Where did the John Birch Society go? It became the Tea Party, thanks to the Koch Brothers.

The John Birch Society was an organization that most Americans thought was just a fringe group of nuts, but have now become a compelling movement that is shaping our national and state politics. They changed their operational name to the "Tea Party." Back in the 50s and 60s we paid little attention to these people, but we must pay attention now. The following three videos are by Claire Conner who was raised in a John Birch Society home, more than just a member, her father and mother were part of the originators of the movement along with the Koch brother's father. That is why her story is important to hear.







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MY THOUGHTS:

As a kid in the 50's & 60's I recall the John Birch Society. When I lived in Tacoma, WA, there was this older man who had a handyman business and he would come to my shop to have work done for him. We would talk and he complained about the the government, but I just passed it off as an eccentric man. One Christmas after my divorce, he invited me to his home for dinner. Well, the pamphlets came out and the talk turned to some of the most bizarre topics.  I actually was a bit afraid of this guy. So I figured I must play along with him until I get out of there and try to keep the relationship business only at the shop.

He went on and on as Claire Conner has stated in her 3 videos. He said Ike was a communist, as well as Kennedy and Johnson. He spewed such hatred for blacks, Jews and liberals.

Now we see the Republican Party that has been slowly infiltrated by this John Birch Society ideologues and well financed by the Koch family, we are now seeing this libertarian, anti-socialism movement attempting to crush our social safety nets by holding the American people hostage every time a bill is needed to finance the continuation of our government.

I hope people will take the time to educate themselves on what this ideology really means to their lives and family, both today and for future generations.

This is a very serious point in our countries path, will the majority follow the JBS direction to anarchy or will we move to a balanced approach to capitalism and socialism?

WE THE PEOPLE will make that choice by the people we vote for this November.

'Extremist' speaker at West Point draws protests

Retired Lt. General William G. Boykin

UP DATE: DO TO OVER WHELMING ANGER BY THE PUBLIC, LT. GEN WILLIAM BOYKIN BACKED OUT OF THE PROGRAM TO SPEAK AT WEST POINT PRAYER BREAKFAST.
(These national prayer breakfasts are sponsored by and organized by the "Family Foundation" that is also known as the "Family" and the "Fellowship" and have a large mansion on C Street in Washington D.C. that ultra Conservative Christian Congressional Senators,  Representatives, Cabinet Secretaries, and other political movers and shakers can live rent free, with maid service, food service, laundry service and meeting space to conduct the public's business in secrete and with their deep fundamentalist Christian theology that God's goal is for political and social power at nearly any cost, that piety is not part of Gods plan, you are encouraged to acquire as much wealth as possible. They are the group the introduced the "Kill The Gays" bill in the Ugandan Parliament.)

The Army is drawing protests from veterans’ and Islamic groups for inviting a retired general who many have called anti-Muslim to speak at a West Point prayer breakfast.

Lt. Gen William G. Boykin has been criticized for speeches at evangelical Christian churches in which he made disparaging remarks about Islam. Boykin has said that Muslims are trying to implement Shariah Law in the United States and that Islam is the greatest threat America faces.

According to The Associated Press, Boykin has also said that America's enemy was Satan, that God had put President George W. Bush in the White House and that one Muslim Somali warlord was an idol-worshipper.

Groups such as VoteVets.org, Military Religious Freedom Foundation, as well as Forum on Military Chaplaincy all petitioned the Pentagon to stop Boykin from speaking at the Feb. 8 breakfast, Stars and Stripes reported.

'Incompatible with Army values'VoteVets.org told Army Gen. Raymond Odierno in a letter that allowing retired Boykin to speak at the Feb. 3 National Prayer Breakfast Service would be contrary to Army values and disrespectful to Muslim cadets.

"These remarks are incompatible with the Army values, and a person who is incompatible with Army values should not address the cadets of the United States Military Academy," VoteVets chairman Jon Soltz said in the letter, according to The Associated Press.

Army public affairs didn't immediately comment, though West Point's Lt. Col. Sherri Reed said cadets are "purposefully exposed to different perspectives and cultures" during their four years at the academy.

"The National Prayer Breakfast Service will be pluralistic with Christians, Jewish, and Muslim cadets participating," Reed said in a prepared statement. "We are comfortable and confident that what retired Lt. Gen. Boykin will share about prayer, soldier care and selfless service, will be in keeping with the broad range of ideas normally considered by our cadets."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is also asking officials to retract the invitation.

“Having a guy like that speak at a respected institution like the U.S. Military Academy gives credibility to his extremist views of hatred toward Muslims,” Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for Council on American Islamic Relations, told msnbc.com. “We are strong defenders of the First Amendment. What we are saying is that he not be allowed to spread views at West Point. He can go shout his hatred on the streets if he wants to.”

Hooper calls the argument that Boykin represents an alternative viewpoint “ridiculous,” and equates it with inviting a racist white leader to speak at West Point since some of the cadets are African American.

“I doubt that they would invite a KKK speaker and claim that they want to expose the students to a variety of opinions," CAIR’s national executive director, Nihad Awad, told the Associated Press, referring to the hate group the Ku Klux Klan.

Just last week, CAIR and People for the American Way had asked officials in Maryland to rescind an invitation for Boykin to speak at a prayer breakfast. Boykin attended and spoke about his faith and did not mention Islam.

Before his retirement in 2002, Boykin was chastised by military commanders for comparing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a holy war. Boykin later issued a written statement apologizing and said he didn't mean to insult Islam.

Boykin couldn't immediately be reached by msnbc.com for comment.Pentagon investigation concluded that Boykin violated regulations by failing to make clear he was not speaking in an official capacity when he made nearly two dozen church speeches beginning in January 2002. It also found that Boykin, who made most speeches wearing his uniform, didn't get prior clearance for the remarks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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My Thoughts:

When I was in the service. These extremist, fanatical commanders were the worst ones to be under. Their perspective of combat and the mission is skewed by their hate and religious faith. They are the ones that require you to pray openly when you muster in the morning. If they notice that you are not praying vocally and repeating the prayer the commander had ordered everyone under him to say each morning, you would be in front of the First Sargent why you weren't participating in the group prayer. You best not say you are Muslim, Jewish or Atheist. That will get you work detail and harassment until you could get transferred to another unit in another division or whatever. 

These are the commanders that get their men killed because their judgement is clouded by their faiths objectives and not necessary the mission. How they make it up the ranks is still a mystery to me, but the military has become very right-wing religiously Christian.

Kansas Speaker O’Neal asks House GOP to pray for Obama’s death

House Speaker Mike O'Neal

Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal is under fire after asking Republican House members to pray for President Barack Obama’s death. O’Neal made the request via an email he forwarded to GOP colleagues in the House. In an email sent in December, O’Neal asked his fellow Republicans to pray Psalm 109, which contains the following lines:

Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

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My thoughts:

Can you believe these hateful and racist bigot Republicans. They are truly mentally ill. There is something seriously wrong with them. And they are so Christian in their statements and acts, NOT!

Why do people elect this idiots?