Please start using the "Bircher" identity when talking about Tea Party.

[BlueMTexpat]

13. You are absolutely correct about this.

I grew up in the 40s-60s. I remember the JBS all too well because there were a bunch of them in my birth state of MT and even there, they really stuck out. They were considered looney-tunes by anyone with a functioning brain in both political parties and thus, their political effects were marginalized except during the McCarthy era. Unfortunately, that marginalization led to forgetfulness with an American public that already has minimal recollection of any past, especially one they may not actually have experienced. But they have been with us all along, like a latent volcano.

Wiki can give one an overview. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

They were fierce haters of anything beyond their immediate purview and idolized J. Edgar Hoover and Joe McCarthy as fierce anti-Communists. I remember that those in my area also hated JFK with a fanaticism that is only equalled by the rabid fanaticism of the Teabaggers towards President Obama. While the majority of the American people were devastated by JFK's assassination, JB'ers in my area actually celebrated his murder as a victory - I remember that well - and it has always been one of many reasons why I still don't buy the official version of JFK's assassination. Before then, I merely thought of them as fascists, but so crazy that they could never be considered credible. But since the assassination, I have loathed them as fiercely as ever they loathed JFK. Over the years, I have been horrified at the Republican party for embracing them and at the US MSM for giving them any credibility whatsoever.

Yes, the TeaBaggers are their latest incarnation even though the JBS still exists as nominally separate entity. You and I are not alone in believing this - and with very good reason. http://www.counterpunch.org/2009/10/19/tea-baggers-and-birchers/