John+Birch+Societies-1

Erik

The organization was based in Appleton Wisconsin.
 * The John Birch Society** was a conservative, anti-leftist, anti-communist organization. It was named after Captain M. Birch, a baptist missionary and Air Force officer. The Society was made to fight what they thought were threats to the constitution. These threats were almost all communism. Their motto is " Less government, more responsibility, and...with God's help...a better world."
 * The organization** calls itself a " membership based organization dedicated to restoring and preserving freedom under the U.S. Constitution." Members range from janitors to teachers to managers, because nobody wanted to become a communist country.
 * Bob Dylan** wrote a song about the society in the 1960's. the song is called the "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid blues". In the song he looks for the "reds" and looks in odd places like in the toilet, under the hedges, and up his chimney. Bob Dylan was trying to say that they tried too hard to find communists, and over-exaggerated a lot of their cases. They even accused Truman, Eisenhower, and Dulles of being communists.

He graduated from there in 1916. Robert Welch entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1917. When he resigned two years later, he was at the fourth in his class. His class had almost one thousand people.
 * Robert Welch** founded the John Birch society in 1958. Robert Welch graduated from his high school at the age of twelve. He then got accepted to the University of North Carolina.

The Bob Dylan song also mocks this society. Here are the lyrics.
 * Extra Focus**
 * The media** was a surprisingly strong influence on how the society turned out. I recommend watching the movie "Good Night and Good Luck." it follows Joseph McCarthy more than the John Birch society, however McCarthy was a very important person in the organization and had the same basic ideals.
 * Well, I was feelin' sad and feelin' blue, I didn't know what in the world I was gonna do, Them Communists they wus comin' around, They wus in the air, They wus on the ground. They wouldn't gimme no peace. . . So I run down most hurriedly And joined up with the John Birch Society, I got me a secret membership card And started off a-walkin' down the road. Yee-hoo, I'm a real John Bircher now! Look out you Commies! Now we all agree with Hitlers' views, Although he killed six million Jews. It don't matter too much that he was a Fascist, At least you can't say he was a Communist! That's to say like if you got a cold you take a shot of malaria. Well, I wus lookin' everywhere for them gol-darned Reds. I got up in the mornin' 'n' looked under my bed, Looked in the sink, behind the door, Looked in the glove compartment of my car. Couldn't find 'em . . . I wus lookin' high an' low for them Reds everywhere, I wus lookin' in the sink an' underneath the chair. I looked way up my chimney hole, I even looked deep inside my toilet bowl. They got away . . . Well, I wus sittin' home alone an' started to sweat, Figured they wus in my T.V. set. Peeked behind the picture frame, Got a shock from my feet, hittin' right up in the brain. Them Reds caused it! I know they did . . . them hard-core ones. Well, I quit my job so I could work alone, Then I changed my name to Sherlock Holmes. Followed some clues from my detective bag And discovered they wus red stripes on the American flag! That ol' Betty Ross . . . Well, I investigated all the books in the library, Ninety percent of 'em gotta be burned away. I investigated all the people that I knowed, Ninety-eight percent of them gotta go. The other two percent are fellow Birchers . . . just like me. Now Eisenhower, he's a Russian spy, Lincoln, Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy. To my knowledge there's just one man That's really a true American: George Lincoln Rockwell. I know for a fact he hates Commies cus he picketed the movie Exodus. Well, I fin'ly started thinkin' straight When I run outa things to investigate. Couldn't imagine doin' anything else, So now I'm sittin' home investigatin' myself! Hope I don't find out anything . . . hmm, great God! ||
 * Copyright © 1970 Special Rider Music ||

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

Welch, Robert H. The Blue Book of the John Birch Society. Appleton, Wis: Western Islands, 1992.

http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/birch.html

"John M Birch." Hutchinson's Biography Database. EBSCOhost. 5 Feb 2007 <[|http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?vid=3&hid=117&sid=2c4d26ab-48a4-4067-b6bb-fcb6d8067f41%40SRCSM1>.]