Idaho Republicans are choosing constitutionalism over neoconservatism.
Two Idaho county Republican central committees have approved resolutions recognizing The John Birch Society (JBS) for what it is — an organization dedicated to providing education and organized action “in accordance with moral and Constitutional principles.”
On July 27, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee approved a resolution declaring its support for the pro-America, anti-collectivist JBS. The Benewah County Republican Central Committee approved a similar resolution, Idaho Republican Party Region Chairman Bjorn Handeen told The New American on Monday.
The “JBS resolution” has been submitted to the Idaho Republican State Central Committee to be adopted by the state Republican central committee. But first, it has to pass a resolution committee. That hearing happens Friday, August 27.
The resolution follows controversy involving Kootenai County Commissioner Bill Brooks, who told the local newspaper, the Coeur d’ Alene/Post Falls Press, in a July 10 article that he was leaving the party, in part, because it tolerates the JBS. He told the newspaper that he had photographs of central committee members standing behind the table at JBS meetings, as if he’d captured something scandalous or illegal.
The leaders of the central committee, who’ve defended giving a platform to various groups after meetings, not just the JBS, aren’t heartbroken about Brooks’ departure. The resolution says those such as him — people who don’t support the party platform — are welcome to follow him out the door.
When asked if it is normal for the central committee to adopt resolutions in support of activist groups, Handeen said that it wasn’t. Nevertheless, the principles of the JBS — adherence to the nation’s founding documents and God for governing — tie in directly with the Idaho Republican platform, Handeen said. It’s not that people need to specifically support or be part of the JBS, he further explained; it’s that they need to support constitutional and moral principles.
The resolution sent the Twitter world into a flutter.
“The devolution of the Kootenai County Republican Committee away from the middle should alarm all of us and serve as a wake up call that it’s time to take action against these extremist zealots,” one tweeter tweeted.
“The GOP in Idaho has just split over support of the … John Birch Society,” someone else said in a retweet of the aforementioned tweet.
The relationship between Twitter and the real world remains an ongoing topic of debate. Nevertheless, these comments do indicate that not everyone is on board with the idea of less government and more responsibility. That, apparently, equates to extremist zealotry.
Brooks told the Press that he doesn’t believe the JBS resolution will pass at the state party level. Handeen, however, is “cautiously optimistic” that it will. “I think it could pass. We’ve been working hard,” Handeen told TNA. “We’ve had allies coming out of the woodwork.”
Rich Loudenback is the secretary for the Coeur d’Alene JBS chapter. He said this victory has been years — perhaps a decade — in the making. “Birchers,” an in-house term used to describe JBS members, have been hard at work. It takes work to get members organized and keep them active. Every year, members work booths at the local fair and gun show; they bring in speakers to discuss constitutional tenets and vital issues affecting the country, Loudenback said, citing a few examples of what such work looks like.
The John Birch Society, which does not endorse candidates for public office, believes that creating sufficient understanding among fellow citizens will cause politicians to move in the constitutionalist direction. But this is not to say that JBS members, acting as individuals, do not themselves sometimes throw their hats into the political arena. Some JBS members are part of the political infrastructure throughout the state, Loudenback noted, confirming Brooks’ allegations that Birchers have the gall to become part of their local government.
Handeen testified to the work Birchers have put in. “They have a presence with education,” he said. He’s seen members distribute books, pamphlets, and brochures with information on vital issues and Constitutional principles. Handeen fondly recalled how some time ago a regional JBS coordinator handed him a copy of Frederic Bastiat’s The Law.
All this perfectly aligns with the vision of JBS founder Robert Welch, who liked to say, “Education is our total strategy, and truth is our only weapon.”
Welch founded the JBS in 1958, after deciding that America desperately needed an effective and structured patriotic organization to beat back the nation’s Marxist threat. At the time, the Soviet Union was recognized as a major power, communism had officially engulfed over half the planet, and the United States government was actively rooting out communist agents, embedded in the government apparatus like termites. Welch warned that “Insiders” — a shadowy, international network of powerful elites with ties to influential government, banking, corporate, media, and nonprofit institutions in the world — were working toward an ever-increasing collectivist governing apparatus designed to strip Americans of liberty and wealth. Welch predicted from the outset that the globalists aimed to “greatly increase socialistic controls over every operation of our economy and every activity of our daily lives.” The ultimate goal, Welch and the JBS have repeatedly said, was a one-world totalitarian government.
With Welch at the helm and a ship of dedicated, educated activists, the JBS exploded into a powerhouse grassroots organization, comprised of chapters from coast to coast, with its own book and pamphlet distribution apparatus, a speakers bureau, and an army of Birchers writing letters and making phone calls.
It only took a couple of years for the JBS to become an effective force, which catapulted major media into a tizzy. With the newspaper of the American communist party, People’s World, leading the way, major media launched a suspiciously concerted effort against the Society, setting off a pattern of inaccurate coverage and smears of the organization that continues to this day.
Despite years of media mistakenly insisting the JBS had been banished to the Siberia of relevancy by more respected conservatives, the JBS has taken its licks and continued marching on, with education always serving as the centerpiece of activism. The books and the pamphlets, and later, the videos and podcasts, continue to be pumped out. Birchers continue to meet and spread the word about constitutionalism and the schemes of the Insiders, now better known as the Deep State. And its affiliate magazine, The New American, continues to report what is really happening in America and the world.
The work of the JBS, 62 years in the making, is beyond a tipping point. It has become mainstream knowledge that there exists a very intentional, diabolical, and concerted effort to destroy this country. Americans clearly see their individual liberties dwindling.
It has become apparent that America, as the JBS kept screaming from the top of the mountain, is in peril of being submerged into complete tyranny.
Loudenback said one of the most common things he hears when meeting people is, “You guys have been right.” This is becoming a common sentiment.
People are waking up.
But now what?
“Tyranny is the best salesman for freedom, and unfortunately, Americans have experienced plenty of it over the last 18-plus months,” said William Hahn, current CEO of the JBS. “Tyranny’s arrival at our doors has caused a large awakening among Americans. They want to know how it came about and what they can do about it. The John Birch Society has warned about this direction for decades, but we find no comfort in being right. Rather, we offer a solution that allows all concerned Americans to constitutionally fight back against an organized agenda. Our success is largely dependent upon those that get involved and how hard they want to work to save freedom and independence for them and future generations. We invite all to check us out at JBS.org and to get involved.”
America needs an all-hands-on-deck effort to wrest the country out of the hands of collectivists, globalists and neoconservatives. If you are interested in joining the battle to restore America and rid it of tyranny, apply to JBS membership and get to work.
It is long past time for all capable, patriotic Americans to become active in restoring and preserving liberty. Just as the citizens of Idaho insist and work for a government that values true freedom and constitutional principles, citizens all over America can do the same.
And they must.
