorate will make better choices on Election Day. We are now undertaking a transition from the production of printed TRIM report cards to online report cards for congressmen that can be accessed through the “Legislative Action” section of our website at JBS.org.
Profiles of Leftist Senators.
As a result of widespread distribution of articles showing their record in office published by JBS publications, liberal U.S. Senators in Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Idaho, North Carolina, and other states were defeated at the polls. Once again, the decision by local citizens to inform the electorate made the difference.
Targeting Small States and Areas.
Experiments in Idaho and other areas have shown that, with sufficient staff coverage to build a sizable JBS organization, change in the voting patterns of the citizens can be achieved. These efforts lead to the eventual election of more constitutionally-minded people at all levels.
Immigration Problem.
Our 1988 video entitled “Out of Control” was the first to awaken citizens to the enormous illegal immigration problem before most Americans knew that there even was a problem.
Combating Terrorism.
With JBS member and U.S. Congressman Lawrence P. McDonald leading the way, such videos as “No Place to Hide” were produced. This particular program was the first to show the communist creation and nurturing of all terrorist groups around the world. It also showed that no terrorist organization operates without state sponsorship.
Muslim Terrorism Exposed.
Our more recent exposure of so-called Muslim terrorism again shows not only state-sponsorship, but also that the Russian government and its FSB has trained and armed Muslim surrogates.
Exposing Conspiracy.
JBS has always exposed the fact that a conspiracy to enslave mankind is at the root of most of our nation’s and the world’s problems. The first major thrust in this campaign was the distribution of over six million copies of the book None Dare Call It Conspiracy authored by JBS writer Gary Allen. Continued success in this regard, based on studies issued by the University of Virginia and others, indicates that nearly half of America’s citizens believe that our nation faces a conspiracy. The campaign has been so successful, that in order to sabotage the effort, we are witnessing absurd “conspiracy theories” being injected into the thinking of Americans to discredit the idea of conspiracy itself.
The Y2K Scare.
Through a timely article in The New American magazine, JBS members calmed fears about a Y2K computerized meltdown on New Years Day 2000. Many who criticized us for saying that there would be no major problem then now criticize us for not promoting other bizarre initiatives designed to marginalize conservatives. Indeed, many of our successes have been in stopping the spread of false rumors designed to discredit the entire conservative movement. Who can forget the completely fraudulent threat of black helicopters?
The UN’s Earth Charter.
Singlehandedly, JBS members stopped plans to inject the pagan Earth Charter into communities and schools. Radical one-worlders actually had a program underway aimed to make environmentalism a religion that worshipped Mother Earth. It was stopped with a single article in The New American and timely distribution of its reprints.
Get US out! of the United Nations.
Our decades-old campaign to have the U.S. withdraw from the UN has helped a majority of Americans to be opposed to continued U.S. membership in the world body. Millions of pieces of literature, videos, DVDs, and speakers, radio/TV interviews, billboards, etc., led to this development. Prior to the Obama phenomenon, congressional support for withdrawal had steadily been increasing.
Impeachment of President Clinton.
Many Americans wanted Clinton impeached, but it wasn’t until the JBS gave the initiative real organization that the goal became a reality. Such luminaries as the Washington Post grudgingly recognized the work of the JBS in this campaign. Because we organized the effort under what were called ACTION Committees, few realized that we were the driving force. When Hillary Clinton talked about “the vast right wing conspiracy,” she was certainly pointing to The John Birch Society for she knew who mounted such a successful effort. She did not want to identify us by name since doing so would have given us credit.
Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Singlehandedly, our Society stopped the implementation of the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). President George W. Bush had stated numerous times that he intended to push the measure through Congress starting in January 2005. The U.S. was to be one of 34 nations in the Western Hemisphere tied into an arrangement similar to the European Union. And the United Nations was to be the ultimate beneficiary. But, because of JBS efforts, President Bush never even delivered his subversive plan to Congress. The program continues under a different name without U.S. involvement in Latin America under communist leadership.
North American Union.
JBS helped form a coalition to oppose the North American Union (NAU) and the Security and Prosperity Partnership that was created to bring the NAU about by 2010. The NAU would have abolished the borders separating our nation from Canada and Mexico, integrated banking, environmental, trade, and healthcare regulations, built a common “defense,” spurred immigration into the U.S., and much more. These plans have been set back drastically.
DVD Circulation.
Hundreds of thousands of our DVDs are now in circulation. “Overview of America” has been viewed through a variety of means by millions of Americans. The innovation of the Internet has widened the viewership of our videos.
Internet Reach.
Our Internet exposure is now at or near the level of key organizations and publications of the Insiders — and it is growing. We measure this by the number of unique visitors to our sites, not page views by repeat visitors. We continue to double our reach online each year and we have plans to continue carrying this growth forward. Furthermore, tens of thousands of Americans use the “Legislative Action” section of our JBS.org website to send email and otherwise contact their elected officials in support of, or in opposition to, legislation at both the federal and state level.
Stressing Constitution, not Conservatism.
JBS insisted that the standard for Americans was the U.S. Constitution which is defined, not a shifting “conservatism” that wasn’t defined. With William F. Buckley leading conservatives to accept leftist, internationalist and un-American views and policies, championing the U.S. Constitution became ever more important. If the Constitution were fully enforced, the federal government would be 20 percent its size and 20 percent its cost.
Overall Influence.
* Though not measurable, our overall influence is considerable. Anyone who counts the number of mentions of our Society in both the print and electronic media through interviews and appearances of our members on radio and TV, and who then considers our growing membership among state legislators, our thousands of members working within their own spheres of influence, and literally millions of contacts through our literature, DVDs and internet sites each year, knows that The John Birch Society has influence — and knows it is growing.
* Our members’ involvement in other organizations has influenced tens of millions. We can think of five members alone where this statement is true.
* The current level of concern over, and love of, the Constitution is due in large part to our membership’s influence over the past 50 years.
* Perhaps the most important element in the continuing growth in JBS influence has been the distribution of hundreds of millions of pieces of literature, reprints, books, videos, DVDs and other media over 50 years. There is little question that without this information and education, the American people — indeed the entire planet — would now be living in tyranny.
Keep in mind that all we do in print, video, and online supports an agenda implemented by members in a coordinated fashion through local chapters all over America. No other organization on our side of the battle can make this statement. This concerted action enhances the effect of our work by ten- to one hundred-fold.
Recent attacks to malign or marginalize the JBS, such as the effort undertaken by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, are indications of our success and that we are on the right track. We come under attack because of our successes, not our failures, and by how much we influence the American people.
The John Birch Society is unique. Enemies don’t know exactly how to blunt our effectiveness. All JBS members should keep in mind what Founder Robert Welch stated at the close of his marathon message when the Society was launched, “All we must build and use, to win, is sufficient understanding.” Nothing has changed about this strategy. What has definitely changed is the way the American people are receiving our message with gratitude and a willingness to help.
SOURCE:
http://www.jbs.org/component/content/article/962-from-the-ceo/6041-ceo-april-2010-the-effectiveness-of-the-john-birch-society
The John Birch Society
http://www.JBS.org/
The New American
http://www.TheNewAmerican.com/
JBS Mission Statement:
To bring about less government, more responsibility, and — with God's help —
a better world by providing leadership, education, and organized volunteer
action in accordance with moral and Constitutional principles.
Arthur R. Thompson, JBS CEO | JBS Bulletin
April 2010
After the initial paragraphs that follow, we present a partial listing of campaigns and events that demonstrate the effectiveness of The John Birch Society. Some of these victories resulted from the singular efforts of our organization. Others were achieved in cooperation with friendly groups and associations. In a few of these cases, the JBS started the campaigns and others climbed aboard the bandwagon. And, it has not been unusual that the work of the JBS organization/members was downplayed or completely ignored while others received the credit.
While this may appear to be umbrage, one has to remember how the Society is organized, the services we provide, coupled with the outreach capabilities of our membership with staff coordination on a national scale which is not duplicated by any other organization.
We have a “Comparison of Organizational Services and Programs” chart that tells an important story. It is available as a PDF download ( http://files.meetup.com/684064/JBSComparisonChart%202010.pdf ) that anyone can obtain to get a very good picture of how The John Birch Society far outpaces all other groups in the services and tools we provide. The chart clearly demonstrates to people you are trying to convince to join our organization just what our capabilities are. This chart is intended to show our capabilities, not to downplay the worth of any other organization. Its single page, however, demonstrates that we possess an array of capabilities that others simply do not have in total.
No better example of the success of our work on a national scale (with others participating) exists in the campaign to stop the North American Union (NAU). While other groups combated the threat posed by efforts to create the NAU with pronouncements, articles, and meetings, these activities generally amounted to preaching to the choir. Only the JBS spent the time, energy, and money to carry the message with our outreach capabilities to literally millions of opinion molders all across America.
During the several months of that particular campaign, we undertook massive literature distribution, DVD production and distribution, Internet postings to millions, appearances by speakers at Society-arranged events and other programs, radio and television interviews, and the placing of the special issue of The New American in the hands of all state legislators and members of the U.S. Congress. Then, the follow-up campaign with elected officials added weight to that impressive distribution. Further, we can only guess at the effect created by all of our chapters who worked quietly on their own during this campaign.
The result is that the drive to merge our nation with Canada and Mexico in a planned North American Union has been slowed considerably.
There are three basic reasons why the many victories our Society has achieved have not been credited to us.
1. Some battles have been completely off the radar screen of conservatives let alone the average American. These campaigns have been waged without anyone noticing either the danger or the fight. An example would be the UN’s Earth Charter (below).
2. The John Birch Society has always concentrated more on our mission and has hardly ever focused on taking credit for our victories, either nationally or locally. In addition, we have traditionally done a poor job of branding the Society and for 45 years, allowed others to do so. Therefore, many Americans have been unaware that we even exist let alone that we should be recognized for the efforts we have expended. One example is that while others hold dinners and rallies to talk to one another and gain publicity in the process, our members carry out their efforts in group and individual outreach sessions conducted in homes, businesses, and meeting rooms in order to educate and activate others. JBS has always been busy building awareness among the ill-informed and not focusing on those who are already in the fight. These activities do not generate publicity. The philosophy of the Society has always been to put our efforts and our resources into the fight, not toot our own horn.
3. The Insider-controlled media has always pointed to other organizations as the leaders of the conservative/constitutional movement. This has consistently kept people from involvement in the JBS because they weren’t aware of our existence. Part of this process has been to make others look responsible for campaigns and victories simply because they have shared head-table status with Republican leaders, even Council on Foreign Relations members, at public events.
As all of us generally do our JBS work without fanfare, even our members don’t appreciate the scope of the influence and the effectiveness of the overall JBS campaigns. Members see only their individual efforts. Because these individual or chapter efforts have not always been at a level even they would have preferred, they assume this to be the case all across the country.
Also, members have not been able to see from their local vantage point the national results that have come about through the efforts of thousands of virtually anonymous volunteers working in concerted effort on the same issue at the same time all across the country. Not being able to see the accumulated effect of these efforts, large and small, has even led some members to believe the media when told that others have achieved the goal. The media subtly gives the impression that Americans should actually join these other outfits!
However, all of the following accomplishments, and many more, amount to a story in themselves. Each not only shows that a goal was achieved; each helps to demonstrate that activity is what gets the job done, not just awareness of a problem. Since our purpose here is only to outline our results, the various means taken to achieve each goal must be left to another time.
The Committee Against Summit Entanglements.
Through this ad hoc committee in the early days of the Society, the JBS delayed the providing of dignity to the USSR during the Eisenhower administration, something Richard Nixon accomplished for Communist China in the 1970s. Eisenhower cancelled his scheduled trip to Russia as a result of our work. This program was one of the main reasons that communists and Insiders launched their smear attack on the JBS.
Support Your Local Police.
This effort prevented the nationalization of local police departments and various other forms of federal government regulation of our local police. It led to the federal agency known as the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) being abolished. Support Your Local “Whatever” then became a widely used slogan adopted by others because of the acceptance of our “Support Your Local Police” slogan. Our committees also led to the defeat of communist-inspired police review boards which were designed to hamper local police departments by destroying morale and impeding their work in countering crime and terrorism.
“Innocents Defiled.”
The JBS produced one of the first, if not the first, visual aids targeting the crime of abortion. This filmstrip was widely shown and aided in the launching of the pro-life movement.
MOTOREDE.
Our Movement to Restore Decency, MOTOREDE, was launched to stem the decline of moral standards in our country and to expose the involvement of communists promoting the turn away from traditional values. MOTOREDE was especially effective in alerting many to the danger of drug use and the harm being done to young people through inserting sex education instruction in the schools. The deterioration of community morality always leads to tyranny and this is the reason communists (some of whom were part of the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States, SIECUS) promote liberal attitudes toward morality. Our efforts stimulated the movement that became known as the Christian Right, which was started locally by many of our members. Some JBS members became prominent leaders and organizers in this work.
Black American Speakers.
Several courageous black American JBS members helped bring an end to the violence and strife of the 1960s and 1970s. The work of such heroic individuals as Julia Brown, Lola Belle Holmes, Freeman Yearling and others, plus the writing of George Schuyler, brought a truly American message to large audiences especially in the South. Numerous demonstrations and their planned riots were canceled when the truth about the communist influence behind these operations was provided to Americans of all races.
Racially-inspired Programs Exposed.
The Society thwarted communist plans to radicalize selected groups such as the American Indian Movement and the Chicano Movements led by Cesar Chavez and Reies Tijerina.
Stop Aiding Communists.
During the Vietnam War, members gathered millions of signatures on a petition to Congress calling for an end to all aid and trade with communist nations who were supplying the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong.
Equal Rights Amendment Killed.
The truly dangerous Equal Rights Amendment was stopped cold after the JBS got involved in what was originally thought to be such a bizarre proposal that it wouldn’t attract any attention. Speakers, reprints, and visits with state legislators in key states pointed out that it had next to nothing to do with the rights of women and plenty to do with building federal power over every American. Our effort turned the tide away from passage.
Constitutional Convention Blocked.
Continual calls for a Con-Con were met with reprints, videos, speakers, and personal visits to state legislators. Not only were calls blocked in some states, already passed calls for a Con-Con were wiped away in over a dozen other states when the dangers inherent in a Con-Con were made clear.
Tax Reform Immediately (TRIM).
For thirty years our TRIM committees throughout the nation exposed the actual voting records of members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Many elected officials found themselves run out of office as a result of the distribution of millions of these “report cards.” The effort proved that an informed electorate will make better choices on Election Day. We are now undertaking a transition from the production of printed TRIM report cards to online report cards for congressmen that can be accessed through the “Legislative Action” section of our website at JBS.org.
Profiles of Leftist Senators.
As a result of widespread distribution of articles showing their record in office published by JBS publications, liberal U.S. Senators in Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Idaho, North Carolina, and other states were defeated at the polls. Once again, the decision by local citizens to inform the electorate made the difference.
Targeting Small States and Areas.
Experiments in Idaho and other areas have shown that, with sufficient staff coverage to build a sizable JBS organization, change in the voting patterns of the citizens can be achieved. These efforts lead to the eventual election of more constitutionally-minded people at all levels.
Immigration Problem.
Our 1988 video entitled “Out of Control” was the first to awaken citizens to the enormous illegal immigration problem before most Americans knew that there even was a problem.
Combating Terrorism.
With JBS member and U.S. Congressman Lawrence P. McDonald leading the way, such videos as “No Place to Hide” were produced. This particular program was the first to show the communist creation and nurturing of all terrorist groups around the world. It also showed that no terrorist organization operates without state sponsorship.
Muslim Terrorism Exposed.
Our more recent exposure of so-called Muslim terrorism again shows not only state-sponsorship, but also that the Russian government and its FSB has trained and armed Muslim surrogates.
Exposing Conspiracy.
JBS has always exposed the fact that a conspiracy to enslave mankind is at the root of most of our nation’s and the world’s problems. The first major thrust in this campaign was the distribution of over six million copies of the book None Dare Call It Conspiracy authored by JBS writer Gary Allen. Continued success in this regard, based on studies issued by the University of Virginia and others, indicates that nearly half of America’s citizens believe that our nation faces a conspiracy. The campaign has been so successful, that in order to sabotage the effort, we are witnessing absurd “conspiracy theories” being injected into the thinking of Americans to discredit the idea of conspiracy itself.
The Y2K Scare.
Through a timely article in The New American magazine, JBS members calmed fears about a Y2K computerized meltdown on New Years Day 2000. Many who criticized us for saying that there would be no major problem then now criticize us for not promoting other bizarre initiatives designed to marginalize conservatives. Indeed, many of our successes have been in stopping the spread of false rumors designed to discredit the entire conservative movement. Who can forget the completely fraudulent threat of black helicopters?
The UN’s Earth Charter.
Singlehandedly, JBS members stopped plans to inject the pagan Earth Charter into communities and schools. Radical one-worlders actually had a program underway aimed to make environmentalism a religion that worshipped Mother Earth. It was stopped with a single article in The New American and timely distribution of its reprints.
Get US out! of the United Nations.
Our decades-old campaign to have the U.S. withdraw from the UN has helped a majority of Americans to be opposed to continued U.S. membership in the world body. Millions of pieces of literature, videos, DVDs, and speakers, radio/TV interviews, billboards, etc., led to this development. Prior to the Obama phenomenon, congressional support for withdrawal had steadily been increasing.
Impeachment of President Clinton.
Many Americans wanted Clinton impeached, but it wasn’t until the JBS gave the initiative real organization that the goal became a reality. Such luminaries as the Washington Post grudgingly recognized the work of the JBS in this campaign. Because we organized the effort under what were called ACTION Committees, few realized that we were the driving force. When Hillary Clinton talked about “the vast right wing conspiracy,” she was certainly pointing to The John Birch Society for she knew who mounted such a successful effort. She did not want to identify us by name since doing so would have given us credit.
Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Singlehandedly, our Society stopped the implementation of the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). President George W. Bush had stated numerous times that he intended to push the measure through Congress starting in January 2005. The U.S. was to be one of 34 nations in the Western Hemisphere tied into an arrangement similar to the European Union. And the United Nations was to be the ultimate beneficiary. But, because of JBS efforts, President Bush never even delivered his subversive plan to Congress. The program continues under a different name without U.S. involvement in Latin America under communist leadership.
North American Union.
JBS helped form a coalition to oppose the North American Union (NAU) and the Security and Prosperity Partnership that was created to bring the NAU about by 2010. The NAU would have abolished the borders separating our nation from Canada and Mexico, integrated banking, environmental, trade, and healthcare regulations, built a common “defense,” spurred immigration into the U.S., and much more. These plans have been set back drastically.
DVD Circulation.
Hundreds of thousands of our DVDs are now in circulation. “Overview of America” has been viewed through a variety of means by millions of Americans. The innovation of the Internet has widened the viewership of our videos.
Internet Reach.
Our Internet exposure is now at or near the level of key organizations and publications of the Insiders — and it is growing. We measure this by the number of unique visitors to our sites, not page views by repeat visitors. We continue to double our reach online each year and we have plans to continue carrying this growth forward. Furthermore, tens of thousands of Americans use the “Legislative Action” section of our JBS.org website to send email and otherwise contact their elected officials in support of, or in opposition to, legislation at both the federal and state level.
Stressing Constitution, not Conservatism.
JBS insisted that the standard for Americans was the U.S. Constitution which is defined, not a shifting “conservatism” that wasn’t defined. With William F. Buckley leading conservatives to accept leftist, internationalist and un-American views and policies, championing the U.S. Constitution became ever more important. If the Constitution were fully enforced, the federal government would be 20 percent its size and 20 percent its cost.
Overall Influence.
* Though not measurable, our overall influence is considerable. Anyone who counts the number of mentions of our Society in both the print and electronic media through interviews and appearances of our members on radio and TV, and who then considers our growing membership among state legislators, our thousands of members working within their own spheres of influence, and literally millions of contacts through our literature, DVDs and internet sites each year, knows that The John Birch Society has influence — and knows it is growing.
* Our members’ involvement in other organizations has influenced tens of millions. We can think of five members alone where this statement is true.
* The current level of concern over, and love of, the Constitution is due in large part to our membership’s influence over the past 50 years.
* Perhaps the most important element in the continuing growth in JBS influence has been the distribution of hundreds of millions of pieces of literature, reprints, books, videos, DVDs and other media over 50 years. There is little question that without this information and education, the American people — indeed the entire planet — would now be living in tyranny.
Keep in mind that all we do in print, video, and online supports an agenda implemented by members in a coordinated fashion through local chapters all over America. No other organization on our side of the battle can make this statement. This concerted action enhances the effect of our work by ten- to one hundred-fold.
Recent attacks to malign or marginalize the JBS, such as the effort undertaken by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, are indications of our success and that we are on the right track. We come under attack because of our successes, not our failures, and by how much we influence the American people.
The John Birch Society is unique. Enemies don’t know exactly how to blunt our effectiveness. All JBS members should keep in mind what Founder Robert Welch stated at the close of his marathon message when the Society was launched, “All we must build and use, to win, is sufficient understanding.” Nothing has changed about this strategy. What has definitely changed is the way the American people are receiving our message with gratitude and a willingness to help.
SOURCE:
http://www.jbs.org/component/content/article/962-from-the-ceo/6041-ceo-april-2010-the-effectiveness-of-the-john-birch-society
The John Birch Society
http://www.JBS.org/
The New American
http://www.TheNewAmerican.com/
JBS Mission Statement:
To bring about less government, more responsibility, and — with God's help —
a better world by providing leadership, education, and organized volunteer
action in accordance with moral and Constitutional principles.