[ntnychik]

I'll fight Hillary until I die, BECAUSE she is guided by the Rules for Radicals. BTW, I've never been in Arkansas and have no plans to go ;} If you have ideas how the Rules can be adapted to our purposes without our becoming like the people we oppose, please let me know.

[Maria S]

The following is not my work nor my words; from something about Alinsky that I found a long time ago. As you can see, some of the rules CAN be adapted to fit any group; others (ridicule) may fall beyond the boundaries of your moral sensibilities. If you read through these rules, you'll see how closely the Clinton War Machine followed them; too bad Republicans can never get organized enough to try out a few. Maybe we're just too busy earning a living!?!

"Here are eight of Alinsky's 13 Rules for Radicals. They take advantage of the patterns of weakness, arrogance, repeated mistakes, and miscalculations large organizations and their leadership make:

"Power is not only what you have, but what the target thinks you have.

"Never go outside the expertise of your people. Feeling secure stiffens the backbone.

"Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the target. Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety, and uncertainty.

"Make the target live up to its own book of rules. If the rule is that every letter or E-mail gets a reply, send thousands.

"Ridicule, especially against organizational leaders, is a potent weapon. There's no defense. It's irrational. It's infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force concessions.

"A good tactic is one your people enjoy. They'll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They'll even suggest better ones.

"Keep the pressure on. Never let up. Keep trying new tactics to keep the opposition off balance. As the target masters one approach, hit them with something new.

"Pick the target. Target an individual, personalize the attack, polarize and demoralize his/her supporters. Go after people, not institutions. Hurting, harassing, and humiliating individuals, especially leaders, causes more rapid organizational change.

"This sampling of Alinsky's rules illustrates why opposition groups enjoy opposing and why corporations and institutions fail to win. Simply put, large organizations are never as committed to victory as their opposition is committed to defeating them. There are few surprises here, just unprepared organizations."