The JBS leads the way: the organization created by Robert Welch is still in capable hands, accomplishing the seemingly impossible and providing hope that America can be saved

New American, The, Oct 20, 2003 by Gary Benoit

It is not unusual for an organization created and led by a strong leader to flounder and die after the leader's death. But that did not happen to The John Birch Society when its founder, Robert Welch, passed away in 1985. Why? Because Mr. Welch had created a principle-based organization designed to withstand the test of time.

The JBS has had the same leadership team since 1991, with Chief Executive Officer G. Vance Smith at the helm. That team has stayed the course, adhering to the same fundamental principles that Mr. Welch had established for the organization. Consequently, the organization has acquired new strength, and JBS members have won some significant victories. We present several examples in the following pages.

JBS Accomplishments

* Impeaching President Clinton: in November 1997, two months before the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, the JBS launched its campaign to "Impeach Clinton Now!" through a nationwide network of A.C.T.I.O.N. (Activate Congress to Improve Our Nation) ad hoc committees. The campaign focused on Clinton's compromise of national security in exchange for Chinese cash as the principal reason for impeachment. Although Clinton was eventually impeached for transgressions related to the Lewinsky scandal, he probably would not have been impeached at all if the Society had not gotten the impeachment ball rolling in the first place. As the liberal Washington Post--no friend of the JBS--pointed out shortly before the House impeachment vote, "[The success of] leaders of the John Birch Society ... is a demonstration of how a determined and ideologically committed group can change the course of history...."

Of course, naysayers are quick to point out that although the House impeached Bill Clinton, the Senate failed to remove him from office. They ignore that President Clinton was only the second president (and the first elected president) to be impeached in U.S. history. Just as they ignore the powerful signal that Clinton's impeachment sent to Clinton or any other president who abuses or usurps power. It is now crystal clear that Congress will move to put the brakes on presidential transgressions if they are pressured to do so by informed voters.

* Torpedoing Clinton's nomination of Anthony Lake: President Clinton's 1996 nomination of Anthony Lake for director of the Central Intelligence Agency was a particularly shocking and audacious step. Lake, after all, has an extensive subversive background, including longtime connections to the Soviet-linked Institute for Policy Studies. Putting him in charge of the CIA is like having the fox guard the chicken coop.

Sensing an opportunity to stop this Clinton outrage, THE NEW AMERICAN published a cover story exposing Lake's background, and JBS members used both the article and documentation packets to alert key representatives and senators. The nomination was soon scuttled. But not before an op-ed by Douglas Brinkley in the New York Times complained: "[T]he John Birch Society and other anti-government fringe groups launched a smear campaign.... In an error-ridden article in The New American ... William F. Jasper ... found a pattern of anti-Americanism.... The diatribe would not be worth mentioning except that its ludicrous charges have been picked up, in slightly milder fashion, by mainstream conservative publications like The Washington Times...." Not surprisingly, Brinkley did not bother citing any of the supposed errors.

* Preserving the Constitution: Over the last two decades, the JBS has led the fight to block the call for a modern-day constitutional convention. Such a convention could not be limited to a specific purpose, but could propose wholesale constitutional changes including an entirely new Constitution. In 1983, 32 (of the required 34) states had called on Congress to convene a constitutional convention, ostensibly to draft a balanced budget amendment. But because of the Birch campaign launched the following year, seven states have since withdrawn their convention applications, reducing the number to 25.

The JBS also blocked a back-door approach to a constitutional convention through a proposed "Conference of the States" (COS). This project was proposed in 1994 by then-Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, after it became obvious that the open approach to a constitutional convention was floundering. The Birch campaign to derail the COS by presenting the game plan to state legislators was so successful that the Salt Lake Tribune reported that in "a span of just weeks, the John Birch Society has heaved the conference locomotive off-track."

* Exposing the OKC bombing: During the months and years following the 1995 Oklahoma City terrorist attack, THE NEW AMERICAN published a series of articles pointing to compelling evidence of government prior knowledge, multiple bombs inside the Murrah Building, other conspirators in addition to Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols, and a Mideast connection. JBS members widely distributed these articles.

In 1998, then-Oklahoma state Representative Charles Key complimented this magazine's investigative effort when he noted: "THE NEW AMERICAN magazine has, and continues to be, the best source for accurate reporting about the bombing.... Most of the credit for keeping the public informed, in the midst of a mainstream media blackout, goes to THE NEW AMERICAN and investigative reporter William Jasper. Your dedication to this story has become a part of history. I believe history will show that a relatively small group of conscientious citizens can succeed, against seemingly insurmountable odds, in bringing the truth to light."