In League with the John Birch Society

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Letter/In league with the John Birch Society
June Frazer, Concord
For the Monitor
August 14. 2007

Remember the John Birch Society, that ultraconservative group founded in 1958 that opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, tried to get the United States out of the United Nations and worked to eliminate Social Security? The group that was so paranoid it boasted Joe McCarthy as a member, considered Dwight D. Eisenhower to be a communist and inspired a song by Bob Dylan called the "John Birch Paranoid Blues"?

Not many people do. Those who do probably think it expired long ago. Well, it's still alive and kicking, and it continues to publish a list of senators in order of the degree to which their votes coincide with the positions of the society. Top spot on the most recent list went to Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma with 60 percent. Winning second place, with 59 percent, was a senator from New Hampshire, John Sununu.

Remember him? He was elected in 2002 with a promise to represent the values of the people of New Hampshire. He still claims to do that, a claim that is neither accurate nor flattering to the people of New Hampshire. But we can replace him in 2008 with a senator whose votes represent the wishes of the people of New Hampshire rather than the John Birch Society (and, incidentally, George W. Bush).

In the meantime, we can also show Sen. Sununu how strongly we feel about his votes on the war at the "Take a Stand" rally at Memorial Park in Manchester on Aug. 28 from 5 to 7 p.m.

JUNE FRAZER