'Radical, Far-Right, Extremists' of the John Birch Society Exonerated by History

The John Birch Society was founded in 1958 by Robert Welch, a retired candy manufacturer who saw collectivism as the main threat to western civilization. What he feared and intended to fight on the home-front were useful-idiot-type liberals serving as what he called 'secret communist traitors'- these fellow Americans were providing cover for a move towards one-world socialist government (stuff that used to sound kind of crazy at most any point in time prior to the bizarre Obammunist era).

The organization took its name from an American Baptist missionary (and US intelligence officer) who was shot dead by Red Chinese forces in August 1945, therefore it was that
John Birch was honored as 'first fatality of the Cold War'.

The JBS agenda was -and is- pro-family, pro-Christian,
anti-communist, anti-UN, and anti-big government, while treating the principles of the US Constitution/Bill of Rights as sacrosanct.

The patriotic group's charter was based on efforts to oppose plans of what they said were a small group of 'Insiders' working surreptitiously both in and outside of government to bring the this country's free-market enterprise system to it's knees while incrementally stripping America's sovereignty and inflicting a socialist society upon our people- sound familiar?

But they also felt both the USSR and US governments were under the influence of the same international cabal, one keen to bring about a collectivist 'New World Order'... all orchestrated from behind the scenes and by-hook-or-by-crook (same as Obama's M.O.)

Naturally such conspiracy theory brought massive derision

-particularly from those it exposed- and the John Birch Society was disregarded by many as paranoid and delusional, among other things. Yet in our time, it's already become more than apparent they knew what hey were talking about:

Agenda of the NWO socialists:

surrender of American sovereignty to UN
and other international organizations

greatly expanded government spending...
'as wastefully as possible'

higher (and then much higher) taxes

increasingly unbalanced budget-
despite tax increases

wild inflation of our currency and
destruction of our savings

greatly increased socialistic controls over every operation of our economy... and every activity
of our daily lives

correspondingly huge increases in federal bureaucracy, and both cost and reach of government

far more centralization of power in Washington
(and gradual erosion of states' power)

creeping federalization of education system

anti-war propaganda, "peace" at all costs...
thus inevitably on enemy terms (of course)

Just listen to what the man had to say back in the 70s -most of this quoted from their 1958 charter- and you tell me he's not talking about the internationalist-socialist Soro-bama regime that's currently ripping this country a new one...

Video/more at Reaganite Republican...

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Very strange that “Reaganite Republican” associates himself with the John Birch Society since the official JBS position on Reagan is that he was a “phony conservative”.

In fact, Marian Welch (the wife of JBS founder Robert Welch) terminated her JBS membership because of the way that the new leadership of the JBS after her husband died, savaged Reagan in the pages of the JBS magazine, The New American.

With respect to RR’s claim that history has “exonerated” the JBS -— nothing could be further from reality.

For example:

The Birch Society is on record upon numerous occasions emphatically declaring that J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI were our nation’s most knowledgeable, authoritative, and reliable source of factual information about internal security matters generally, and about the communist movement in particular — as well as on what constituted effective anti-communism.

However, more often than not, FBI investigative files falsify every premise and conclusion which the JBS has disseminated over the pst 50 years. And there are numerous FBI memos which reveal the utter contempt which senior FBI officials within the Domestic Intelligence Division had for Robert Welch and the JBS.

FBI FILES ON BIRCH SOCIETY AND ITS ASSERTIONS:
This 204-page report explains why J. Edgar Hoover and senior FBI officials within the Bureau’s Domestic Intelligence Division concluded in FBI memos that the JBS was “extremist”, “irrational” and “irresponsible”
http://sites.google.com/site/ernie124102/jbs-1

CONSERVATIVE CRITICS OF ROBERT WELCH and BIRCH SOCIETY:
Contrary to claims made by the Birch Society about the alleged “left-wing” origins of JBS criticism, the most potent adverse comments about the JBS have always originated from the right-side of the political spectrum. This report presents a representative sample of such comments.
http://sites.google.com/site/ernie124102/jbs-4

Critics have included such prominent Americans 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, plus even many former Birchers such as: Alan Stang, Gary Allen, Milorad Draskovich, John Rees, William Norman Grigg, Mrs. Robert Welch -— and many many more.

DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY:
This report presents documents which, generally, have never been previously publicly available — including private correspondence between Robert Welch and numerous individuals and correspondence by JBS National Council members during the formative years of the Birch Society. This report is a work-in-progress and considerable new material will be added over the next few months.

JBS 9-1 https://sites.google.com/site/ernie1241/
JBS 9-2 https://sites.google.com/site/ernie1241a/
JBS 9-3 https://sites.google.com/site/ernie1241b/

Very strange that “Reaganite Republican” associates himself with the John Birch Society since the official JBS position on Reagan is that he was a “phony conservative”.

In fact, Marian Welch (the wife of JBS founder Robert Welch) terminated her JBS membership because she was so angry at the way which the new leadership of the JBS savaged Reagan in the pages of the JBS magazine, The New American, after her husband died. [The current JBS President, John McManus, once said that if the GOP nominated Reagan for President, it would be evidence that Reagan must be “a lackey” of the Communists!]. It should also be noted that Ronald Reagan denounced Robert Welch’s contentions about Eisenhower and other matters.

With respect to Reaganite Republican’s claim that history has “exonerated” the JBS -— nothing could be further from reality.

For example:

The Birch Society (and JBS founder Robert Welch) on numerous occasions emphatically declared that J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI were our nation’s most knowledgeable, authoritative, and reliable source of factual information about internal security matters generally, and about the communist movement in particular — as well as about what constituted effective anti-communism.

However, more often than not, FBI investigative files falsify every premise and conclusion which the JBS has disseminated over the past 50 years. And there are numerous FBI memos which reveal the utter contempt which senior FBI officials within the Domestic Intelligence Division had for Robert Welch and the JBS. See report below.

JBS 9-1 https://sites.google.com/site/ernie1241/
JBS 9-2 https://sites.google.com/site/ernie1241a/
JBS 9-3 https://sites.google.com/site/ernie1241b/

Fed bill explicitly sought to grant monopoly powers over the banking industry to a cartel in order to bail oit rich guys when the markets dip. This was no secret.

Based on how public school, college and press propaganda have hidden it to the point where most either don't know or don't care, I'd say it's virtually a secret.

Why couldn’t the people prevent its passage

Proper research would reveal how it was passed. Remember, the press controls public opinion. If you and I stage a coup in a banana republic, take over its press so we control the press and propagandize the people, then we support and oppose politicians until we control its legislative body, when we cause a law to be passed, like say requiring that everyone register their guns, would you say that a) we bear no guilt of forcing this law on the people and b) the people are guilty of being uninvolved and that's why the law passed ?

should we save the economy by injecting capital into a mom and pop store in Bumwad, Mississippi, or US Stee.

Well, if we start at the beginning... why is the U.S. government "injecting" (through outright grant, debt financing or equity finanancing (huh?)) money into the private sector ? Where does the government ultimately have to get every one of its dollars from ? Taxes. Why is it using money it took from me in tax to lend to U.S. Steel ? Is not U.S. Steel a profitable enterprise ? If yes, then it can raise its own capital, float its own bonds - they can be 75 year bonds if necessary. Answer, because the banker wants the taxpayer on the hook because they can collect money at the point of a gun, where U.S. Steel can't. The government can always simply take the loss on U.S. Steel, passing it along to the taxpayer.

If the government spent less than it takes in, it would build a cash reserves. It would never need to borrow. If it needed extra money to fight a war, it could simply create the money and spend it on war goods, which would have the exact same economic effect with regard to the spending. The spending on so-called social programs could still be a problem - it's up to Congress to not do that spending. But what we have is lenders who want the government to borrow, so they selectively support and oppose politicians behind the scenes until they get a group that will do their bidding - government spending. And then the spending will drive borrowing from the lenders.

So I ask, firstly, why do conspiracy theorist expend so much energy digging up what’s hidden? Not that it’s fruitless, but it can lead to a lot of unfounded speculation

Without identifying the root of the problem, the symptoms of the problem will continue and the lender's plans will come to fruition.

Eisenhower secretly being a communist is a more seductive argument than Eisenhower’s policies benefitting communism by accident.

Here's a question regarding the Eisenhower era: what about the influence of Allen Dulles, first civilian head of the CIA. Where did he come from ? He was with the Council on Foreign relations at its founding. Where did he spend the 1920's and 1930's ? I'm poking around a little, but it does not look good. It's the preponderance of people all tying back to international bankers that does not look good, to say the least.

This "monopolist establishment" is pictured as "big capital" in the U.S., which is taught to us as being "right wing", "conservative", etc. So there is no need for the establishment to hide the connection between big capital the Republican or conservative "brand". That is the "brand" that this "establishment" uses when it wants to have "capitalism" bashed in the public mind. The Rockefeller-types are the last ones I would ever imagine would be anything but capitalist.

The other brand is the left, the Democratic party, communism, etc. That's the brand where the "monopolist establishment" up until recently was able to largely hide its connections it from the public. See, the "monopolist establishment", i.e., international bankers, can then set up these two political parties as the main actors in the political theatre that the public sees. Nowadays the public can more easily get at the information that "big capital" supports Democrats even more than Republicans. But if you'll watch the "big capital"-controlled media (notice I did not say Democrat) you'll see that the media continues pushing the myth, 24x7, in both news and entertainment, that Democrats are not supported by "big capital". Somehow the propaganda machine, schools and universties keep that idea going - the big, evil, rich guy - and come election time the masses come out to vote against him.

Meanwhile, for the few people out there who see what they think is a "communist" or Democrat-controlled media, they come out and vote Republican, not realizing that the international bankers have such influence in that party that they control its nomination process as well.

So either vote is a vote for international bankers, it's just which flavor do you like, conservative or liberal.

See, if you're a bona fide conservative (according to the myth), you must be of course be supportive of old-time big capital institutions like Wall Street firms, the Federal Reserve, and all the various economists and leaders of business.

Left and right can fight each other all day and at the end of the day the Treasury keeps borrowing from international bankers. The bankers seize every opportunity to have governments borrow from their syndicate. We actually think their syndicate is our "financial system".

In my experience, the folks who are the greatest admirers of the JBS and who post messages online claiming that the JBS has been “exonerated by history” — have never done much significant independent research into JBS assertions, conclusions, and JBS history.

See, for example, the historic, precedent-setting defamation lawsuit against Robert Welch Inc. (the publishing arm of the Birch Society) by Chicago lawyer Elmer Gertz.

After 14 years of litigation, including two jury trials, and numerous appeals, plus review by the U.S. Supreme Court — the Birch Society paid Gertz $100,000 in compensatory damages and $300,000 in punitive damages.

Punitive damages are only allowed when “malice” can be shown — which in legalese is “reckless disregard for the truth” arising from evil intent and a desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering.

The 1982 Appeals Court decision in the Gertz defamation lawsuit made the following observation:

“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].

On 6/25/74, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell delivered the U.S. Supreme Court decision [docket number 72-617] which pertained to the appeal of the first Gertz trial verdict.

Justice Powell stated that this case “involves a libel action by a reputable attorney against a magazine that falsely libeled him a Leninist and a Communist-fronter.”

Lastly, I quote verbatim (below) from comments made by Birch Society founder Robert Welch to the first meeting of the JBS National Council. Does anyone seriously contend that these conclusions represent any sort of reputable or reliable political opinion in the United States?

A scanned copy of the minutes of this National Council meeting are available for review in my reports about the JBS (links given in previous message posted here). Page numbers shown refer to page number of the original minutes.

ROBERT WELCH:
“Today, gentlemen, I can assure you, without the slightest doubt in my own mind that the takeover at the top is, for all practical purposes, virtually complete. Whether you like it or not, or whether you believe it or not, our Federal Government is already, literally in the hands of the Communists.” [page 2]

“In our two states with the largest population, New York and California...already the two present Governors are almost certainly actual Communists...Our Congress now contains a number of men like Adam Clayton Powell of New York and Charles Porter of Oregon, who are certainly actual Communists, and plenty more who are sympathetic to Communist purposes for either ideological or opportunistic reasons.” [page 7] [Note: the reference to Governors refers to Edmund G. Brown of California and Nelson Rockefeller of New York.]

“In the Senate, there are men like Stephen Young of Ohio, and Wayne Morse of Oregon, McNamara of Michigan, and Clifford Case of New Jersey and Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota and Estes Kefauver of Tennessee and John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, whom it is utter folly to think of as just liberals. Every one of those men is either an actual Communist or so completely a Communist sympathizer or agent that it makes no practical difference...” [page 8]

“Our Supreme Court, dominated by Earl Warren and Felix Frankfurter and Hugo Black, is so visibly pro-Communist that no argument is even needed…And our federal courts below that level…are in many cases just as bad.” [page 8]

“Our State Department is loaded with Communists from top to bottom, to the extent that our roll call of Ambassadors almost sounds like a list somebody has put together to start a Communist front.” ... [page 8]

“It is estimated from many reliable sources that from 70% to 90% of the responsible personnel in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare are Communists. Our Central Intelligence Agency under Allen Dulles is nothing more or less than an agency to promote Communism throughout the world...Almost all the other Departments are loaded with Communists and Communist sympathizers. And this generalization most specifically does include our whole Defense Department.” [page 8]

Incidentally, with respect to Welch’s comments about U.S. Senators (quoted above), I recently received the FBI file on former Sen. Estes Kefauver whom Welch described as either an “actual Communist or so completely a Communist sympathizer or agent that it makes no practical difference”.

Below, I copy the text of the telegram which J. Edgar Hoover sent to Mrs. Kefauver when her husband died:

“Please accept my deepest sympathy in the passing of your husband. This is a great shock to me and to his many friends throughout the nation and the world. While words are most inadequate on such an occasion, I hope you may gain some consolation from knowing that his outstanding contributions to the welfare of his country and his deep concern for his fellow man will long serve as a memorial to him. His achievements and devotion to duty as a public servant are a special tribute to his statesmanship. His passing creates a void which our nation can ill afford and is a great loss to all mankind. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. J. Edgar Hoover” [HQ 62-77208, #108, 8/10/63 Hoover telegram to Mrs. Estes Kefauver, Washington DC]

A notation on the Bureau file copy of the telegram is as follows:

“Senator Kefauver was a very close friend of the Director and the FBI. He was on the Special Correspondents’ List on a first-name basis.”

This type of ignorant, malicious, and vicious assault by Robert Welch upon virtually our entire national political leadership is what led J. Edgar Hoover to remark at a press conference in 1964 that:

“Personally, I have little respect for the head of the John Birch Society since he linked the names of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the late John Foster Dulles, and former CIA Director Allen Dulles with communism.”

Over the past 30+ years, I have obtained hundreds of thousands of pages of FBI investigative files. I specifically requested (and received) FBI files on numerous individuals and organizations defamed by Robert Welch and the JBS. FBI files routinely FALSIFY the accusations made by Welch and the JBS.

Of particular interest are the FBI files which pertain to the Communist Party USA because they so clearly reveal how incredibly irresponsible and totally ignorant Robert Welch (and the JBS) have been:

For example: according to Robert Welch in July 1961:

“…we believe that there are not more than 300,000 to 500,000 Communists in our country (or about ¼ of 1% of our population) and not more than a million allies, dupes, and sympathizers whom they can count on for any conscious support…” [JBS Bulletin, July 1961, page 14]

Thus, in total, Welch thought there were about 1.3 to 1.5 million Communists, Communist dupes, Communist sympathizers and Communist allies in the United States as of July 1961.

By contrast, the actual number of CP members in the United States according to the FBI was 5262 — i.e. nothing remotely close to Welch’s perception of 300,000 to 500,000! [See FBI New York field file 100-80638, serial #1882, which is a 6/30/61 FBI Chart of CPUSA Membership, by state, by FBI field divisions and by CPUSA Districts. The first page of that summary is copied below].

More significantly, the FBI’s Security Index was designed to track all persons considered actually or potentially dangerous to U.S. internal security. It included known and suspected Communist Party members plus Communist sympathizers, leaders in Communist fronts, and anyone whom the Bureau considered a potential security risk.

At the time Welch made his statement in July 1961, the FBI’s July 1961 Security Index report listed a total of 11,833 persons of which 9899 were in the “Communist” category—which included known or suspected Party members or sympathizers. Thus, while Welch perceived more than a million Communist operatives or sympathizers, the FBI concluded that only 9899 Americans were a potential security concern. [HQ file 100-358086, #2939].

You are mistaken about the JBS position on MLK Jr.

In every imaginable way possible (literature, pictures, postcards, billboards, speakers), the JBS described King in terms calculated to evoke fear, hostility, contempt, and revulsion -— and ALWAYS in the context of him being a Communist or Communist sympathizer.

More importantly, the Birch Society sought to discredit, demonize, and de-legitimize our entire civil rights leadership and ALL of our civil rights organizations.

The JBS repeatedly made these assertions:

(1) June 1965 JBS Bulletin, Mr. Welch observed:

“Our task must be simply to make clear that the movement known as ‘civil rights’ is Communist-plotted, Communist-controlled, and in fact...serves only Communist purposes.”

(2) In August 1965, the JBS ran a full-page ad in many U.S. newspapers entitled “What’s Wrong With Civil Rights?” One of the answers provided by the JBS was:

“For the civil rights movement in the United States with all of its growing agitation and riots and bitterness, and insidious steps toward the appearance of civil war, has not been infiltrated by the Communists, as you now frequently hear. It has been deliberately and almost wholly created by the Communists patiently building up to this present stage for more than thirty years.” [HQ 62-104401, serial #2621, 8/31/65 airtel from SAC Birmingham to J. Edgar Hoover with attachment of ad from Sunday 8/29/65 Birmingham AL News.]

(3) In the November 1966 JBS Bulletin, Robert Welch declared:

“We have said many times, and we repeat now, that if you can fully expose the civil rights fraud, you will break the back of the Communist conspiracy. But the word ‘fully’ is important in that sentence. It calls for bringing a preponderant majority of our fellow citizens really to grasp the fact that the ‘civil rights’ program has been designed by Communists, is controlled by Communists, and will be used by the Communists as a vital part of their total strategy for taking over our country.”

(4) And as recently as in the May 2008 JBS Bulletin:

“Just as the John Birch Society showed in the 1960’s that the communists basically ran both the civil rights movement and the KKK, the strategy was nothing new...”

Regulator: HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS CAN SOMEBODY LIBEL YOU WITH VICIOUS STATEMENTS AND INNUENDO BEFORE YOU ARE WILLING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT DEFAMATION AND DESTRUCTION OF YOUR CHARACTER AND INTEGRITY IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN THE INTENT OF THAT PERSON??

Lastly, FYI, the FBI employed speakers who gave hundreds of speeches around the country (i.e. the JBS American Opinion Speakers Bureau). Those speakers made it perfectly obvious that they considered MLK Jr. to be a Communist! And they ALWAYS referred to King “attending a Communist training school” — which was a reference to Highlander Folk School in Monteagle TN.

HOWEVER, the person who originally characterized Highlander as a “Communist training school” was a self-described racist segregationist (Edwin Friend) who, incidentally, was the official photographer for the Georgia KKK!

THAT is the quality of evidence which the JBS relied upon to destroy MLK Jr!

I disagree with your observation. The JBS position regarding Reagan is very significant because it illustrates how extreme the JBS is. Most Tea Party movement members appear to admire and respect Reagan.

There is no possible way you could claim that “75%” of JBS predictions have already come true. First of all, do you honestly expect us to believe that you have read every publication ever published by the JBS which contained a “prediction” — so that you know the exact percentage of correct vs. incorrect “predictions”?

Then, there is the matter of what verifiable factual evidence you are using as “proof” for your assertion.

More importantly, has the JBS EVER acknowledged substantive error about ANYTHING? Has it ever retracted some derogatory or libelous assertion it made about any person or organization? ANSWER: NO!!!

Let me give you one clear-cut example (aside from the Gertz lawsuit previously mentioned) which illustrates how disingenuous JBS arguments are — which is why NOBODY could ever claim “75%” accuracy for the JBS!

This example illustrates how Robert Welch and the JBS use language in such a very sloppy and imprecise manner that it becomes possible for them to arrive at ANY conclusion they want readers to accept-—even mutually contradictory ones....as will be demonstrated below.

In “The Politician” Robert Welch explicitly states (page 109):

“Now it is perfectly all right for a man to be a Democrat, even an A.D.A. [Americans For Democratic Action] Democrat, if that school of political philosophy expresses his own honest beliefs.”

BUT just 10 pages later, Welch states that the objective of the ADA and a similar Republican group called Republican Advance was “the gradual communization of the United States to make easier its absorption into a world-wide Communist empire ruled from the Kremlin.”

And, then, about 4 months later, during his 12/58 lecture in Indianapolis to the 11 men whom Welch asked to support him with creating the John Birch Society -— as reported in the JBS Blue Book, page 117, Welch declared:

“But the ADA, whether a lot of its members know it or not, is the same as an arm of the Communist Party. Its weight can be thrown, and is thrown, time after time, with never an exception, in support of Communist objectives.”

SO WHICH ROBERT WELCH SHOULD WE BELIEVE?

(1) Is it “perfectly all right” to be an “ADA Democrat”?

(2) Is the ADA a subversive group whose objectives amount to treason and whose agenda “is the same as an arm of the Communist Party” because it seeks to facilitate “the gradual communization of the United States to make easier its absorption into a world-wide Communist empire ruled from the Kremlin.” ??

If the JBS mentality was operative within our Justice Department, what would happen to ADA leaders and ADA members?

What would happen to ANY American whom the JBS has previously described as a “Communist”, or as a “Comsymp” or as “an agent” of the Communist Party?

Obviously, Welch’s definition of “Communist” was so elastic, that it could be (and was) applied to anything and anybody he or the JBS did not like!

The one thing that really bugs me about McCarthy is how he made the case for George Marshall as an objective communist, if not a paid agent. And I don’t even particularly like Marshall. Butchers made a similar claim with Eisenhower, and it’s stuff like that which forever marginalizes them.

If you read Ann Coulter’s Treason you will see that our journalists - who were “objective” even back then - systematically ridiculed and distorted McCarthy’s views and statements, putting him in “heads you lose, tails I win” situations. They demanded that he name names, when all he had said was that there was reason to investigate to learn names, if any - and then if he did name a name, they condemned him for smearing the person named. When in fact the name corresponded, history shows, with an actual communist.
I don’t pretend to know the details of what you are referring to - but the odds are long that McCarthy had a legitimate, if too nuanced for him to be able to burn through the fog of journalistic obfuscation, point.
I put “objective” in scare quotes above. To me, the most powerful case against “objective journalism” is to be found precisely in their claim to be objective. Because, in the nature of things, it is impossible for anyone to know that they themselves are objective. So if you say you are objective, that just proves - conclusively - that you are not objective about yourself. Which is to say, you are not objective about anything.
It is of course possible, and laudable, to attempt objectivity. It even is legitimate to say that you are trying to be objective (if in fact you are). The catch, for the “objective” journalist, is that any good-faith attempt at objectivity must start with self-examination, and an open discussion of any reasons you can think of why you might not be objective. Which is, of course, precisely the opposite of claiming actually to be objective.
I’m sure that some people claimed to be objective - just as the Sophists of ancient Greece claimed to be wise - before the advent of the Associated Press. But the AP institutionalized the claim of actual objectivity in the late Nineteenth Century in response to the alarms which were raised about the concentration of propaganda power which the Associated Press represented. The AP justified that claim on the basis that it was composed of dozens (at the time) of newspapers which individually were notorious at the time for not agreeing about much of anything (source: News Over the Wires: The Telegraph and the Flow of Public Information in America, 1844-1897 by Menahem Blondheim).
It has been an unspoken premise of membership in good standing within the AP, including within any newspaper which belongs to the AP, ever since. If you go to work as a journalist you are signing on to the premise that you will claim that every other journalist is objective - and that you expect every other journalist to claim that you are objective. Thus, by becoming a journalist for the AP or one of its member outlets, you are de facto claiming that you are objective. Which excludes having the humility to admit to any subjective impulses.
And that implies that you are not even trying to be objective. Oh, you will go along with the “rules for objectivity” such as “giving both sides of the story” - but the trouble is that you have already ruled out the possibility that there actually are valid perspectives other than your own. So even if you “tell the other side of the story" until the cows come home, the version of the “other side of the story" which you tell will always be a straw man. Anyone who considers himself to be the arbiter of what is objective will be extremely subjective.
Journalists systematically agree with “liberals” for the simple reason that “liberals” have the same motive that “objective” journalists do - namely, to get attention and credit for importance, without having to actually work, and without the constraints of a bottom line. “Liberal” politicians and “objective” journalists profit from their symbiotic relationship. “Objective” journalists and “liberals” cooperate in finding ways to embarrass people who are trying to gain their sense of importance by actually doing needed things.
http://www.robertmundell.net/NobelLecture/nobel3.asp
Journalism and Objectivity

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