Rules for Conservatives
By Dave Ross
Early on in the classic biographical film Patton, the title character, played by George C. Scott, watches through binoculars as his forces rout the Afrika Korps, commanded by "the Desert Fox," Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. As the Germans retreat, Patton exults, "Rommel, you magnificent bastard! I read your book!"
It is obvious from the intensity of the reaction by ordinary constituents to the health care plan Congress is debating (and Democrats are pushing), that the "right" has been reading the book on which the left has based its tactics for decades. They are skillfully using the tactics recommended by the book, and the left is crying "foul!"
The book is called Rules For Radicals, by Saul D. Alinsky; it is for "community organizers" what Niccolò Machiavelli's the Prince was for power-seekers.
Alinsky and Machiavelli have a lot in common. Here are a few of Alinsky's precepts: "In war the end justifies almost any means;" "Concern with ethics increases with the number of means available and vice versa;" and "You do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments."
Now that I think of it, Alinsky made Machievelli look like an innocent, cherub-faced boy by comparison.
But! The most telling comment Alinksy made that relates to our current situation -- in which Speaker Pelosi calls ordinary citizens who flood town hall meetings, hoisting AARP representatives by their own petards and rocking the likes of Steny Hoyer back on their haunches, "Un-American" and "mobs" -- is this: "Any effective means is automatically judged by the opposition as being unethical."
No one is supposed to use their tactics, you see. They are patented. Only the Left is allowed to characterize those who disagree with them as Nazis, as it did consistently during the eight years of the Bush White House, and before that during Bush I and Reagan and Nixon and… Only the Left is allowed to attend meetings and shout down speakers without allowing them to speak; that's called freedom of speech when practiced by them -- but Brownshirt tactics if practiced by others.
Speaking of Brownshirts, they were the uniformed thugs of the 1920s and 1930s in Germany who used to beat up people they disdained... which is just what happened to Kenneth Gladney, a black man handing out "Don't tread on me" flags at a Missouri town meeting last week. Gladney was beaten by public-union thugs. Is he a "mob" member, or is the real mob the SEIU enforcers who put him in a wheel chair?
The White House put out three, count them, three appeals last week for supporters to start attending with enough numbers to overawe the opposition at "town hall" meetings held all over America during the August congressional recess. This from the master "community organizer" himself.
As I wrote this post I got an email from a left-wing community organizer responding to Obama's call: "Republicans, insurance industry, and Tea Party agitators are disrupting proceedings in Democratic Town Hall meetings across the nation. The police even had to be called to one meeting over the weekend. GOP stooges are stooping to new lows in an effort to drown out debate on universal health care coverage."
No, it's not an attempt to drown out the debate. It's a successful effort to put as many, if not more, boots on the ground (as our military friends say) as the lefties. The conservatives have learned how to use the internet, email and Twitter to organize, as Obama's supporters did last year.
By the way, please don't assume that I approve of tactics such as shouting down people at meetings; I think it's reprehensible. I applaud opponents who can debate in a collegial atmosphere. However, I see the frustration of ordinary citizens whose congressmen treat them with condescension and disdain.
Discouraging tactics such as shouting down people you disagree with is like using poison gas in wartime. It only works if both sides refuse to use it. As long as the Left feels that it's fair for it to disrupt meetings and shout down speakers, conservatives are going to do the same.
The one thing I won't do is shed tears about the breakdown of civil debate: That died years ago. The truth is that the Right is finally learning how to play hardball. biglizards.net |
