Remember the mighty Coffee Party which at one time had grown to a total of 200,000 members? Oh, you wonder where that laughably inflated figure comes from? Well, it was made up by Steve Tuttle of Newsweek (now with fewer readers than the real members of the Coffee Party). The purpose of that very obvious fake news was to hype a leftwing version of the Tea Party back in 2010 despite the fact that it numbered in the dozens at most.
Well, the latest fake news comes to us by way of Politico in which writer John Savage is hyping a supposed resurgence of, get this, the John Birch Society. He offers absolutely no statistics to back up his case. Of course, the real reason for his fact-free hyping of the John Birch Society is to promote the idea that its ideas are being adopted by the GOP in general and Trump supporters in particular. Right! As if anybody with any political sense even thinks about the early 60s era John Birch Society any more than they would think about the Whig Party.
Here is Savage's pitch as he absurdly tries, with an ulterior motive, to get the fake news Politico readers to believe that The John Birch Society Is Back.
These days, to the extent that most people know of the John Birch Society—that far-right group founded in the thick of the Cold War to fight communists and preach small government—it’s purely as a historical relic of a bygone era of sock hops and poodle skirts. But the John Birch Society lives. And though it is not the same robust organization it was in its 1960s heyday—when, by some counts, it had as many as 100,000 dues-paying members around the country and 60 full-time staff—after decades of declining membership and influence, the Birchers insist they are making a comeback. And they point to Texas as the epicenter of their restoration.
...Carter, the head of the Central Texas Chapter, says that statewide, the group’s membership has doubled over the last three years (she declined to disclose exact numbers, as did Hahn, citing Society policy). “State legislators are joining the group,” she says, citing it as proof that their ideas are gaining salience as “more and more people are ready to fight the liberals who preach globalism and want to take away our freedom, our guns, religious values and our heritage.”
Gee! What a surprise! A member of a fringe group that most people have forgotten about is hyping the number of members without actually giving out any stats. However, this works well for Savage's agenda so he goes along with it. Hey, John. If the number of Texas Birchers was 10 three years ago, what would that make the total number now? Perhaps we should be generous and inflate it to a couple dozen members. Where do I get my numbers from? From the same land of make believe as Savage:
In that quest, they have common cause with powerful allies in Texas, including Senator Ted Cruz, Representative Louie Gohmert and a smattering of local officials. Recently at the state level, legislators have authored Bircher-esque bills that have made it further through the lawmaking process than many thought possible in Texas, even just a few years ago—though these are less the cause of the John Birch Society’s influence than an indication of the rise of its particular strain of politics.
Translation: The laughably tiny John Birch Society had absolutely no influence on the introduction of "Bircher-esque bills":
This is what the 21st-century John Birch Society looks like. Gone is the organization’s past obsession with ending the supposed communist plot to achieve mind-control through water fluoridation. What remains is a hodgepodge of isolationist, religious and right-wing goals that vary from concrete to abstract, from legitimate to conspiracy minded—goals that don’t look so different from the ideology coming out of the White House.
Ah! Now we finally come to the real purpose of this fake news Politico fable; to tie President Donald Trump to the near extinct John Birch Society dinosaur:
The Society’s ideas, once on the fringe, are increasingly commonplace in today’s Republican Party. And where Birchers once looked upon national Republican leaders as mortal enemies, the ones I met in Texas see an ally in the president. “All of us here voted for Trump,” says Carter. “And we’re optimistic about what he will do.”
Mr. Savage should learn to hide his ulterior motives better. This is way too obvious.
However, just to allow John Savage to feel a bit less ridiculous, I am also going to come up with a wild theory about a far out political ideology, socialism, gaining millions of adherents from of a major political party. In fact, I am going to go far out on the limb and claim that an enthusiastic believer in socialism actually drew much bigger crowds than Hillary Clinton during the last Democrat primary race and is now a leading candidate for 2020 nomination.
Do you feel better now, John. John? John? Oh, you still got your head stuck in a John Birch Society pamphlet.
