Arthur R. Thompson

Arthur R. "Art" Thompson (born 1938 in Seattle ) is the CEO of the John Birch Society, and took office in 2005. However his leadership of the society has been criticised by journalist William Grigg for failing to take advantage of social media and remaining stuck in an old-fashioned, hierarchical mode.

Thompson believes that Russian communism remains a serious threat to the USA, and is responsible for much global terrorism including 9/11. He has claimed a number of Islamists including Ayman al-Zawahiri are or were communists. He has criticised both mainstream Republicans and Tea Party figures such as Sarah Palin for failing to see the nature of the threat from Moscow.