By now, it’s no secret that Obama’s path to power was paved with Alinsky tactics. Chapter Seven spells them out:
1) Power is not only what you think you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.
2) Never go outside the experience of your people.
Advertisement3) Whenever possible, go outside the experience of your enemy.
4) Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. Which explains why conservatives face greater consequences for moral failures than Democrats, who see nothing wrong with libertinism so have no shame when an old coot like Ted Kennedy is caught with his pants down. Time for conservatives to turn the tables and blame Obama for broken promises: Government transparency, troop escalation, etc.
5) Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. Have you noticed that only the left is allowed to use ridicule? And how it can be directed even at a Republican candidate’s children, while Democrat kids are off limits? Maybe it’s time for conservatives to quit being so nice.
6) A good tactic is one your people enjoy. Black Panthers may enjoy intimidating white voters; ACORN thugs may like roughing people up at tea party protests.
7) A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose.
9) The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
10) The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure on the opposition.
11) If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break into its counterside.
12) The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
13) Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.
It is the last tactic that is best known because its implementation is so painfully obvious. O & Co. have done their best to make it a fine art form — targeting enemies from automakers and insurance companies to doctors and tea party activists. And let’s not forget Fox News. When Obama’s peevish callouts failed to silence them, his minions went to work on other news agencies to marginalize them. (To their credit, news organizations showed a rare moment of solidarity.) Again, unprecedented juvenile behavior came from the highest office in the land — and from Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected.
Alinsky formulates a three-point strategy based on facial features:
First the eyes: If you have organized a vast, mass-based people’s organization, you can parade it visibly before the enemy and openly show your power.
But the Obama campaign seems so yesterday. Today we are seeing the radicalization of citizen patriots who — in true grassroots fashion — have organized tea parties, town hall gatherings, and Capitol steps protests (a la Michele Bachmann and Laura Ingraham).
Second the ears: If your organization is small in numbers, then do what Gideon did: Conceal the numbers in the dark but raise a din and clamor that will make the listener believe that your organization numbers many more than it does.
Reminding me so much of a teensy band of gay and atheist political activists who bombard our local newspapers with letters to the editor about any issue that comes up in our overwhelmingly conservative county on which they can take an anti-traditionalist stand. From the clamor they create, you’d think they represented thousands rather than a couple dozen.
Third, the nose; If your organization is too tiny even for noise, stink up the place. (p. 126)
While the reader may take that figuratively — I know I did — later in Chapter Seven, Alinsky gets literal when he suggests buying 100 symphony tickets, filling up 100 blacks with a free baked bean dinner and then sending them in to disrupt the concert by passing gas.
Page 139. I kid you not.
Alinsky says this illustrates tactics 2 and 3 — as it is not outside the experience of blacks and “connected with their hatred of Whitey,” while going outside the experience of the enemy — as presumably the Haves don’t eat beans en masse before attending the symphony.
Talk about dehumanizing and using people! I couldn’t help but think that had he raised money to buy 100 concert tickets for Have-Nots (whom he specifically identifies as blacks), some scattered children might have been dazzled into desiring to hear more or to learn how to play an instrument. One or two might have even pursued a musical career and risen from a state of being fed beans by a community organizer who considered them pawns in his own ugly performance art.
I guess this is the most telling part of Alinsky’s character: his lack of regard for his fellow man. And isn’t this the perpetual irony surrounding liberals, who claim to be all about defending the Have-Nots, when really they are just faces in crowds, bodies in buses, feathers in caps, rungs on ladders, bean-eating stooges to be organized by the brilliant disciples of Alinsky?
This also explains why a down-and-dirty community organizer behaves like a greedy conqueror upon achieving the White House — he feels absolutely entitled to live higher than the Haves, who he supposedly despised but secretly envied. Alinsky’s derision of love belies his attempts to draw biblical parallels with his ideas. Really, his brand of community organizing is the exact opposite of Christ’s, which was based on love and servant leadership.
Alinsky has only scorn for the middle class — particularly if they are content with their homes and their families. But he advises his “realistic radicals” to drop some of their rough and tumble ways (like calling policemen pigs) — the better to cozy up and convert the poor suckers incrementally to their more enlightened way of thinking. (p. 186)
Alinsky — circa 1971 — also called for an extreme makeover of American education, as it had a tendency to immunize the middle class masses against extreme emotion-driven political thought:
The products of [the American education] system have been trained to emphasize order, logic, rational thought, direction and purpose. (p. 166)
Well, we wouldn’t want that, would we? And nearly four decades later it would seem our education system has been successfully hijacked by Alinskyites — from kindergarten through postgraduate work, an American student can make the grade without order, logic, rational thought, direction, and purpose. Especially if his worldview and politics mesh with the teacher’s. Much of the National Education Association sees conservative parents as the enemy, so much so that the retiring general counsel felt free to pull a “pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it” at their 2009 national convention.
Who knew that Alinsky was on the NEA’s suggested reading list? And in light of what we’ve learned from Rules for Radicals, should it be surprising that many teachers see themselves as mini-community organizers whose role would be to organize the underage troops to serve the organizer-in-chief? Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm … Barack Hussein Obama!
These are dangerous times we live in, with ruthless and amoral Alinskyites now in control of our institutions, and the Tired Old Media behaving more like giggling groupie girls than like — well, like reporters. But then there are those bugaboos they’re trying to avoid: Order, logic, rational thought, direction, and purpose.
Time for conservatives to take off the gloves. As the Who sang in “Won’t Get Fooled Again”: “Meet the new boss/Same as the old boss.” Time to use their own tactics to expose the hypocrisy of the Alinskyites who scrambled to the top only to become — like the pigs in Animal Farm — even worse oppressors than the ones they sought to overthrow. Time to set aside some of our own domestic contentment and make room for some of the drama and excitement Alinsky claimed his manipulation of the poor underclass would add to their “dreary, drab” lives.
Show up for tea parties, town halls, freedom marches and spontaneous Capitol steps meetings. Keep up the pressure. Forget civility. As you have been the target, turn this tactic back on them: pick it, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. And as this batch of Alinkyites did, never give up until the Haves (the new oppressor class) have been exposed for the hypocrites they are and sent to the dustbin of history.
You’ve got it. You’ve finally said it. “Take the gloves off!”
Just that it’s too late.
Thanks anyway.
check this out:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/01/doj_hires_bloggers_as_propagan.html
I think I see where today’s radicals are not following Alinsky:
Today’s radicals have only scorn for the middle class tea partiers. They should drop some of their rough and tumble ways (like calling them teabaggers) — the better to cozy up and convert us poor suckers incrementally to their more enlightened way of thinking.
Here I am providing the logical reasoning and direction today’s radicals lack due to the low quality of their education. But I think they are too emotion based to follow my suggestion. Today’s radical foot soldiers, as evidenced by the liberal trolls infesting all right wing political blogs, feel too much hatred for their political enemies to even try to cozy up to us poor suckers. If they were only feeling Alinsky’s contempt for the middle class then maybe they could fool us.
Reckon any of this will ever get noticed by the MSM? Me either.
Music Video: No Rules for Radicals
Hey pelaut – Get out of the way!
Purple and red state Americans prefer to think the best of people. One might be a political opponent, but their heart is assumed to be in the right place. This rather optimistic view of our fellow human beings may often even be right. Saul Alinsky and his ilk take advantage of this attitude. He exhorted his fellow radicals to lie—-but in a charming and polite manner. They should always have a bright smile on their face before putting the knife in the back of the enemy. Guilt tripping is another effective tool. Combining the latter with charm and deceit is a lethal brew. This is how Barack Obama captured the presidency.
I have been following some the “mobies” who are useing Alinsky’s tactics against conservatives, and I think i’ts working beyond their wildest dreams. The left has the conservative blogs twisted in knots. Sarah Palin supporters turning against her for supporting John McCain. Tea Party factions fighting with each other. What to dt? I’t's a zoo!
Its never too late!! MSM is a party to all this, so don’t expect anything from them and you won’t be disappointed. Publicus is alive and well so keep it coming. We are winning and will continue to every time we find and disclose the truth. Freedom is worth it. Go Republicans!!
Thank you for these articles.
I wouldn’t have the patience to read the totalitarians’ manual.
See ? As soon as the half-dictator lost the elections, he came back with the speech against the banks (strong enough to sink Wall Street).
He hopes he can rally the “masses” against another straw-man.
He has yet to understand that this is America and there are no “masses” but only individuals.
Re Chapter 7, tactic #4, making your enemy live up to his own rulebook, I suggest the following theme to push: GOVERNMENT GREED. Rub everybody’s face in this at every opportunity.
It has the advantage of being the literal truth. As everyone can now see, government is a gaping maw of unlimited avarice and never thinks for a moment of living within its means. For it to accuse the private sector (us) of greed is like a pickpocket pointing at somebody else and shouting, “Stop, thief!”
Dear Barbara,
I’ve written a long reply to your article, TWICE – and it was not posted. I’ve decided to post it on my blog – hopefully it will work this time. The link to my entry is the following:
http://hyphenatedamericans.blogspot.com/2010/01/alinsky-rules-can-we-use-them-against.html
Sincerely,
Hyphenated American
Radical Americans?
Radical? people in America. Sorry, older citizens have to chuckle when we read about all the paranoia by the right these days. Man, you dudes should have been around in the 64-74 years. You would have passed out just reading about it back then.
My opinion? I think things are relatively quiet on the american “revolutionary” front these days. Yes, there is still a black panther party (so I have heard) and there may be a march or two every few years. But I would say the real action is in the Muslim/Mideast side of the house these days. Hey, you could attend a t-party demo for an inkling of what it was like (in reverse of course) and take some photos !!
I am not saying not to check under your bed or your neighbor/s garage for a commie (be sure to ask the bill payers permission, if he is a right winger you could be shot on sight), but please be prepared to give up after a neighborhood or two. Things are relatively quiet these days, trust me.
you’d think the “O”bum-a would not be so obvious about it. or as bad at the execution. the guy is lazy.
great essay Barbara
Squealer the pig “No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?” – George Orwell, Animal Farm, Ch. 5
Logic in education…in 1975 I was an education student taking a class in curriculum change. We were assigned to present a course to be introduced into the high school curriculum, and explain why it would be of value. I chose a course in Logic. Didn’t really get to present it very well; the other students laughed and mocked the idea, and the professor let them. The NEA didn’t have to try very hard, mocking reason and logic was already in the culture.
– we don’t need no stinkin’ Rules!
“Man, you dudes should have been around in the 64-74 years. You would have passed out just reading about it back then.
My opinion? I think things are relatively quiet on the american “revolutionary” front these days.”
Those revolutionaries from the 60′s and 70′s, as do today’s generation of revolutionaries, put on suits and “quietly” infiltrated “the system”.
The method changed. The ideology and goals did not.
You are certainly correct. These rules have been applied by so many, for so long that only now in retrospect, does it become clear what has occured.
Remember the grossly obvious hatred expressed and the vitriole spoken at just the mere mention of the name George W. Bush? Remember how guys like UN Ambassador John Bolton, were ostracized? Do you see how Sarah Palin has been attacked? The hatred and vitriole is spewed by only just a few, you know by folks like Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, Barack Obama, John Murtha, Dick Durbin, Russ Feingold, Diane Feinstein, and then there was just a few others, you know… Michael Moore, Rosie O’Donnel, Cher, Barbara Streisand, Whoopi Goldberg, Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Jon Stewart…I just can’t go on listing them. You get the point.
The infiltration that Alinsky called for, is complete. It permeates every aspect of our lives. That is the propagandist’s hope, the organizer’s dream, and the Progressive’s mission. The mission is accomplished. The nation is now formed into just what they have desired. They have a say in what we eat, what we drink, what religions are acceptable, and what should be taught to our children at all grade levels. They have input into what is broadcast on TV, they have control of the news and radio and want to control the internet. They no longer ask our opinion, or seek our direction. They dictate what legislation will be presented, discussed and approved, and then through their benevolence, what benefits we shall receive.
Furthermore, our unalienable rights are now seen merely as rights bestowed upon us by a benificent government and our Constitution is no longer seen as a static and foundational document from which we all are governed but, as a living document which should evolve and therefore can be interpreted as needs dictate.
This degree of control is defined as Totalitarianism. Our Nation is no longer a Democratic Republic but it has slowly been transformed into a Totalitarian Democracy. This transformation has ocurred right before our very eyes and it has been propogated by the very people whom we have elected.
It may seem impossible. You may not want to believe it has happened, particularly here in our own country. This is the stuff we have read about ocurring in third world countries. This is the stuff we have even fought wars to prevent. This is also the stuff our Founding Fathers said would happen and warned us against, should we fail to maitain a watchful eye.
Am I saying Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emmanuel and Eric Holder are all part of it? Yes, that is what I am saying. These folks have been schooled in Saul Alinsky. They have studued him and have modeled their political actions on his radical theories. They are successfully implementing their Progressive agenda and “Fundamentally Transforming America”, by utilizing the subtle yet apparently, very effective Rules for Radicals.
Fortunately, we are now waking up to what has been quietly developing over decades. We are only now realizing that our Nation is at the crux of the Progressive movement and that we must somehow gain it all back. The question of how we are to do this must be asked and answered. When answered, we must rise up, speak out and replace everyone that does not adhere to, or uphold the principles of our Democratic Republic form of governance. We must exercise our right to vote, but we must also be ever vigilant and watchful of those whom we elect. Those elected must represent us and not their party leadership. They must adhere to our Nation’s values of fairness and equality and the priciples of representative governance and no longer the priciples of pseudo-anarchist, anti-war era, liberal-progressive thinkers like Saul Alinski.
They are splitting the Republican party. The word “RINO” was invented by the left. And boy are they running with it. John McCain is a perfect example. Sarah Palin is being blasted by conservatives and Malkin/Beck/Levin?ect who hate McCain. This is a trap. McCain is the only US senater who is genually looking out for our troops, and they love him for it. We need John McCain.