How an ADL spy operation helped bring down the far-right John Birch Society

Researching his new book "Birchers", Matthew Dallek discovers paperwork documenting a successful espionage campaign effort thwart an anti-Civil Rights group group deemed a threat by some Jews

JTA-A historian leafing through files in an archive discovered how a Jewish organization helped bring down an influential far-right extremist movement in the United States in the 1960's and 70's by going undercover and acting at self-appointed spies.

The discovery of the Anti-Defamation League's covert operation targeting the John Birch Society is the basis of a chapter in a new book by political historian Matthew Dallek of George Washington University.

Published in March, "Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right" is Dallek's fourth book. It examines the roots of today's emboldened conservative movement in the United States...

How William F. Buckley Became the Gatekeeper of the Conservative Movement

Controversy over Welch and the John Birch Society continued into the 1960s, eliciting a response from President John F. Kennedy. During a trip to Los Angeles in 1961, Kennedy spoke of “discordant voices of extremism.” He said the real danger to the nation came from extremist elements within rather than from foreign powers without.
The President was referring to the John Birch Society, which had begun to attract considerable press attention. When asked whether he thought it dangerous to the electoral process that large financial contributions were going to “right wing extremist” entities, Kennedy responded, “The only thing we should be concerned about is that it does not represent a diversion of funds which might be taxable for non-taxable purposes.
Days after this press conference, IRS Commissioner Mortimer H. Caplin launched a “test audit” of twenty-two organizations the administration considered “extremist.” The agency termed this the Ideological Organizations Audit Project.

Lois Lerner, former head of IRS division that targeted conservatives in 2012 election, professes little knowledge of Tea Party movement

“Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, said organizations that included the words 'tea party' or 'patriot' in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews,” USA Today reported at the time of her 2013 public apology.

I remember a song played over and over on the radio back around 1962 about “The John Birch Society”. It was making fun of this group. Hard to believe as 1962 almost got us a war over communist Cuba.

Found it! https://genius.com/The-chad-mitchell-trio-the-john-birch-society-lyrics

[Chorus]
Oh, we’re the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
Here to save our country from a communistic plot
Join the John Birch Society, help us fill the ranks
To get this movement started we need lots of tools and cranks

Back in 1971 I saw a couple of short films produced by them about communism in the US and the Algerian revolt against France.
The first showed how the communists divided and conquered, just like they are doing today.

The second showed how Algerian rebels were slicing off the noses and also taking off the upper lip of those who did not support their rebellion against France. Horrifying photos!

I shocked my parents when I supported Goldwater. Unfortunately I was too young to vote. 17 years old at the time.

Never trusted that lying son of a bi-ch Lyndon Johnson who said “I will not send American boys to South East Asia to fight a war Asian boys should be fighting.”

Excellent review of the “progressive” taxation punitive to political conservative organizations and citizens. From JFK to Lois Lerner- using accountancy to badger and bash conservative political organizations who ought to be 501C 3 orgs and file a tax return for their “monitoring” NOT selective abusive and unbalanced auditing— making the existing “govt.” be an arbiter of public discourse.

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