The effectiveness of The John Birch Society, as a whole, can best be measured by its proven track record over the decades. The following list of accomplishments is an abridged excerpt from an article that appeared in the April 2010 JBS Bulletin, written by Art Thompson:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
