what was driven that time was driven by the john birch society . for those of you who remember those times, it was a group of folks who sold themselves as if by communists, but broadened their hate miss to lots of other groups. and began to use litmus tests based upon lies, falsehoods about members of our own party. as a litmus test for their support. and it was a dangerous time where republican politicians throughout the country were afraid, they were afraid to speak out, they were afraid to oppose these folks because what they were told was if you oppose them, you cannot win a republican primary, you cannot be a nominee, so you must either agree with them or acquiesce. acquiesce to that particular point of view. and at that time there were two people who stood up to say no. the first one was william f buckley, the founder and editor of the national review. [applause] he called and barry goldwater, who was contemplating running for president in 1964, and they came to an agreement. buckley would speak out first forcefully against the john birch soc

that is directly john birch language. he lost monumentally. in fact, a little morris county historical note, barry goldwater was a last republican to lose morris county for president until donald trump in 2020. from 1964 to 2020, morris county voted for every republican residential candidate. they rejected goldwater. and they rejected trump in 2020. and i think it's interesting, i didn't put it in the book because nobody would really care about that historical comparison, but this audience will pick become you thinks something about historical comparisons that we are making. so i think it's an interesting chapter to place the chapter that follows it into context, which is whether you're talking birtherism or qanon or pizzagate or the election. conspiracies that were not any unique time. i hate when i hear commentators on television say we are in the most dangerous time in the history of this country. we are more divided than we've ever been in our history. now, i've some would say that on abc one day and i said, george can you i said i don't k

that is directly john birch language. and he lost monumentally in fact here's a little historicalwa note barry goldwater was the last republican to lose the county for president until trump in 202064 through 2020 voted for every republican candidate they rejected goldwater and 2 trump in 2020 and there is an interesting i wasn't sure anybody would care about that but this audience will and i think it says something of these historical comparisons we are making. it is an interesting chapter for those that follow into context talking about q-anon or pizza gate or the election i hate when i hear commentators say we are in the most dangerous time in the historyn of this country we are more divided than we ever have been. george came to me and i said i don't know. it seems to me the civil war was a time we were more divided. [laughter] >> when you are doing debate prep with the president and you wentpl into with reams of examples from incumbent presidents tell the audience what you told president trump. >> i did debate prep fo

that's directly john birch language. and he lost monumentally. in fact a little morris county historical note barry goldwater was the last republican. to lose morris county for president until donald trump in 2020 from 64 to 2020 mars county voted for every republican presidential candidate. they rejected goldwater. and they rejected trump in 2020. and and i think there's an interesting i didn't put it in the book because nobody would really care about that historical comparison, but this audience will and i think it says something about historical comparison that we're making so i think it's it's an interesting chapter to place the chapters that follow into context. which is whether you're talking about birtherism or qanon or pizza gate or the election? conspiracies that we're not in a unique time. i i hate when i hear commentators on television say we are in the most dangerous time in the history of this country where more divided than we've ever been in our history. now. i had someone say that abc one day and and then george came to me and i s

he said the problem with the john birch society is, you know, they have great politics. you know, they believe that, you know, like kennedy is evil just like i do, you know, but that they're deducing subjective motives from objective outcomes. so how do you handle that kind of criticism, which i think you're going to have to handle in the next couple of weeks and months? oh, yeah, absolutely. i mean, part of it is, you know, it's funny because you're saying i'm very confident, but also that i'm saying over and over i don't really know what's going on, you know. so i guess what i tried to do is, you know, maintain integrity. and if i don't know something, i'll just say that i don't know it. i'll say this is what i do know and this is what i suspect and one of the reasons i don't know anything is because an active effort to cover up information. and here's my evidence. there's an active effort to cover up information. and, you know, i am trying to kind of break through this barrier here where people will be willing to invest to get a lot of the cases that i lay out, becaus

ronald reagan helped to drive the john birch society out of the republican party. created the moderate conservative movement and made them dominant. republicans have to do that again. they have to drive these extremists out. if that includes donald trump and i think it does, it will be good for the republicans, good for america. >> thinking about this, too, taking a step back, you have of course this dinner. but you also have, we are all focusing on the idea of steven miller testifying. steven miller is the first known witness if i'm not mistaken to testify since the doj appointed a special council. >> it gets you close to the former president. the problem is we are not going to know what he said. and frankly, if anything that he provided the grand jury was all that useful or if he felt he had criminal exposure and just fled the fifth the whole time. but, it is a very senior staffer to the former president coming in and talking to a grand jury. every day, we have these moments where we ought to step back and think how remarkable that fact is. and so, perhaps, when

. >> in december of 2021, clark made an appearance on the new american, the john birch society's online he discussed the nevada county recall efforts. >> doing recalls and calling them into the accountable place of their oath of office, if they don't understand it, this is a way to avoid a civil war. they should think about it. >> it's a way to avoid a civil war. what, what do you mean by that? >> you know, we have where too much government gets to be tyranny, and yet we start adopting small strings of tyranny until we start to be bound down and our rights get lost, and then pretty soon, we don't know who's really at the end of a third-party contract to track your children. >> covid is what galvanized not only different deaths in tears with respect to fears and the related aggression, but it got all these tributaries together into one raging stream. >> bryan levin is a director of the center for the study of hate and extremism at california state university san bernardino. >> they are seeing local governance become the traders. that are depriving of the right that they previously said w

ronald reagan and william f buckley helped to drive the john birch society, a pretty radical group in the 1950s, and out of the republican party, -- republicans have to do that again. they have to dry these extremists out. and if that includes donald trump -- and i think it does -- it will be good for the republicans are good for america. >> thinking about this as well more broadly, taking a step back, because it you have of course this dinner, but you also have -- we also are focusing on tonight, david, and that is, and elliott, the idea of stephen miller testifying. stephen miller is the first known witness, if i'm not mistaken, to testify since the doj appointed special counsel. this is pretty significant. >> it's pretty significant because, that number, when it gets you very close to the former president. now look, the problems were not going to know what he said. and frankly, if anything that he provided the grand jury was actually all that useful or if he felt that he had criminal exposure, and just pled the fifth the whole time. but it is a very senior staffer to the former pre

always against progressives who talk about democracy is the old line, i think it may go back to the john birch society but may predate that, we're a republic not a democracy, they say. actually, our answer to that is we are a democratic republic, or at least aspire to be one. a democratic republic does require a sufficiently democratic economy to support it. the constitution begins with the words, we the people. the preamble imagines an active government that is responsive to the interest of the people, including the yen welfare, i love to tell conservative friends the word welfare is right there in the first paragraph of the constitution of the united states. including the general welfare. i think joey and willie have outlined an argument that we need to build the social movements that michael talked about to defend the rulings, to defend the role of an administrative state designed to secure the public interests and to fight the injustices. historic injustices we are still trying to overcome. so i thank you and i hope you begin a movement with this book. [applause] >> you gave us a lot to th

but the john birch society. they did and i think that that that something like that could play.now that this conspiratorial angle that's nonsense. but lot of people are buying into and that also scares me that that's sorry to be morose but well i just i think we're i think what we're doing is is circling around much bigger question than just the southern strategy is. and i think we are the reason why this is such a perplexing question. and this question of when does it start and when does it end are our kind of red herrings? because i think in the discussion of this southern strategy, what we're really talking are different iconography fears and rhetorics about americanism, american democracy, american who is american and is endowed with the right kind of have a say in governance and shaping political economy. you know, i look at the the southern states industrial councils rhetoric about southern strategy by the cio oh to unionize dixie operation dixie in post-world two and you know the president i've got another quote i'm i have always got quotes he says the cio is coming south

linden b johnson of texas and senator john w mccormick of massachusetts, both of whom would play key roles in the passage of the 25th amendment drafted by senator birch by with the help of dean emeritus, john ferric and others. in this case anxiety and amorphous concept that ebbs and flows, but has ever present contributed to a concrete law that allowed for better sense of presidential continuity. even beyond the 25th amendment for the reformist warranted. the development of increasingly powerful weapons height intentions between the superpowers while political rhetoric has fed off of and contributed to nuclear anxiety. today russia has again brought the world to the brink of nuclear war russian approach that vladimir putin has ordered his country's nuclear forces to a higher state of readiness and has warned foreign powers that might hinder its advance through ukraine of consequences that you have never encountered in your history. the economists in an article entitled the risk that war in ukraine escalates past the nuclear threshold speculates, even if putin does not use strategic nuclear weapons. he may use small tactical ones of which russia is s

birch are -- rosie birchard. ♪ judy: fans of taylor swift hoping to score tickets to her upcoming tour have met a confusing and chaotic system, prompting outrage from fans and lawmakers alike. john>> ♪ now we've got bad blood ♪ ♪ john: a mega-tour by mega-star taylor swift is stirring up bad blood between the singer's fans and the company behind the show. back on tour for the first time in five years, swift is selling out stadiums across the country for her "eras" show. but that didn't make it easier for fans trying to score tickets. >> come on, we gotta go, 13 minutes. john: posting their experience online, hopeful swifties flooded ticketmaster for presale seats only to meet extensive wait times, steep fees, and glitches. the site itself froze more than once as the queue numbered in the thousands. >> we are talking $750 a ticket for down here. john: ticketmaster blamed historically unprecedented demand and urged patients. -- patience. but critics saw a different issue, the 2010 merger between ticketmaster and live nation, that combined venues, artist management and ticketing under a single, poweul company. last month, president biden promised to crack down on surprise charges f