Friday, January 27, 2012

Who is Saul Alinsky?

And why does Newt Gingrich know so much about him? Perhaps the Alinsky student is Mr. Gingrich himself. The condensed rules of power are stated as such:

1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
    ~This describes Tea Party situation; they are projecting power they don't have. Same as Newt

2. Never go outside the experience of your people.
    ~They ignore this one at their own peril; anything beyond divisiveness is outside the experience of the current GOP establishment.

3. Whenever possible, go outside of the experience of the enemy.
    ~This is easy for Newt and the Tea Party. Most sane people do not have experience with the zealotry evidenced by these Alinsky Warriors.

4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
    ~Here is where it breaks down for these people; they have no idea what rules sane, well reasoned people live by.

5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.
    ~The far right has jumped onto this rule with complete abandon. It is almost comical at times.

6. A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
    ~They enjoy their anger and disrespectful dog whistle politics. It warms their empty souls.

7. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
    ~Newt has a better mastery of this one. It is why he is the comeback kid. He keeps researching new tactics. The Right Wing Terrorists have forgotten this one. They are stuck on dumb.

8. Keep the pressure on with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose.
    ~This one they all do with aplomb. Kudos to the Alinsky Warriors.

9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
    ~Of course. Like Iran is going to attack the USA? Really? No one is that stupid.

10. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
    ~Yes. They have this one practically patented. They use the pressure of fear, hate, and divisiveness.

11. If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.
    ~Fox News? Need I say more?

12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
    ~They really are dropping the ball on this one. There is nary a constructive alternative amongst the whole lot of them.

13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.
    Again, Newt, The Tea Party, and extreme Right Wing Republicans do this with absolute consistency.

The Tea Party, The Republican Establishment, and Newt Gingrich himself, all seem to have studied Saul Alinsky... unfortunately for them, they never were better than "C" students even when they did study. So they grab a few easy ones and just go on and on with them ad nauseum.