I have been trying to make two arguments here in several posts over the last month. One is that Saul Alinsky was not the monster he is being portrayed to be by our leaders of the conservative movement. Unfortunately, conservatives have read that argument, and are so shocked by the heresy of it, that they miss my other argument completely. My other argument is that being well-organized is a good thing. The more we are organized, the less powerless we shall feel, and the more willing we shall be to stand up and try to stop the Obama socialist train.
Leaders like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity seem to understand this point instinctively. They are presently involved in encouraging a September 12 march on Washington D.C. Time and again I have made the point that Rush Limbaugh is more like Saul Alinsky than Alinsky himself. Limbaugh is a master of Alinsky tactics designed to ridicule the "bad guys" and "bad girls," thus freeing Limbaugh's listeners, along with listeners of other talk radio hosts and hostesses, from being immobilized by their fears, and encouraging them to become informed (reading the proposed bills) and to attend public meetings and speak up for traditional American values.
Conservatives began to get organized after John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. Then came September and October, when President Bush seemed to just throw up his hands and give unprecedented power to Treasury Secretary Paulson, who, in turn, rescued his cronies at Goldman Sachs. That just took away all the momentum Sarah Palin had brought to the campaign. The left, however, realized they had a galvanizing issue; they became extremely well-organized, and Obama rode the wave into the White House.
My point, dear readers, is that through organization the powerless become powerful and are able to make changes. Let's not take pride in being powerless!
8 comments:
What were Saul's intentions? Were they to organize with deceipt and manipulation or to organize with truth? Who did he link up with with? Did he associate with communist liars or with truth tellers?
I totally agree with what you're saying. Just because someone is your 'enemy' doesn't mean you can't learn from them. How you channel what you learn is what's important.
www.doodlebyjr.blogspot.com
Mrs. Who,
I am so glad you get what I am trying to say. Your opinion is always important to me.
Michael Patrick Leahy has written a book called Rules For Radical Conservatives which just came out and is available from Amazon that you might find interesting. I just ordered it.
Organizing is a good thing so long as it is for a good cause and restoring the Constitution is a good cause.
I was lucky enough to be part of the team (NRCC) that helped take back the south in 1984. I had a boss (younger, but smarter) who had our team read Sun Tzu, who if I remember correctly was not a conservative Republican.
We all studied the techniques of the left, New Deal Democrats and unions to understand their previous success.
Our "Southern Team" was expected to lose which is why only conservatives were put on the team.
Many of our candidates balked and said, "What is this crap?" referring to speaking in black churches, inner city funeral homes and getting out of the air conditioning and speaking directly to people every where and anywhere.
We crushed the Democrats making them spend money in their "strongholds" in the south which they had wanted to spend elsewhere.
I am rereading Alinsky's book at your recommendation and I thank you for it. I'm going to use Alinsky to defeat his disciples not because I hate the man, but because I despise their political desires.
I think your post(s) was right on the money.
I get your point Bob and it's a good one (both of them), the problem I have is giving Saul credit...I'm just being honest here. All I've heard is the bad things he did...I'm reading his own works now and will give you my humble assessment. The really gratifying thing about this recent tea party surge is that we organized ourselves instead of just getting in line behind a leader. That says something really great about flyover country.
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