Birchers see America as Being at Significant Crossroads

By Ron Fitzwater

Sitting silent for the most part since the November elections, the Ashe County Republican Party Headquarters was again full of lively discussion as High Country members of the John Birch Society gathered to hear Republican Party Chairman and society member John Wheeler deliver an address titled, America at the Crossroads.

Wheeler's call to pick up the society's standard and stand in defiance of the Obama administration and his belief that the new administration is steering the country closer to socialism.

Following prayer and a short history lesson on the society's namesake John Birch and its founder Robert Welch, Wheeler delivered his address with a minister's conviction, and extracted more than one excited "Amen" from those gathered.

Using the society's long standing campaign against communist advancement and the protection of the country from outside threats,

Wheeler tied historical accounts of how communism has impacted policy in America, throughout the Cold War and how the echoes of that war can be heard today in the policies of President Barack Obama, which Wheeler sees as highly socialist in nature and that he feels the JBS should stand against.

"'Patriotism means to stand by the country, it does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he, himself, stands by the country,'" Wheeler said quoting President Theodore Roosevelt.

Wheeler explained that the quote points out that a person's allegiance is owed to the country, not the government or the person in charge of it, and that citizens and patriots should give the government their loyalty but, if the leaders do not work to the betterment of the nation, the citizens have no requirement to support the government at all.

"Our loyalty is to the country and to the flag 'and to the republic for which it stands' and that's a profound statement," Wheeler said.

"I am calling this talk tonight, America at the Crossroads, because this struggle for liberty and sovereignty and independence and freedom and individual rights, that are given by God and not granted by the state, has been ongoing and it is coming to a point of decision. We don't have any more time to go on cruise control," he said.

Wheeler attacked the policies of President Obama, pointing out that the top two agenda items posted on the official White House website on the day of the inauguration were national hate crimes resolutions, which Wheeler claims would result in religious persecution and the freedom of choice act.

"When that passes you won't be able to read your Bible and tell people that God says 'this is an abomination,' but that's his number one agenda. His number two agenda item is the freedom of choice act. What is the freedom of choice act? That's a euphemism for unlimited abortion entitlement mandated, funded and promoted by the federal government that restricts any right or ability of any state to limit that practice in any way whatsoever.

"They [Democrats] have been trying to pass that since 1989 and they never have had the votes to pass it. They had the votes when Bush was president, but he told them he would veto it."

For this and other reasons such as the recent government bailouts of the banking and auto industries, Wheeler said he feels that the country under President Obama is heading for socialism and possibly even the encroachment of a "Global Economic Order," and that unless organizations like the society stand up for traditional conservative American principals they are throwing away the freedoms of their children and their children's children and turning them over to a Global Political Order normally called one-world government.

"Could there be a plan? Could it be that there actually is a conspiracy? Well, The John Birch Society thinks there is a conspiracy," Wheeler declared.

"Is this a turning point, a crisis point or a crossroads for America?

"Obama wants to nationalize our banks and industries, he's going to put everyone in government service, he's going to redistribute all the wealth, he's going to empower the homosexuals, he's going to make it where the Christians can't speak, he's going to enshrine infanticide and this is the government of our country," Wheeler said.

Wheeler closed, telling those gathered that the fight as always was with them and that it would not be easy, but that it was what the JBS was good at.

For more information on the John Birch Society, click to www.jbs.org.