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Ernie L.
Member since Feb 7, 2019
Recent Comments
Re: “New Local Documentary Asks What Happened to the GOP”
In reply to Jonathan Carter: IF your comment was accurate and truthful, then the JBS would be supported by most conservative individuals, organizations and publications. However, the exact opposite is the case. Virtually the entire conservative movement in the U.S. has denounced and rejected the JBS as a right-wing extremist organization.
JBS critics have included such prominent conservative Americans such as:
Sen. Barry Goldwater, Cong. Walter Judd, Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer, Russell Kirk, Eugene Lyons, Willmoore Kendall, James Burnham, Robert Bork, J. Edgar Hoover, Herbert Philbrick, Frank S. Meyer, Cong. Gordon H. Scherer, William F. Buckley Jr., Patrick Buchanan, Fred Schwarz, Lee Edwards, the editors of the conservative newspaper Human Events, George Sokolsky, Roy Cohn, Anthony Bouscaren.
Many Birchers (including some of their most prominent writers and speakers and lifetime members) left the Society in disgust such as: Alan Stang, Gary Allen, Dr. Charles Provan, Milorad Draskovich, John Rees, and William Norman Grigg. Even Mrs. Robert Welch (the widow of JBS founder Robert Welch) withdrew her support from the JBS after her husband died.
Posted by
Ernie L.
on 02/14/2019 at 6:18 PM
Re: “New Local Documentary Asks What Happened to the GOP”
Keep in mind that the Birch Society does NOT believe that the current leadership of the GOP represents their viewpoints. The JBS has given a "FAIL" score to every Congress in recent memory. Even Tea Party favorites often score very low on the JBS "Freedom Index" which scores voting behavior of all members of Congress.
Posted by
Ernie L.
on 02/07/2019 at 10:30 AM
Re: “New Local Documentary Asks What Happened to the GOP”
Further reply to Jonathan Carter:
The Birch Society has the "distinction" of being the only national conservative "educational" organization to have lost an historic precedent-setting defamation lawsuit after the JBS described Chicago lawyer Elmer Gertz in an article it published in its monthly magazine as a Communist fronter and a Leninist who was engaged in a conspiracy against the Chicago police.
After 14 years of litigation, including two different jury trials, numerous appeals, and review by the U.S. Supreme Court, the JBS paid Gertz $100,000 in compensatory damages and $300,000 in punitive damages for malice. Because the JBS appealed the initial decision, the final payment (including accrued interest) was almost $500,000 (which is about $1.5 million in 2017 dollars). Punitive damages are only allowed in libel actions when malice can be shown. Malice, in legalese, refers to reckless disregard for truth arising from evil intent and a desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering.
As one Appeals Court observed about the JBS article on Gertz:
There was more than enough evidence for the jury to conclude that this article was published with utter disregard for the truth or falsity of the statements contained in the article about Gertz. [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 81-2483, Elmer Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 6/16/82, page 20].
In addition: J. Edgar Hoover and senior officials of the FBI concluded that the Birch Society was a "right-wing extremist" organization that did NOT deal in facts.