For as long as I could remember, my father and my mother hated Communists and Democrats in almost equal measure. If anyone said the word “Roosevelt” or “Truman,” they were sure to get a double dose of socialist and “fellow travelers.” While I could not have defined either of those terms, I recognized swearing when …
On Wednesday, November 16, 2011, Lauren Pierce, the president of the College Republicans at the University of Texas, Austin tweeted a little “joke.” “Y’all as tempting as it may be, don’t shoot Obama. We need him to go down in history as the WORST president we’ve EVER had!” I recoiled in horror at her words. …
Shortly after the election of 2008, I cleaned my office and turned off my computer. “I don’t have to do this anymore,” I told myself. “I can stop writing and researching. I can stop uncovering and documenting. My parents are dead. And, thank God, their ideas are dead, too.” Two years later, I realized I …
Most John Birch Society scoundrels are buried deep in the recesses of American history, known only to politics junkies, history wonks and me, a Birch kid. There is one exception however, a Birch name that echoes across today’s political landscape: Fred C. Koch, founding member and national council member. Before Koch’s sons―David and Charles―became synonymous …
In 1958, after more than a decade of hating Communists and Democrats, my father found his ideological home in the John Birch Society, a new movement dedicated to “taking back the country.” My father was the first member in the city of Chicago. My mother was the second. Because I was an obedient Conner girl, …