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In order to understand the "message" of the John Birch Society, one has to imagine the United States as constantly threatened by an internal "communist conspiracy", one has to construct a world in which outward appearances are both revealing and deceiving, and one must think in terms of the Birchite vocabulary of "protective coloration," "infiltration", and "innocent people who do not know what is happening to them."
Colonel Laurence E. Bunker '26, a charter member of the Society and presently a member of the society and presently a member of its national council, brought this message to a packed Dunster House Forum last night. His message was met with curious interest, astonishment, and derision.
The former personal aide to General MacArthur asserted that he has become increasingly disturbed by the evidence of communist conspiracy in "high places" and in incidents such as the San Francisco student riots over HUAC and the Oxford, Miss., race riots.
Bunker said that he had documentation for all these conclusions. Admitting that such documentation might not be enough to convict anyone in court, Bunker added that "the evidence would satisfy any individual."
In answer to charges that the Birch society's accusations have been reckless and damaging to many to many individuals, Bunker replied. "It is the individual's fault for taking actions which advances the communist cause, and not the fault of the John Birch Society for exposing them."
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