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Is there ANY reason the Republicans can’t utilize Alinsky’s tactics against the scumbags?

Republicans could, if they had newspapers that would print the exchange, or TV news that would report it.

I will say that if you ever want to throw a left winger completely off of his game, you only have to do two things:

1) Laugh at him. No matter what he says, act like its the dumbest thing you've ever heard, even if it's something like "9/11 was an inside job". Instead of getting mad, laugh at him.

2) Tell him he is very uneducated and that he should read a book now and then, or a newspaper. #2 works very well with #1. Chuck a fact or two out there and laugh at him for not knowing it.

The reason that this works so well is because left-wingers always imagine themselves to be the smartest people around. That is part of the allure of the Left - you can be called smart without having to know a damn thing and be called moral without having to engage in a single moral act. It is a cult that makes worthless people believe they are special. Many if not most of them are very insecure, and when you place their intellect in doubt and treat them as being silly, they crack. You simply keep it up long enough and their own self doubts eat away at them. It works on the internet, too.

Is there ANY reason the Republicans can’t utilize Alinsky’s tactics against the scumbags? Republicans could, if they had newspapers that would print the exchange, or TV news that would report it.

That brings up the other advantage the left has with using ridicule.

The verbal barbs fit nicely into a 15-second sound bite geared toward what seems to be the average person's attention span.

Responding with reason takes more time.

“The reason that this works so well is because left-wingers always imagine themselves to be the smartest people around. “

You are absolutely correct. I disagree to some extent with this article in that you can't let lies stand unchallenged. A lie unchallenged is sometimes taken as truth. We have seen this time and time again when the left has hurled false accusations against Republicans.

I do agree with the author that an angry emotional response, or engaging in debate is not the answer. I believe the best response to these tactics is something along the lines of Reagan's famous “There you go again..”.

Ultimately, what you said is absolutely the key. The ability to appear kind and respectful while at the same time questioning the left’s knowledge and intellect is probably the most effective way to deal with them. They have successfully characterized themselves as the ‘smart party’ and the ‘progressive’ party. We let them do that, and it's time to turn the tables. Why is it ‘smart’ and ‘progressive’ to cling to failed old social policies like socialism?

One last comment is that I think it also helps to point out publicly the tactics the other side is using. This puts everything they say under a microscope. I would favor actually political advertising that educates the public on exactly what Alinsky’s tactics are, and that gives examples of the left using them. Once you know someones best ‘move to the basket’ it is much easier to recognize and stop.