what robert welch did is he used the name john birch because john birch, he says, was the fist casualty of world war iii. he was killed by the communists, and used his name to create the john birch society. what's really interesting about it is one of the great features of j. frank norris' work was that -- and you see this throughout the book -- was there was always a conspiracy against him. it was always this group or that group. it was, you know, in the '20s it was the mayor and the catholic interests of town are against him. and then later, of course, john birch's name, a name associated with norris truly in history, but a man who died long before the john birch society associated with a group, of course, that is known for their love of a good conspiracy. so i think it's a fascinating story. it was hiding in if plain sight. like i say, i've called it the most famous story you've never heard. but it was page 1 news across america in the 1920s, and i'm just grateful that i was able to dig it out, and nobody had gotten to it before me. thank you very much. [applause] take a few of your

john birch was actually very interesting individual himself. when doolittle's raid, 30 seconds over tokyo dropped bombs and store in china, john birch helped recover several of the pilots and take them to safety. john birch was murdered in china right at the end of the second world war by at the end of chinese communists. they shot him to death and norris greve. he changed the name of the hall at his church, birchall. by that name is familiar to you is because there is a group called the john birch society. that group did not start until 1958 been banned by the name of robert welch. there is a display about it at president johnson's library at the university of texas. while proper welch did is use the named john birch because he said he was the first casualty of world war iii. he was killed by the communist and used his name to create the john birch society. what is interesting is one of the great features of jay frank norris' work was that -- and you see this throughout the book, there is always a conspiracy against him. it was always this gro

charles koch says he thought stalin cook like -- and charles koch's father, fred koch, who found the john birchnhower administration and john kennedy as agents of the kremlin. it's troubling that -- >> wait a minute. his father said they would compare john kennedy and eisenhower as agents of the kremlin? >> not compare. directly accuse kennedy of being an agent of the kremlin. he wrote skreeving, gave -- >> so it's worse than compare. he's actually made the statement that they were? >> oh, sure. yes. >> if mr. koch senior and john f. kennedy felt that they were agents of the kremlin, i guess i shouldn't be stunned that their sons may be making some comparisons of barack obama and what's going on today. i mean, this is outrageous to me. >> well, you know, one thing to keep in mind, it's easy to associate charles koch, and charles schwab and billionaire donors at this meeting to the right-wing fringe, but i would say that they're crazy like a fox. you know, they fund tea party groups that push very out-there conspiracies like health reform being like the holocaust or the epa -- >> i'm going to ru

embarrassing the birder movement which it did is mainstream, i guess they're viewing things from the john birchrying to spin it saying, we're pulling back, we're going to be more mainstream now. >> o'reilly said he'd pack it in if the taxes go up. >> that's right. >> is it showmanship or is he thinking about getting out of it? >> we can only hope. >> the bush tax cuts are going to expire at the end of 2012. so willow riley be on the air in 2013? he'll be hit with that. >> he'll just flip-flop. he's never going to walk away. the idea if his taxes went up, he'd quit, that's fantastic. >> on one hand he used to be for it. now he's against it. >> that's right. >> i wonder what happened to him. anything happen that might have changed his position on that? >> just doing the usual spin, i think. >> eric bowl lert, media matters, good to have you with us tonight. that's "the ed show." that's it for us. "the ladd word with lawrence o'donnell" is next. >> take off your bedroom slippers. put on your marching shoes. shake it off. >> i don't know wh

william buckley stood up for the john birch society in the 1960's. that was an important movement. we're not seeing enough in our politics today of people standing of to the extremes in their own party spirit democrats and report -- their own party extremes. democrats and republicans. host: we want to read knowledge these last two tweets just to acknowledge them. -- to acknowledge these last two tweets just read knowledge them. you mentioned your previous books "wingnuts," but you have a new book. what is it? guest: is called "deadline artists." i cove road it -- i co-wrote it. we are living in a time when opinion writing is proliferating. i think this is the best of the bus. the best of the past combined with the present. this was a real pleasure and a labor of love. it is just out. i appreciate your mentioning a host: that. john avlon with "newsweek" and the day the peace. -- daily beast. we have about an hour and half to go in the "washington journal" and coming up next to my discussion on education funding. -- up next, a discussion on education funding. >> this weekend on ameri

the southern republican party has become a party of john birch people like the koch brothers. that unfortunately has permeated the state. i think we will overcome it. i believe strongly that barack obama will carry north carolina again. north carolina will be a bellwether for this entire country. i am looking forward to the reelection of barack obama at the president of these united states. host: the washington post rated disapproving revolt -- approval rating at 53% for job performance so far. guest: we are early on. the election is 13-14 months away. as you look to the job approval rating for bill clinton at this time in his first term, i think you'll see similar patterns. do not quote me on that, but i think you'll see that. this economic recovery is not coming along as quickly as it would like to. republicans -- we have a republican "do nothing" congress. people will blame the president. the republican strategist know that. that is why they are doing nothing. the guy who called from cleveland, ohio who as france on unemployment. the caller who called in from winston-salem

, seeking the right to vote for all americans, those same koch brother dollars were funding the john birch society's opposition to the voting rights act. you know, we have a saying in the labor movement, which side are you on? well, too many who have the funds and the power to influence america's leaders, in fact, some of those leaders themselves have taken the wrong side in american history, the side of slavery, the side of segregation, the side of denying justice, the side of economic dictatorship. in the decades since dr. king was taken there us, our nation's made enormous strides in the direction of racial justice. today as we meet barack obama is our president, and it's not just that barack obama is our nation's first african-american president, it's that his vision for our country owes so much of its moral power and its language to dr. king. but dr. king's vision was not simply an end to racism. he saw ending racism as a part of a larger struggle for human dignity. a larger struggle centered on economic justice. the tragedy of american history in our lifetime is that today while we'v