John McManus, president of the John Birch Society, scanned the packed basement room of Waldoboro’s First Baptist Church on Sept. 13 and said, “people in Maine are ready for the truth.” His presentation, “Stealing The American Dream, How Illegal Immigration Affects You” drew a large and boisterous crowd who came to hear McManus address the hot button political issue of immigration.
“How would you feel if someone broke into your house and demanded to be fed, clothed, educated, and taken care of for life? You’d tell them to get lost,” he said, speaking of “illegals.”
McManus described the liberal policies of the US government as “destructive to the nation” and advocated a policy of limited, legal immigration. He blamed “terrible leadership” from Hispanic communities for encouraging mass migration but acknowledged the long tradition of ethnic groups seeking a better life in the United States.
“Now I understand that this country was founded by immigrants. I have it on good authority that my great, great grandfather was either kicked out of Ireland for stealing or because he was a saint,” he said, drawing laughs from the crowd.
McManus is one of the few John Birch officials who are selected to speak publicly and spends the majority of his time traveling “from California to Maine” he said, spreading the organization’s message of strict constitutional adherence. In a volatile election year, McManus has found himself in demand from organizations looking for a speaker to energize their particular base.
The Waldoboro speech was hosted by the Constitutionalist of Maine who share a common belief with the Birch Society that government should be limited and personal freedom valued above all. Some people in the audience identified themselves as “patriots” and “Tea Party sympathizers” who are fed up with the status quo of the political landscape.
“We need more people like Mr. McManus who aren’t afraid to tell the truth. I lived in California and put up with illegal immigrants overloading our schools, hospitals, and welfare lines,” said one woman wearing a Paul Lepage for governor button.
The presentation by McManus also featured examples of “constitutional” jerry rigging that he said was “corrupt.”
“We need to go back to the original meaning of our founding fathers words,” he said. “The idea that the American Constitution is a living breathing document is hogwash,” he said.
McManus’ speech was periodically interrupted by agitated audience members who engaged in off topic political sloganeering, much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
“Impeach Obama,” one man shouted drawing an “amen” from the front row.
McManus handled the occasional digression from the crowd with a smile and knowing wink. A Belmont, Mass. native with a clipped Boston accent that is tinged with a slight Irish lilt, McManus joined the John Birch Society in 1966 as a New England field coordinator. In 1973 he was appointed the Society’s Director of Public Affairs and has served as chief media representative ever since. McManus has appeared on numerous television and radio programs becoming a favorite target of “the liberal media” he said who like to “push an agenda” regardless of facts.
The Birch Society refrains from overtly endorsing a political candidate, trusting its members are well aware of who shares their thoughts.
“We have never publicly supported anyone and never will. We don’t have to tell people who to vote for, they already know,” McManus said in an interview with The Lincoln County News.
Founded by Robert Welch, a retired candy manufacturer from Massachusetts, the John Birch Society was named after an American Baptist missionary and US military intelligence officer who was killed by communist forces in China in 1945. The founding members of the society considered Birch to be the first American casualty of the Cold War and adopted his life as a symbol for the group’s vehement anti-communist ideology.
Fueled in part by lingering McCarthy-era communist fears, the Society rode a wave of popularity in the early 1960s as America enacted hard line Cold War policies against Soviet Russia. The “Birchers” as they were and are still known, served as de facto citizen communist hunters and were famously parodied by folk singer Bob Dylan in his song “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” in which the narrator, a Birch member, finds communists everywhere including “his TV set” and “toilet bowl.” While communism may not be the red menace it once was, the Society’s stance has not changed, according to McManus.
“We’re against isms of any kind. Fascism, communism, and especially socialism,” he said.
McManus said the health care policies of President Obama are “inherently socialist,” which could lead to bigger problems.
“Hitler used universal healthcare to consolidate power in Nazi Germany. It’s not a path we should travel, ” he said.
McManus told the Waldoboro crowd that the government needs to get out of “medicine, education, and everything else.” When asked later who, if anyone, should take the responsibility of helping underprivileged Americans, McManus responded by saying simply “private charities.”
As his presentation drew to a close, the topic of immigration was put on the back burner and McManus began to highlight the various stacks of books, DVDs, and “informational packets” from the Birch Society that were for sale at a nearby table.
“Sometimes it’s about raising money for your cause,” he said in a later interview, “After all, we’re all just trying to make it, right?”
