PJ Media

Curiosity – “He … suspects there are no answers, only further questions.”

Irreverence – “To the questioner, nothing is sacred.”

Imagination — “ He suffers with them and becomes angry at the injustice.”

A sense of humor – which is “incompatible with the complete acceptance of any dogma, any religious, political, or economic prescription for salvation.”

“A bit of a blurred vision for a better world” – “It is though as an artist he is painting a tiny leaf.”

An organized personality – “He should be able, with skill and calculation, to use irrationality in his attempts to progress toward a rational world.” Say what?

“A well-integrated political schizoid” – 100% committed to a polarized issue, yet able to compromise when the time comes.

Ego — “The thought of copping out never stays with him for more than a fleeting moment; life is action.”

“A free and open mind, and political relativity” – “For him hell would be doing the same thing over and over again.”

While an organizer might get away with lacking a couple of the above nine qualities, Alinsky is so adamant about the tenth — communication — that he devotes an entire chapter to it, noting, “It does not matter what you know about anything if you cannot communicate it to your people.”

Your people. Alinsky’s use of the possessive is telling — particularly in light of countless speeches by our 44th president/first community organizer in chief. These speeches are most often addressed more to his supporters than to the entire American citizenry. Obama’s iconography, replacing the traditional presidential seal with his campaign logo and websites aimed at organizing “his people,” also reveal him as a leader fixated only on recognizing his true believers rather than his responsibility to the nation as a whole.

After a couple heavy-handed swipes at Christianity, Alinsky uses the story of Moses as a platform:

It isn’t just that Moses couldn’t tell God what God should do; no organizer can tell a community, either, what to do. Much of the time, though, the organizer will have a pretty good idea of what the community should be doing and he will want to suggest, maneuver, and persuade the community toward that action. He will not ever seem to tell the community what to do; instead he will use loaded questions (p. 91).

Alinsky’s lack of respect for humanity can’t help but bleed through every now and then:

Many times, contact with lower income groups does not fire one with enthusiasm for the political gospel of democracy. This disillusionment cmes partly because we romanticize the poor (p. 104).

And it is a painful reality that Obama’s most loyal base rests at the bottom of the social ladder, that he is adept at working it, and that he would be utterly uncomfortable spending more than a handshake or photo op with those who adore him.

Alinsky also addresses the human tendency to resent those on whom they become dependent — and cautions that the effective organizer “never wears his four stars, never is addressed as nor acts as a general”  — which explains Obama’s goofy casualness in his speech and often inappropriately informal wardrobe (see the Great Wall).

Also notable: Alinsky’s boast of lying by omission to the Catholic population he organized in Chicago, waiting until he had established a trusting relationship to reveal his support for birth control and abortion. His cameo self-portraits — used as teaching illustrations — are often vulgar (involving profanity for shock value) or downright creepy, as when he points to five priests disliked by the chancellor and says, “Can you look at them and tell me you oppose birth control?”

At moments like this, Alinsky cracks himself up — while clearly seeking to inspire his followers with his blend of irreverence, humor, and ego (remember the nine qualities). In Obama, one can see this incipient narcissism writ large.

The acorn didn’t fall far from this tree.