# Beware the useful idiots



## Doc

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## tiredretired

The manifesto of the progressive left.   How well those 8 points have been fundamentally transforming America these past 7 years.  1 year left for President Cheap Shot to finish what he has started.


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## pirate_girl

9) Climate change.

Charles Krauthammer;



> “Because this president lives in a world of his … idealistic and deluded, undergraduate imagination.”“He  lives in a world where people get together – reasonable, educated,  Harvard Law School educated people from all over the world, and agree on  futuristic designs that mean nothing, like the League of Nations, like  the U.N. But we have learned something since then.
> He’s learned nothing, and global warming – nothing will come of it.  It is not a treaty, it will never get through the Senate, it is not  going to be binding on anybody, and the Chinese, the breakthrough with  China is that we will reduce radically our emissions by 2025, and China  will begin to reduce its emissions in 2030. And he thought that was a  triumph.​


linkypoo


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## jimbo

I've seen that list, and read both Alinsky books.  The list may be appealing, but in no way has any relationship to Alinsky.

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.)


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## jimbo

Snopes and the 8 levels of control:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/alinsky.asp


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## pirate_girl

jimbo said:


> Snopes and the 8 levels of control:
> 
> http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/alinsky.asp



Aside from that, what did you think of my Krauthammer link?
Which probably had nothing to do with the OP, just thought I'd throw it in there.


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## Catavenger

jimbo said:


> Snopes and the 8 levels of control:
> 
> http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/alinsky.asp





You do realize that Snopes is just a website run by a Californian couple with no particular training or knowledge? http://www.snopes.com/info/aboutus.asp


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## jimbo

Catavenger said:


> You do realize that Snopes is just a website run by a Californian couple with no particular training or knowledge? http://www.snopes.com/info/aboutus.asp



Yes I do.


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## Kane

In any event, folks, and under any level of control, we have reached the tipping point of a society that is indeed under the influence of a far-left liberal ideology. Simply put, the majority of the American electorate is on the dole.

News Flash: unless conservatives regain control of American government in 2016, it may well take generations to undo the damage wrought by liberals loyal to our current radically liberal, Muslim-lovin' president, Barack Hussein Obama.  This despicably canny man has indeed fundamentally transformed America, all the while making our infecund Congress irrelevant.

Woe is us.  Woe is to our children.
.


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## Doc

jimbo said:


> Snopes and the 8 levels of control:
> 
> http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/alinsky.asp


I trusted it because it was a cut from a newspaper.      Honestly, like you said Jimbo, the points do not even sound like Alinsky.

They should print them up as Obama's master plan. They sure seem to fit his actions to a T.


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## jimbo

Doc said:


> I trusted it because it was a cut from a newspaper.      Honestly, like you said Jimbo, the points do not even sound like Alinsky.
> 
> They should print them up as Obama's master plan. They sure seem to fit his actions to a T.



The Alinsky rules are relevant today.  And they still work.  Conservatives should take a hard look.  Liberals have.

Good businessmen often understand and use the principles.  Just for giggles, compare the rules to the Trump platform.


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## 300 H and H

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ9Si5pkAqg"]William F Buckley Jr & Saul Alinsky - Mobilizing The Poor - YouTube[/ame]

I just happened to have this handy...  

Very interesting interview. I learned a few things while watching it.

Regards, Kirk


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