President Obama, Rules for Radicals and -- NOW What?

[Liability]

The former (and arguably present day) "community organizer," President Obama was (like Shrillary Clinton was) a devotee of Saul Alinsky and Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals."

I believe it is fair and accurate to say that the Rules for Radicals were written for the radicals as outsiders. Its theme was how to get FROM or out of "THE MAN" the things the "community" supposedly needed or wanted.

It looks to me like Alinsky never thought it all the way through. Apparently, neither did President Obama.

If they had thought it through a bit further, they might have given some consideration to providing the roadmap to answer the question, "what do we radicals DO with the POWER we seek once we ARE 'THE MAN?'"

President Obama wanted "power." He called it "hope and change," but that's malarkey. It was a quest primarily for obtaining power.

And he won. He has his hands at the helm.

So the question becomes, what does he do now? What does he DO with power once he has obtained it?

The Rules for Radicals provide methods by which his power can be taken away from him; but it doesn't tell him how to use power or how to stop others from seeking to take it away from HIM!

He is now (for better or for worse, and hopefully for just one term) "the man."

Alinsky once scolded some of his students for not grasping that they were doing what they were doing for no other reason than to get POWER! But Alinsky didn't tell them what they should DO with it once obtained.

Maybe this is why President Obama sometimes acts in a self-contradictory fashion, to the consternation of the liberoidals.

What do you think?

 

[AllieBaba]

To clarify for those too lazy to look it up:

"What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away.
"Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.

Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people.
The result is confusion, fear, and retreat.

Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.

Rule 4: Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. “You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.”

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy. “If your people aren’t having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.”

Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag. Commitment may become ritualistic as people turn to other issues.

Rule 8: Keep the pressure on. Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period for your purpose. “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this that will cause the opposition to react to your advantage.”

Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself. When Alinsky leaked word that large numbers of poor people were going to tie up the washrooms of O’Hare Airport, Chicago city authorities quickly agreed to act on a longstanding commitment to a ghetto organization. They imagined the mayhem as thousands of passengers poured off airplanes to discover every washroom occupied. Then they imagined the international embarrassment and the damage to the city’s reputation.

Rule 10: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, “Okay, what would you do?”

Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.

According to Alinsky, the main job of the organizer is to bait an opponent into reacting. “The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength.”
Rules for Radicals

 

[potter 58]

do both of you assholes only cut paste, because when either of you dicwads just wing it, you are no better than Obama without a teleprompter

 

[dilloduck]

do both of you assholes only cut paste, because when either of you dicwads just wing it, you are no better than Obama without a teleprompter

it's "dickwads"

 

[potter 58]

I know but on MSNBC and Yahoo the censors would block it out

 

[VaYank5150]

The former (and arguably present day) "community organizer," President Obama was (like Shrillary Clinton was) a devotee of Saul Alinsky and Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals."

I believe it is fair and accurate to say that the Rules for Radicals were written for the radicals as outsiders. Its theme was how to get FROM or out of "THE MAN" the things the "community" supposedly needed or wanted.

It looks to me like Alinsky never thought it all the way through. Apparently, neither did President Obama.

If they had thought it through a bit further, they might have given some consideration to providing the roadmap to answer the question, "what do we radicals DO with the POWER we seek once we ARE 'THE MAN?'"

President Obama wanted "power." He called it "hope and change," but that's malarkey. It was a quest primarily for obtaining power.

And he won. He has his hands at the helm.

So the question becomes, what does he do now? What does he DO with power once he has obtained it?

The Rules for Radicals provide methods by which his power can be taken away from him; but it doesn't tell him how to use power or how to stop others from seeking to take it away from HIM!

He is now (for better or for worse, and hopefully for just one term) "the man."

Alinsky once scolded some of his students for not grasping that they were doing what they were doing for no other reason than to get POWER! But Alinsky didn't tell them what they should DO with it once obtained.

Maybe this is why President Obama sometimes acts in a self-contradictory fashion, to the consternation of the liberoidals.

What do you think?

Many Americans got indoctrinated into "ruling with an iron fist" after eight long years of Dubya and DICK. Obama understands that there are three levels of government for a reason. He was not elected KING. Whether you think he is "the man" or not, he understands how our government is supposed to work, and I appreciate that.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Obama needs to hire a Czar in charge of telling his ass from a hole in the wall

 

[Si modo]

There is no doubt in my mind that the minions practice the rules. As long as the opposition is aware of them, there is no reason to cave to such low-intellectual levels who are the willing tools for the rules. Practice them with the non-thinking idiots and practice good debate rhetoric with the higher beings to get our voice out there.

 

[edthecynic]

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

Obama needs to hire a Czar in charge of telling his ass from a hole in the wall

CON$ always reveal themselves in what they condemn in others.

See the first quote in my sig.

 

[Si modo]

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

Obama needs to hire a Czar in charge of telling his ass from a hole in the wall

CON$ always reveal themselves in what they condemn in others.

See the first quote in my sig.

Libs practicing the rules, always use logical fallacies.

 

[edthecynic]

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

(like Shrillary Clinton was) ... liberoidals.

What do you think?

I think you must be a "liberoidal."

 

[KittenKoder]

Obama needs to hire a Czar in charge of telling his ass from a hole in the wall

Asses have asses?

 

[KittenKoder]

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

Obama needs to hire a Czar in charge of telling his ass from a hole in the wall

CON$ always reveal themselves in what they condemn in others.

See the first quote in my sig.

Yes, and in context that quote makes perfect sense, your point?

What you have proven is that you don't care about America, only about attacking those you disagree with, which I doubt you really disagree with them but thrive on having an enemy who is less popular ... kinda like what bullies do. So ... I recommend you take a looooooong look in the mirror before you are completely lost.

 

[Diuretic]

I think Alinsky might ahve said, "who cares?" The point was to give some power and influence to the powerless, not to tell the powerful how to govern.

 

[Si modo]

I think Alinsky might ahve said, "who cares?" The point was to give some power and influence to the powerless, not to tell the powerful how to govern.

Yet to remain in power to govern, popular support is needed. Thus, the rules are useful tools. If the proletariat (relative to those in power) practice them, any attempt by the powereful to end the inanity would not be in the best interest of the powerful. It was no surprise to me that it took a week for BHO to renounce the faux-racism shenanigans of last week.

 

[edthecynic]

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

Obama needs to hire a Czar in charge of telling his ass from a hole in the wall

CON$ always reveal themselves in what they condemn in others.

See the first quote in my sig.

Yes, and in context that quote makes perfect sense, your point?

What you have proven is that you don't care about America, only about attacking those you disagree with, which I doubt you really disagree with them but thrive on having an enemy who is less popular ... kinda like what bullies do. So ... I recommend you take a looooooong look in the mirror before you are completely lost.

See the first quote in my sig.

 

[Si modo]

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

CON$ always reveal themselves in what they condemn in others.

See the first quote in my sig.

Yes, and in context that quote makes perfect sense, your point?

What you have proven is that you don't care about America, only about attacking those you disagree with, which I doubt you really disagree with them but thrive on having an enemy who is less popular ... kinda like what bullies do. So ... I recommend you take a looooooong look in the mirror before you are completely lost.

See the first quote in my sig.

How old are you?

 

[KittenKoder]

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

CON$ always reveal themselves in what they condemn in others.

See the first quote in my sig.

Yes, and in context that quote makes perfect sense, your point?

What you have proven is that you don't care about America, only about attacking those you disagree with, which I doubt you really disagree with them but thrive on having an enemy who is less popular ... kinda like what bullies do. So ... I recommend you take a looooooong look in the mirror before you are completely lost.

See the first quote in my sig.

Reread my reply to your first response with this.

 

[Si modo]

Yes, and in context that quote makes perfect sense, your point?

What you have proven is that you don't care about America, only about attacking those you disagree with, which I doubt you really disagree with them but thrive on having an enemy who is less popular ... kinda like what bullies do. So ... I recommend you take a looooooong look in the mirror before you are completely lost.

See the first quote in my sig.

Reread my reply to your first response with this.

Funny thing is, he's a quintessential example of the unwitting yet willing tools manipulated by a second tier of powerbrokers. Pathetically, he doesn't even realize it, likely.

 

[edthecynic]

Yes, and in context that quote makes perfect sense, your point?

What you have proven is that you don't care about America, only about attacking those you disagree with, which I doubt you really disagree with them but thrive on having an enemy who is less popular ... kinda like what bullies do. So ... I recommend you take a looooooong look in the mirror before you are completely lost.

See the first quote in my sig.

How old are you?

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.