Standing up to Obama-Alinsky bullying
June 12, 2010
By Ben Barrack
wnd.com
When Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed S.B.1070, giving police in her state the authority to arrest people who could not prove they were in the country legally, her state became a target of Barack Obama before the ink was dry. It wasn't the first time Obama called on his mastery of Saul Alinsky to deal with a government that did something he vehemently opposed. On June 28, 2009, the government of Honduras forcibly removed its president, Manuel Zelaya, who was attempting to discard that country's constitution by ensuring a lifetime appointment as president through referendum. The ensuing interim government became an Obama target as well.
One of Alinsky's rules Obama learned well was to "pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it." It is a tactic of intimidation designed to break an opponent's will. The target's reaction is critical. If the target is not intimidated, the tactic fails. To this point, Brewer is not backing down; she has shown no signs of blinking despite Obama's public statement that he would direct Eric Holder's Justice Department to look into possible legal action against Arizona. Then came the protests and boycotts, designed to demonize one of America's 50 states as racist.
Alinsky would be proud – but the target, Brewer, still wasn't backing down. It was time to ratchet up the pressure by going outside the United States for allies. Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner, while meeting with Chinese officials to discuss human rights, admitted to bringing up the newly signed Arizona law as an example of such a violation in his own country. Arizona was soon being alienated and polarized by the Obama administration on an international stage.
Added to the list of nations willing to help Obama stay true to his Rules for Radicals was none other than Mexico. Its president, Felipe Calderon, stood on both the White House lawn and in front of a joint session of Congress to deride Arizona and lecture Americans on discrimination while immigration law in his country is far more discriminatory. He was Obama's mouthpiece for a cause the latter has seemingly decided to go to the mat over.
Trumping the absurdity of Mexico lecturing Arizona on discrimination and human rights is the latest gaggle of tyrants and egregious human-rights violators to formally attack the law for the same reason. Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega and the Castro brothers are all joining in the denunciation of S.B.1070. There is not enough sardonic criticism in the world to express how inherently preposterous that notion is; it is palpable hypocrisy.
If there is anyone on earth who can relate to Gov. Brewer on a very personal level, it's the one-time interim president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti. The similarities between the two are uncanny. In Arizona, the legislative process is under attack. In Honduras, it was that country's defense of its own constitution, which was followed to the letter despite Barack Obama's claims that a coup had taken place. In both cases, Obama seems to have willingly placed himself on the wrong side of the law.
In Honduras, the constitution clearly states that no president may be re-elected. Any attempt to do so is a strict violation of their constitution. Yet, that is exactly what that country's president – Manuel Zelaya – attempted to do by referendum. The Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Zelaya that its military executed, and as the head of Congress, Micheletti was installed as the interim president on June 28. Zelaya was a socialist who wanted to be dictator. He was also known to be a stooge of Hugo Chavez, who saw an opportunity to capitalize on a perpetual Zelaya presidency. The constitution had been defended. As mentioned earlier, Chavez is now also in public opposition to Arizona.
Extreme and overwhelming international pressure – led in large part by the Obama administration – would soon be brought against Honduras. The United Nations, the Organization of American States, the European Union and several other countries all called for the reinstatement of Zelaya, portraying what happened in Honduras as a lawless coup. As is the case with Arizona today, Barack Obama was aligned with Chavez, Castro and Ortega against Honduras then. Micheletti's government was the target that had to be polarized. At one point, the two most noteworthy nations standing by Honduras were Israel and Taiwan.
Micheletti did not cave, and Honduras was ultimately victorious in an incredibly lopsided international political conflict. It was the quintessential underdog story. Exhibiting stellar leadership and a dogged refusal to back down, Micheletti stayed in office just long enough to see his country elect a new president in November; he rejected countless attempts to allow Zelaya's reinstatement. He absolutely refused to be intimidated, and Obama was defeated in embarrassing fashion with that November election, regardless of what his administration says.
It was a level of pressure Micheletti couldn't possibly withstand, but withstand it he did. Jan Brewer would do well to study what happened there. In fact, it might be a public-relations coup for her to solicit Micheletti's public support. Unwittingly, Micheletti discovered the formula for defeating a key tactic of Obama's ideological hero. It's really as simple as standing up to bullies.
Now, one of America's 50 states is seen as a target to be intimidated, frozen and polarized by our country's president – even if he has to use foreign tyrants, heads of state and nations to do it. Roberto Micheletti of Honduras had much more at stake and much longer odds of success than does Arizona. Yet, by standing strong against those on the wrong side of his country's constitution, he was able to lead a defeat of Obama and the world. He has given us the model for success, and it includes a refusal to back down.
How many American states are going to be to Arizona what Israel and Taiwan were to Honduras? One would think the first in line would be Texas, a state that has a border with Mexico longer than any other. It is a state with a Republican governor in Rick Perry and a lieutenant governor in David Dewhurst as well as Republican majorities in its state legislature. Yet, while Perry talked tough before his primary with Kay Bailey Hutchison, he has now gone on record as saying he doesn't believe the Arizona law would be right for Texas. Ditto for Dewhurst.
A state that has expressed solidarity with Arizona is bordered only by other American states – Tennessee. State legislators there approved a resolution that supports Arizona with respect to S.B.1070.
The support received by Honduras from Taiwan and Israel may be compared to that of Tennessee's support of Arizona, but there is a distinct difference. Tennessee is part of the nation that is the United States, a nation with a state that is in political distress, increasingly finding itself on the receiving end of attacks from foreign nations sanctioned by our president. Where are those 48 other states? They should be loud in their public solidarity with one of their brethren states – Arizona.
On April 30, the Obama White House essentially admitted defeat in Honduras, but in typical Obama fashion, the president was not to be blamed. Instead, it was the erratic behavior of Manuel Zelaya responsible for the defeat. Somewhere in the world, Micheletti is smiling while Zelaya, like so many others, is under the Obama bus. |
