One thrilling result of our Society's significant presence at Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic was the very positive and enthusiastic reception John F. McManus received when he addressed the rally during the afternoon session. The many thousands in attendance repeatedly interrupted John's speech with thunderous applause, at one point even shouting out "End the Fed!... End the Fed!..." as John called for eliminating the Federal Reserve. In fact, John's speech was arguably the third-best received of all the many rally speakers. If one were to measure with a decibel meter, it would have been surpassed only by Jesse Ventura's (the former governor of Minnesota, where the rally was held) and Ron Paul's. Immediately after John's speech, the JBS booth, busy all day long, was overwhelmed with energized attendees wanting our Overview of America DVD and other information. Some even joined the JBS on the spot, in the immediate aftermath of John's speech.

Of course, not everyone in the large arena was thrilled to have the president of The John Birch Society speak there. One exception we know about was Tucker Carlson, who served as the rally's emcee. Carlson could not bring himself to introduce John McManus, who came to the podium when someone offstage simply announced, "The next speaker is John McManus." Carlson was apparently scandalized at the prospect of introducing someone from the JBS. Ironically, this is the same Tucker Carlson, of MSNBC, who last fall invited a Nevada brothel owner, who also is a friend of his, to attend a Ron Paul press conference. The brothel owner, two of his prostitutes, and Carlson arrived at the press conference together, blindsiding the Paul campaign and giving the media an opportunity to "report" that a brothel owner had endorsed Ron Paul.

But at the Rally for the Republic, Carlson's snub, which denied John a proper introduction, did not dampen the audience's enthusiasm for John's speech one bit. In fact, John proved fully capable of introducing himself, as evidenced by the transcript of his speech (video available on YouTube) below.

John F. McManus Speech

Rally for the Republic

September 2, 2008

My name is John McManus and I approve this message.

I’m also known as Jack. Please, if you greet me at the airport,
don’t say “Hi JACK!”

You all know that Britain’s King George III ruled over the American colonies before our nation declared independence. Somehow, he just sent a message to today’s Americans from the grave. His message? “How do you like taxation with representation?”

I’ve been on the staff of The John Birch Society since 1966. Forty plus years ago, several prominent media commentators were claiming that our Society wouldn’t last a decade. They were wrong.

We’re scheduled to celebrate our 50th anniversary next month, and I’m pleased to make three announcements: 1) those anti-Birch media commentators are all in their graves; 2) we are enjoying our own “surge” in membership growth; and 3) the featured speaker at our 50th anniversary celebration will be Dr. Ron Paul.

The good congressman has already sent us a message for our use. It says:

The John Birch Society is a great patriotic organization featuring an education program solidly based on constitutional principles. I congratulate the Society in this, its 50th year. I wish them continued success and endorse their untiring efforts….

Our big anniversary party will be held in Appleton, Wisconsin, October 2–4. You’re all invited. Check out the details at JBS.org.

It was only a few months ago that I suffered through watching one of those televised debates. As usual, the Establishment’s favorites were given most of the time with the microphone. When they finally got around to Ron Paul, he remarked that he had been listening to the others arguing about next to nothing and he thundered, “What about the Constitution?” Imagine: a U.S. Congressman running for President who thought the Constitution ought to be considered! I cheered out loud in my own living room.

Ron Paul recently said that the politicians in Washington always have the urge to do something about problems when what’s needed is for them to un-do something they never should have started in the first place.

My own similar attitude is that our nation didn’t become the envy of the world because of what government did. America became great because of what government was prevented from doing!

I frequently insist that if the Constitution were fully enforced, the federal government would be 20 percent its size and 20 percent its cost. And some of my Birch Society colleagues chide me and say, “No, it would be 10 percent its size and cost.”

Right now, the admitted National Debt stands at just under $10 trillion. That’s 10 with 12 zeros, a practically incomprehensible number.  Each citizen’s share is $31,000. The debt rises at almost two billion dollars every day. This is good leadership?

What do our leaders do in the face of this massive amount of red ink? They continue to dole out billions with an array of foreign aid programs. Ask a fourth grader whether giving away money when you’re heavily in debt is a good idea and you know what the fourth grader would say. Maybe we ought to send some fourth graders to Washington.

Let’s think about the Constitution for a minute. It isn’t a blank check for government to do whatever it wants. It’s actually a delegation of a few powers and a strict prohibition on most of what governments throughout history like to do. I defy anyone to find in here [holding up a copy of the U.S. Constitution] any authorization for foreign aid, undeclared wars, education, housing, medicine, transportation, and whole host of unconstitutional agencies and bureaus that cost billions and dilute our freedoms. And that goes for the Federal Reserve too.

What to do about the Federal Reserve? Congress created it — which means that Congress can abolish it. That’s what to do about the Fed. Let there be competitors issuing real money!

I find it maddening that the federal government consistently engages in all kinds of activities that are unconstitutional. But when the feds are legitimately directed to do something, they fail miserably. Example: the Constitution requires the federal government to protect the states from invasion. Isn’t 20 million illegal immigrants an invasion? They don’t protect us from invasion because there’s a plan to put our nation in a North American Union with Canada and Mexico, then merge with the European Union, and then completely cancel independence on the way to world government.

I have a favorite portion of the Constitution. It’s Article I, Section 1, Sentence One which states: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress….”  If this is so, a Supreme Court decision cannot be the law of the land, only the law of the case. Also, if this is so, presidential Executive Orders that take on the force of law are totally illicit.

But let’s focus on the words “herein granted.” Herein granted where? In the Constitution where you will find no authorization for Federal involvement in so much of what they are doing that ends up costing billions and leading this nation toward tyranny.

The Founders wrote the Constitution to bind the government down from mischief. Then they added the Bill of Rights, and you all know what those ten amendments say:  Government shall not, shall not, shall not, shall not, all the way up to the marvelous Tenth Amendment that says, “If we forgot anything, you can’t do that either.”

Beginning at the time of the bicentennial of this great nation, a movement was launched to revise the Constitution through a constitutional convention. The promoters of this scheme knew very well that, once convened, a con-con couldn’t be limited. They also knew that with a Con-Con, they could destroy what we have and lead us into a dictatorship. Professor James MacGregor Burns stated:

Let us face reality. The framers [of the Constitution] have simply been too shrewd for us…. If we are to “turn the founders upside down” – to put together what they put asunder, we must directly confront the constitutional structure they erected.

MacGregor Burns and his allies sought to have a con-con by 1987, the 200th anniversary of the Constitution. Thirty-two state legislatures had already called for the convention, meaning only two more were needed to set the stage for dismantling the Constitution. Let me do a little bragging here. The John Birch Society sprang into action. Our members persuaded state legislators in several states not to call for a con-con. Then, we persuaded state legislators in other states to rescind their calls. We did it with The New American magazine, with the organized efforts of JBS members, with visits to state legislators, with speeches and media appearances, and we saved the Constitution. The Constitution lives. It’s time to get back to it – every bit of it.

We Birchers revere what the Founders gave us. But we know that it’s not enough just to have the Constitution. What’s needed is a rising tide of demands that elected and appointed officials adhere to the document’s limitations. They all swear an oath to uphold it, and the only clause they seem determined to obey is the one that says they shall be paid out of the U.S. Treasury.
   
It been my distinct honor to have known Ron Paul for almost all of the years he has served in Congress. We know, and he knows, that he needs help down there in Washington. We’ll keep telling Americans what’s right about America — as well as what’s wrong. We’ll keep planting the seeds of liberty so that good candidates will arise and voters will make better choices. We’ll keep spreading the message of The John Birch Society contained in our motto, “Less government, more responsibility, and — with God’s help — a better world.”  We pray as if everything depends on God, and we work as if everything depends on each of us. We believe that government should be limited by law, and people should be limited by freely accepted moral codes – such as the Ten Commandments.

I hope each of you is as determined as every member of The John Birch Society to take our country back. And I close with a realization that has already dawned on so many newly awakened and newly energized Americans:

“If you like Ron Paul, you’ll love The John Birch Society!”