Mark Levin discusses Alinksy's Rules for Radicals

The Mark Levin Audio Rewind ^ | February 23, 2015 | Mark Levin

[Art in Idaho]

Interesting discussion by Mark of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. Starts at 26 minutes, 5 seconds.

The List: (from The Best of Beck)

Saul Alinsky’s 12 Rules for Radicals

Here is the complete list from Alinsky.

* RULE 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)

* RULE 2: “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don’t address the “real” issues. This is why. They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)

* RULE 3: “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)

* RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

* RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

* RULE 6: “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones. (Radical activists, in this sense, are no different that any other human being. We all avoid “un-fun” activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work and bring results.)

* RULE 7: “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news. (Even radical activists get bored. So to keep them excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new tactics.)

* RULE 8: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)

* RULE 9: “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario, something that may be furthest from the activists’ minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend enormous time and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind and result in demoralization.)

* RULE 10: “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog. (Unions used this tactic. Peaceful [albeit loud] demonstrations during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred management’s wrath, often in the form of violence that eventually brought public sympathy to their side.)

* RULE 11: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem. (Old saw: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Activist organizations have an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table, to be given a forum to wield their power. So, they have to have a compromise solution.)

* RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)

[Art in Idaho]

This is Obama's BIBLE. He uses it every day in one way or another.

Quick and dirty list:

RULE 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.”

RULE 2: “Never go outside the expertise of your people.”

RULE 3: “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.”

RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”

RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”

RULE 6: “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.”

RULE 7: “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.”

RULE 8: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.”

RULE 9: “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.”

RULE 10: “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.”

RULE 11: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.”

RULE 12: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”

Of these, Rules 4, 5, 8, and 12 have been used to greatest effect by the Left. In their war against the Constitution and traditional America, they have assailed, in turn, most of the great foundations of our society.

Much has been made in recent political history of Saul Alinsky and his Rules for Radicals. Barack Obama taught a class on using Alinsky principles to keep the nation in chaos. After all, it’s easier to get radical policies enacted during a crisis.

[TigersEye]

RULE 11: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.”

The Progressives almost always fail at RULE 11.

[yawningotter]

It is almost impossible to use #4 against the left because their own book of rules is so ever-changing that you can never pin them down.

[Zeneta]

Bookmarked

[Ray76]

They’re trying to use #12 on Giuliani.

[Zeneta]

* RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

---

This may be the best and only weapon WE have to counter them.

[Forgotten Amendments]

He was in great form for the first couple of hours tonight.

Which means he’ll spend the rest of the week shrieking about “Islamonazis”, illegal immigrants, and Obama. Over & over. A cheap imitation of Savage. I think he’s on a tight leash.

I was sorry to hear of his new contract. If he’d do a local show or a cable show, he could be great all the time.

[rlmorel]

Up until a couple of years ago, I had been trying to figure out a way to obtain a copy of “Rules for Radicals” because it is the bible followed by Obama and his associates. I had been trying to get it without paying for it, and the copies at the library were backordered for months. To my surprise, one finally came in after about a six month delay.

When I was about a third of the way through “Rules for Radicals”, I concluded that reading it tells volumes about the people who profess to following it as a bible, especially the ones pushing the legislation we have seen in the last two years.

The book explains a lot. And none of it is good.

I was going to dictate the entire thing and make an audiobook out of it to give to my close associates, who, like me, don’t want a single red cent to go to anyone associated with writing, printing or distributing that hideous work. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I couldn’t stomach hearing myself read it in a way that would make it easier on the ears to listen to (To put the inflection in the right places means you have to read it as if you believe it, and I gave up after one chapter.)

It is probably one of the most amoral, twisted works I have ever read. Given that Alinsky wrote a dedication to Lucifer, I shouldn’t be surprised. The dedication was taken out of later editions so as not to offend the clergy he was attempting to recruit, but the version I read had it. Apparently, it was a copy from the 1980's, and they figured it was safe to put it back in.

From what I can see, reading that book enables one to understand what makes Obama (and his devoted followers) tick.

The very FIRST paragraph exposes very clearly what they are all about:
"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."

It is unrestricted class warfare, pure and simple. And it is the bible of Obama and his like-minded followers.

As for the tribute to Lucifer: “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins — or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer, I had trouble believing it until I got a copy of the book that actually had the dedication, so I took a picture:

[tumblindice]

Agree completely.
Barry is a vain, preening, narcissistic personality; in other words, a vulnerable & risible character. [SEE: Rudy Giuliani stroking his fur backwards.]
Most of us have some trepidations with invective in general (snotty liberals) but as #5 states, the best way to deflate human hot-air balloons (like the Obamanites) is by simply sticking pins in them.
And FReepers can be very good at that, with continued patience from the Mods.

[beethovenfan]

Your rules don’t help you now, Alinsky, you’re dead. Other rules now come into play.

[LucyT]

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Mark Levin discusses Alinksy's Rules for Radicals

[Zeneta]

I’m not sure if the (comments in parenthesis are yours).

#5. Ridicule, has nothing to do with fear.

It’s all about pride and frustration and being seen as desperate to defend oneself.

If you are on the defensive you are not in control and are seen as weak and any attempts you make to counter the argument can easily be “ridiculed” again.

[StoneWall Brigade]

Mark Levin Ping

[CyberAnt]

BTTT

[Art in Idaho]

They’re trying to use #12 (RULE 12: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”) on Giuliani.

Oh, that they are, big time. So is the GOPe. Rudy should keep firing away, as we all should. Education is the key!

[Zeneta]

Can you imagine if someone like Walker, Cruz or even Jeb Bush said that “0bama is a tool that is under the control of Valerie Jarret?”

They would successfully dismiss this as crazy talk and would never address it.

More ridicule.

But if they suggested that the 0bama administration was more inclined to advance the power of the government over the rights of the individual, then we may being to gain the upper hand.

[azishot]

Several years ago I printed a copy and carry it in my wallet. It has started some very interesting conversations.

[Art in Idaho]

Ridicule - "This may be the best and only weapon WE have to counter them."

We have the truth. . but hard core leftists don't care about that. . "the end justifies the means" crowd.

[Art in Idaho]

Thanks for the feedback and the screen shot. Have to admit I've never read the actual book, partly for the reasons you mentioned. Chilling to see the pic re Lucifer. Yes, class warfare and communist manifesto 101 it sounds like.

"Rules for Radicals' is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away."

Man, Obama used to teach a course on Alinsky. Chilling again. His God (besides Marx) and his Bible. . hard to believe he's POTUS. . It almost a head scratcher and at times I think, "How the hell did this happen in America?" I know, I know. . .

[rlmorel]

That is precisely what hit me the hardest. A man who openly admitted to admiring a piece of human refuse in Alinsky, was elected President.

Still stunning.