Often derided in the mainstream media as nativist and exceptionalist because of its hardliner anti-communist stance, the John Birch Society has been a tireless defender of our freedoms. It was the first organization to expose the UN as a Fabian Socialist front nearly 50 years ago and continues the fight against creeping internationalism. We caught up with JBS President John McManus in Boston and took the opportunity to ask him a few questions.
Texas Maverick: Why is the American political system so polarized?
John McManus: Polarized? I wish it were; if it is, it’s polarized around international socialist A and international socialist B.
TM: Well, there is a great deal of emphasis in the media on Democrats vs. Republicans. Why do citizens have such a hard time seeing through the Left-Right paradigm?
JM: A lot of it has to do with education. If people don’t understand American history, and they don’t know how our system of government is supposed to work, they’ll accept all kinds of things because somebody says it’s so. Just because someone’s been anointed they think, “OK, he’s a good American. He wouldn’t do anything to harm the country,” so we end up in the situation we’re in.
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute recently conducted a survey of college students’ knowledge of history and the American system. The results were abysmal. And these were prestigious schools. In some cases the study showed that incoming freshmen scored higher than graduating seniors (the full results of this survey can be found at AmericanCivicLiteracy.com).
TM: The John Birch Society has always been skeptical about government malfeasance. You were one of the first groups to point out that FDR knew about Pearl Harbor months before it happened, yet he let thousands of Americans die so the US would get into World War II. That said, it probably wasn’t a surprise to anyone in the JBS when 9/11 happened.
JM: We weren’t surprised that something like that could happen, but we were surprised at the extent to which it did.
TM: I know that you’ve been on Alex Jones’ radio show, and he’s convinced that 9/11 was an inside job; what is the position of the John Birch Society?
JM: We don’t subscribe to the view that the government did it. But they definitely took advantage of the situation.
TM: There’s a cognitive dissonance that prevents a lot of people from even believing that the government would take advantage of a bad situation to further an agenda.
JM: Yes, but that’s changing. A federal judge in Oregon just ruled parts of the Patriot Act unconstitutional, especially the part about searching without a warrant. So that’s a step in the right direction. Also, I was interviewed by a leftist for a radio show in New Hampshire, and he said that after reading about the John Birch Society he was amazed at how much he agrees with us.
TM: In my experience dealing with leftists here at UT, they have many of the same concerns as conservatives about what’s happening with the country.
JM: The same thing that happened during Vietnam. Many protesters completely agreed with us after they found out what we stand for.
TM: Of course the main difference between progressives and conservatives is that they see the solution to most problems as MORE government, while our solution is always LESS government.
JM: That’s exactly true, but we’re making progress.
TM: Are you doing any kind of outreach?
JM: Yes, we’re publishing a million copies of the latest issue of The New American in an effort to spread the word about the threats posed by the North American Union (NAU). Bush and his counterparts in Canada and Mexico recently met in Montebello, Canada, to advance their plan. They call it the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP).
TM: So the single greatest threat to our liberty is the North American Union?
JM: No, the greatest threat to our liberty is our own government. They’re doing all of these things to destroy our sovereignty. The way to protect US sovereignty is to repeal NAFTA. It is the foundation for the SPP and the NAU, but they’re doing all this without the authority of Congress. They claim authorization under the NAFTA agreement of 1993, and most people in Congress don’t even know what’s happening. We’re trying to change that.
TM: Ron Paul’s presidential campaign probably helps too.
JM: I don’t think that he can be elected, but he’s accomplishing a lot of good by bringing these kinds of issues to the fore. Ever since the end of World War II, presidential candidates have been members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). The CFR has the presidency locked up. The way we take back our government is through the House of Representatives. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives (Article I, Section 7, US Constitution). If we stop funding these things, that’s it!
TM: Speaking of elections, last election we heard a lot in the media about immigration. Is it a real issue or just a red herring to distract us from other more important things?
JM: Certainly illegal immigration is an issue, particularly for the states who have to take care of these people because of federal mandates. There are problems with crime and drugs, and of course national security. Here we are six years after 9/11; we’re supposed to be taking every precaution to prevent this kind of terrorism from happening again, yet our border is wide open. When your country is in a state of war, the first thing you do is secure the borders!
TM: Is this lax border policy part of a larger agenda?
JM: Absolutely, and it’s traceable to NAFTA. We’re already seeing Mexican trucks on American highways; the flood of illegal immigrants is just another step to get us used to the idea of a borderless North America.
TM: So why is the NAU such a threat to our liberty?
JM: It would cancel the Constitution. We’ve already seen decisions of NAFTA tribunals supersede state and federal court decisions. If the NAU is formalized, it will end the independence of this country. In order to create a North American Union, you have to harmonize the laws of all the countries involved. America is freer than either Mexico or Canada, so you can bet they’re not going to bring them up to our level. In order for harmonization to proceed smoothly, they’ll have to spend billions of our tax dollars to improve Mexico’s economy. Much of which will end up in the pockets of corrupt Mexican politicians. A North American Union would tax us to death, and it would strip away our rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
TM: What can we do?
JM: Educate yourself; educate others. Wake the town and tell the people, and then work for a change in your representation in the House of Representatives. If we get 218 members of the house to stand by the Constitution, then we can put a halt to almost anything.
-Bryan Brah
Recent Comments