POLITICAL CLIMATE. IN U.S. REMAINS UNFAVORABLE FOR WITCH-HUNTERS
By George Novack
It would appear logical, | as the example of France auring the Algerian conflict suggests, that the official launching of war against a colonial revolution would at first give considerable impetus to the most rabid jingoistic elements within the imperialist aggressor: country. This has not so far happened with, the XU: S. -intervention in Vietnam.
= In fact, the opposite has taken place. The escalation of mil-itary operations has been met by an escalation of opposition ‘to the war and an upsurge of radicalism. The initiative has been’ taken by the critics. of the Johnson administration from the left. a a
The” ‘leadership of the Republican party, which should | nomarny
set the pace for the more conservative wing of public opinion, is” split three ways over the question of the Vietnam war. Its chief spokesman in the House of Representatives, Gerald Ford of Michigan, accused the administration April 19 of "shocking mismanagement" of. the war, blamed the political | crisis in.south Vietnam on the Honolulu conference, and called on the’ president to use more aid and sea power against north. Vietnam. His: line has been ‘that Of ex-Senator Goldwater. — a con
On the other hand , Republican’ “Senaté: ‘Leader ‘Dirksen. of Illinois backs Johnson's policy. Still other prominent: members ‘of the. party — such as Senators Cooper of Kentucky and Aiken of Vermont advocate moves toward negotiations to bring about | peace and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam. -
Both.of the capitalist political machines are divided from top to bottom by the war issue. This absence of unity in governing circles, has nandicapped - the countermobilization of the prowar camp © against - the antiwar movement.
This deadlock.is.due_ to the widespread unpopularity of the war which is.shared for differing reasons by many strata of the American people. Unlike the French colonialists, the American warmongers and superpatriots have no traditional sentimental: ties - =: between the mother country and colonies to exploit. No one in the. § U.S. believes that remote Vietnam is "part" of its dominions and should by right be possessed by it. The present intervention is justified on very different military or ideological grounds. It is supposedly required by a global strategy to contain the spread of international Communism and the influence of Red China, thereby protecting "freedom" and "democracy" in Southeast Asia. But these rationalizations keep losing persuasiveness as the south Vietnamese ' display their dislike for the Saigon military regime.
Another factor that has wéakened the ultraright ‘ain the present situation was the stunning defeat of Goldwater's presidential
bid. in. 1964." This’ setback was’ all’ the more demoralizing because it deflated the great expectations aroused by his nomination at the Republican convention. It has taken time for the hosts of reaction to recover from this shattering blow.
Nonetheless, the John Birch Society, the most influential, "respectable, " and fast-growing spearhead of the ultraright forces, is not. idle. On the contrary, it has been stepping up organizing activities and expanding its recruitment in preparation for the next opportunity to move forward on a national scale.
“According: to an article in the April 20 New York Times, the society now has nearly 100,000 members. Its stronghold is California which boasts of 12,000 to 15, OOO members. The John Birchers are heavily financed by rich businessmen like its founder Robert Welch and has seventy-five full-time field coordinators at work around the country.
Its Eastern center is in New Jersey, an industrial state with a large Catholic population. Membership there is reported to have quadrupled in the last twelve months and it now ranks second in growth to California. There are an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Birchers in New Jersey, grouped in about 400 local chapters or cells.
The Birch movement is based and built on a program of extreme procapitalist and semifascist reaction. It is against welfare legislation and for no restrictions on "free enterprise." It is savagely anti-Communist and covertly anti-Semitic and segregationist. It opposes the United Nations and sees the "international Communist conspiracy" burrowing into the highest echelons of the U.S. government all the way from Eisenhower to Chief Justice Warren of the Supreme Court... Its undisputed boss, Robert Welch, pictures the U.S. as a vast "insane asylum" over which the "worst inmates" are’ in charge.
Fed on such delirious teachings, local John Birchers conduct sustained attacks from the right on local authorities, libraries containing "seditious" literature, progressive school boards, parentteacher associations, mental health programs, fluoridation of drink~ ing water, UNESCO, and the moderates in the Republican party.
They have made gains among Irish and Italian Roman Catholics in New Jersey and even recruited a few priests. Some Catholic Birchers. want to impeach. Pope Paul as well as Justice Warren on the ground that the Ecumenical Council was "a Communist sellout. "
The Birchers have assiduously enrolled members among police: forces from New York City to Southern California. They have appointed themselves public defenders of the "forces of law and order" against Negro complaints of police brutality and demands for civilian review boards of cases of mistreatment of citizens. Their slogan, blazoned on posters and auto bumper stickers, is "Support Your Local Police."
Some Birchers in New Jersey and California train with the
Minutemen, a small paramilitary force that is preparing to lead guerrilla warfare in case the Communists take over the U.S. But the = majority of the members come from well-to-do suburbanites and small” property owners who are alarmed by the least signs‘of liberalism or” social welfare which they regard as forerunners of socialism and ~ communisn.
“The Birchers do. not. ‘represent a ‘formidable ‘force or “any © imminent threat to the ‘status quo. The economy is booming, ‘McCarthy-* ism is out of favor, and witch-hunting does not receive the response and official support it enjoyed during the Korean war and its after-~ math. Its activities serve rather .as a reminder that the organized forces of ultrareaction remain intact, despite their electoral rout in 1964.-They stand as an auxiliary reserve , ready for action with a new turn of the tide. As.it is, they are tolerated but not encouraged by the capitalist rulers.
Their incapacity to take the offensive on the war question ~ even in New Jersey was highlighted by the first anniversary celebration of the "teach-in" at Rutgers state university April 19. Last year History Professor Eugene Genovese set off a furious academic and. political controversy. by denouncing American intervention’ in ~ Vietnam and. declaring his. solidarity with the National’ Liberation Front. The demand for his dismissal became the central issue in the 1965 gubernatorial campaign in that state. The Democratic incumbent who, refused, to accede. _to this pressure won, by. a wide margin.
This. year before. an. audience of 3, 000 students, Genovese boldly repeated: his. stand: "I said here a year. ago, and say now, a Communist ascendency, in Vietnam, is not to be feared but welcomed . “H.
He. went ‘on to say: "The. ‘American people. have nothing to gain from Johnson's Hitlerian foreign policy" which "bordered on’ geno-* cide."
He demanded that the U. 8. get out of Vietnam. His words were warmly applauded. . . ot In an, aside to the hundreds of young men dressed: ‘in. ‘sweat~’ shirts and. jeans, Dr. Genovese said: "Last fall several thousand of you signed a petition supporting Johnson's policy. I do not © notice that any, of you who signed the petition left the campus to volunteer for service." ' This, too, was applauded.
Outside the gymnasium, a lone member of the local Catholic War Veterans walked back and forth carrying a sign that said: "Rid » Rutgers of Reds."