A great deal has been written about Saul Alinsky‘s book “Rules for Radicals.” Much of it tends to ignore the rules and focus on other things, like whether Alinsky was a communist. I think that knowing and understanding the rules is very helpful to those of us who participate in the fight for freedom.

I came by my knowledge of Brother Saul and the “Rules” over a lifetime of work fighting labor unions, particularly public sector labor unions. Alinsky’s teachings have a tremendous impact on the tactics of public sector unions, like the National Education Association. Over the years I have spoken about Alinsky and the “Rules” in many contexts from conventions of public officials to training sessions of professional educator group leaders. A couple small samples of my writing can be found in “A Few Things All Educators Should Know About the National Education Association, But the NEA Won’t Tell Them” or “Labor Unrest and Public Policy — Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals”

Interest in Alinsky and the “Rules” seems to come up about once every decade. In the most modern application it is the emergence of the Tea Party as a force to be contended with. There is no doubt that the Tea Party and its leaders have been “Alinsky’d” by radical liberals with the sympathetic assistance of the mainstream media.

In the last year I have made presentations to quite a few Tea Party meetings about Alinsky and the “Rules.” I suspect that because I have dealt with them for so long I am somewhat amazed at the reaction to these presentations. Many people have said to me afterwards  that once they knew the rules, in fact once they knew that there were rules, so much of what was going on made sense. Some of it is quite simple, like “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon” other rules, like “If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside” require some explanation.

Alinsky wrote the “Rules” just before he passed away in 1972. If one should doubt their modern relevance you need only consider that Hillary Clinton’s senior thesis at Wellesley was titled “There is only the fight: An analysis of the Alinsky model” and that Barack Obama received his training as a community organizer in Chicago at the Industrial Areas Foundation, which was founded by Alinsky and is still based on his teachings.

Since I believe that this knowledge is of value and I really enjoy making the presentations I welcome inquiries about possible opportunities. If you are interested, you may contact me at <ddenholm2@earthlink.net>

I am amused today by news reports about the mandate provision of Obamacare. I think most of us understand the word mandate to mean requirement or directive. If there is an insurance “mandate” in Obamacare, then surely, we must purchase insurance under the new law. In a recent town hall type meeting, Democrat Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz protested that the Government will not require Americans to buy health insurance . In addition the IRS Commissioner, Doug Shulman said similarly that they would simply review your tax return to see it the box is checked indicating coverage . “Requirement? No, we’re not going to cuff you and throw you in jail.” Maybe they will discuss it with you over a beer. You know, just sort of convince you how important it is that you see it their way.

Well, I’ve dealt with IRS in the past, and I don’t recall the experience being warm and fuzzy, and I definitely didn’t get the impression that my compliance was optional. Many years ago, I had a small business, an experience that should be required of all politicians as a prerequisite for holding office, but I digress. One Tuesday morning, an IRS agent walked into my store and approached the counter. She showed me her badge, told me IRS had determined that I owed $8000 in back taxes, and said that I had to come up with the money by Thursday. She then proceeded to question me about the value of the equipment and fixtures in my store.

She further made it clear, that if the money was not forthcoming, she was prepared to seize and sell what we had to recover the amount owed. Needless to say, she got my attention big time. To my marginal business, $8000 may as well have been 8 million.

What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, and this was definitely a strength building experience. A carefully crafted letter bought us some time, and our generous banker gave us a second mortgage on our home so we could pay what IRS was demanding. At no time did I get the feeling that they were going to negotiate.

I guess that is why Democrats in Congress will do almost anything to avoid admitting that IRS will be the enforcement agency for Obamacare mandates. If you haven’t seen Bill O’Reilly’s interview of New York Congressman Anthony Weiner on this subject, it is well worth your time. A political pundit noted that Government controlled health care would combine the efficiency of the Post Office with the compassion of IRS. I’ve got to tell you, based on my experience, I would hate to have to negotiate my health care coverage with that agent who walked into my store, and you better hope that it never comes to that.

Originally posted at ConservativeCompass.com

Last night, one of the major networks reported that the financil reform currently being proposed does not include bailouts.  The report went on to say that companies in difficulty would go out of business by a “resolution” process.  Apparently the lenders/creditors would be “protected”.

This would be another distortion of the credit market.

Just as I was emailing squawk@cnbc.com this morning, Rep. Paul Ryan (Wisc) appeared on Squawkbox and delivered rational comments on financial reform and why the “resolution” provision was yet another bit of liberal foolishness.  I’m off to see if I can find a transcript.  Suggest you do the same.

Kent

Disgraced Democrat former senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards, before he disgraced himself, was fond of saying that there were two Americas. There are also two worlds, or at least two. There are actually many worlds, most of them invented by liberals who are long on fantasies and feelings but short on facts. But let’s just consider two of all the possible worlds. One world is the Real World, where facts support claims and the world is subject to the laws of physics, biology, geology, etc. The other world is Carol’s World.

Carol’s World exists in the mind of Carol Forster, a retired mental health counselor who helps to run a small-town newspaper. Carol’s World is subject to the laws of junk science and green idealism. In Carol’s World, it is perfectly acceptable, if not mandatory, to attack dynamic, conservative young leaders such as Governors Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin, even if Carol can’t quite get her facts straight to use as weapons against them. In Carol’s World, Carol can write all the nonsense her little heart desires, and she can have it published on websites like DigitalJournal.com without worrying about such pesky matters as accuracy.

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Disgraced Democrat former senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards, before he disgraced himself, was fond of saying that there were two Americas. There are also two worlds, or at least two. There are actually many worlds, most of them invented by liberals who are long on fantasies and feelings but short on facts. But let’s just consider two of all the possible worlds. One world is the Real World, where facts support claims and the world is subject to the laws of physics, biology, geology, etc. The other world is Carol’s World.

Carol’s World exists in the mind of Carol Forster, a retired mental health counselor who helps to run a small-town newspaper. Carol’s World is subject to the laws of junk science and green idealism. In Carol’s World, it is perfectly acceptable, if not mandatory, to attack dynamic, conservative young leaders such as Governors Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin, even if Carol can’t quite get her facts straight to use as weapons against them. In Carol’s World, Carol can write all the nonsense her little heart desires, and she can have it published on websites like DigitalJournal.com without worrying about such pesky matters as accuracy.

Read More →