1. William F. Buckley's purging of John Birch Society is often held up as a model for how to deal with extremists. And it was on the whole commendable. But there important forgotten complexities to story.https://twitter.com/EliLake/status/967393436302225409 …
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6. National Review editors very divided on Birchers. James Burnham thought they were “the embryo...of the genuine American form of fascism." Frank Meyer: many Birchers "outstanding & sane conservatives.”
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7. To thread the needle of disputes over JBS, Buckley penned 1962 editorial criticizing leader Robert Welch but praising ordinary Birchers (“some of the most morally energetic, self-sacrificing, and dedicated anti-communists in America").
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8. Buckley did not condemn Birch Society in 1962-1964, when they were instrumental in helping Goldwater conservatives take over GOP. Birchers were too useful to condemn.
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9. Buckley only finally and definitively condemned Birch Society in 1965, after GOP under conservative control, and not because they were conspiratorial but because they opposed the Vietnam war.
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10. As Lyndon Johnson reviving up Vietnam War, Birch Society reverted to older isolationism. Saw Vietnam as distraction from real problem (communist control of USA government).
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11. Buckley's 1965 purge of the Birch Society is a continuation of his 1950s purging of anti-war voices. His big worry was mass movement of USA right that was anti-war.
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12. The same pattern can be seen in Buckley's later turn against Pat Buchanan & Joseph Sobran. They had voiced bigotry for years but Buckley criticized them when they opposed first Iraq War.
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13. The final wrinkle in all this is that's it is by no means clear Buckley's condemnation had real world effect. Birch Society is still around & its membership peaked in early 1970s, after Buckley's polemic.
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14. For that matter, after Buckley condemned Pat Buchanan, Buchanan went on to deliver the keynote address at GOP convention in 1992.
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15. The Bircher/Buchanan/Sobran wing of GOP never went away. Part of Trump's success in 2016 primaries was he was voice of that wing.
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16. If you want more of this history, I go into the depths here;https://newrepublic.com/article/122804/national-reviews-trump-dilemma-kick-him-out-keep-his-fans …
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