Rules for Republicans
✿✿✿RoseD1st✿✿✿
2010/09/18 14:21:18
Rules for Republicans
By Paul Jacobson
The
midterm election of November 2010 almost certainly promises substantial
victories for the Republican Party as more and more Americans wise up
to the lies and deceptions, the political bullying and disregard for
the voting public being perpetrated by the radical left Democrats now
in power. The question is not whether Republicans will make major
gains, but how large they will they be. Will only the House be snatched
from Democrat despotism, or will the Senate fall to a Republican
majority as well?
Less certain -- maybe much
less certain -- is whether Republicans will be up to the task once the
reins of legislative power are returned to them. It's easy to harbor a
nagging, queasy fear that they could very well blow it. One need only
remember the slow but inexorable deterioration of congressional
Republicans' courage and devotion to constitutional principles and
limited government following the 1994 election, the squishy naïveté of
"compassionate conservatism" and the "new tone in Washington," the
patrician aura of niceness and collegiality über alles worn on the gold-linked cuff by elitist, ruling-class Republicans when confronted with browbeating from radical left Democrats.
By Paul Jacobson
The
midterm election of November 2010 almost certainly promises substantial
victories for the Republican Party as more and more Americans wise up
to the lies and deceptions, the political bullying and disregard for
the voting public being perpetrated by the radical left Democrats now
in power. The question is not whether Republicans will make major
gains, but how large they will they be. Will only the House be snatched
from Democrat despotism, or will the Senate fall to a Republican
majority as well?
Less certain -- maybe much
less certain -- is whether Republicans will be up to the task once the
reins of legislative power are returned to them. It's easy to harbor a
nagging, queasy fear that they could very well blow it. One need only
remember the slow but inexorable deterioration of congressional
Republicans' courage and devotion to constitutional principles and
limited government following the 1994 election, the squishy naïveté of
"compassionate conservatism" and the "new tone in Washington," the
patrician aura of niceness and collegiality über alles worn on the gold-linked cuff by elitist, ruling-class Republicans when confronted with browbeating from radical left Democrats.
It
might be helpful to take a cue from the most notorious radical of all,
Saul Alinsky -- in particular from his best-known book, Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals,
published in 1971, a year before his death in 1972. This book has had a
profound influence on legions of leftist organizations and individuals,
including the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), Hillary Clinton...and, yes, President Barack Obama.
might be helpful to take a cue from the most notorious radical of all,
Saul Alinsky -- in particular from his best-known book, Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals,
published in 1971, a year before his death in 1972. This book has had a
profound influence on legions of leftist organizations and individuals,
including the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), Hillary Clinton...and, yes, President Barack Obama.
The core of Rules for Radicals
is the now-famous list of thirteen numbered rules found in Chapter 7,
entitled "Tactics." These rules contain advice ranging from "maintain[ing] a constant pressure upon the opposition" (Rule #10) to employing outright deceit by "go[ing] outside the experience of the enemy"
in order to "cause confusion, fear and retreat" (Rule #3). Does this
smell like present-day Democrat tactics or what? When Democrat
politicians careen from "deemed" passage of health care legislation to
castigating Tea Party activists as racists to defaming Sarah Palin's
family to trying to ram through cap and tax tyranny right now or the
Earth will be threatened with imminent destruction, what are they doing
if not applying Rule #10? When Obama says he and his administration are
"fierce advocates" for the free market or when he tells Americans they can "keep your present [health insurance] plan" -- but of course we know he's "being disingenuous," don't we? -- what is he doing if not applying Rule #3?
is the now-famous list of thirteen numbered rules found in Chapter 7,
entitled "Tactics." These rules contain advice ranging from "maintain[ing] a constant pressure upon the opposition" (Rule #10) to employing outright deceit by "go[ing] outside the experience of the enemy"
in order to "cause confusion, fear and retreat" (Rule #3). Does this
smell like present-day Democrat tactics or what? When Democrat
politicians careen from "deemed" passage of health care legislation to
castigating Tea Party activists as racists to defaming Sarah Palin's
family to trying to ram through cap and tax tyranny right now or the
Earth will be threatened with imminent destruction, what are they doing
if not applying Rule #10? When Obama says he and his administration are
"fierce advocates" for the free market or when he tells Americans they can "keep your present [health insurance] plan" -- but of course we know he's "being disingenuous," don't we? -- what is he doing if not applying Rule #3?
Like Alinsky's rules, these Rules for Republicans
have a twofold goal: to describe in unequivocal terms a state of
affairs -- in the present case, a political regime that needs to be
defeated decisively -- and to provide practical action guidelines to
bring about that defeat and make it stick.
have a twofold goal: to describe in unequivocal terms a state of
affairs -- in the present case, a political regime that needs to be
defeated decisively -- and to provide practical action guidelines to
bring about that defeat and make it stick.
Our nation and the current Republican party need a good strong dose of republican
-- lowercase "r," as that word was taken to mean by the founders of our
nation and the most thoughtful and truthful political commentators on
our history -- if the present tide of tyranny is to be turned back.
Republican voters and officeholders, and anyone else who earnestly
believes that America is an exceptional nation, must think and act like
small-r republicans.
-- lowercase "r," as that word was taken to mean by the founders of our
nation and the most thoughtful and truthful political commentators on
our history -- if the present tide of tyranny is to be turned back.
Republican voters and officeholders, and anyone else who earnestly
believes that America is an exceptional nation, must think and act like
small-r republicans.
Rules for Republicans
- 1. The era of liberalism is over.
Today
there are no liberals in power; there are only radical leftists. They
are the enemy, not the opposition. Their ideology is not simply wrong;
it is evil. - 2. It is impossible to be too cynical about the intentions, motives, and truthfulness of radical leftists.
They will always exceed our most horrifying expectations. - 3. Radical leftists are continually seeking to destroy America's historic foundations, particularly our Constitution.
Their
goal is to rebuild upon the rubble according to their own evil vision
and to gratify their insatiable lust for tyrannical power. - 4. Radical leftists are continually seeking to infiltrate and undermine American institutions.
They
are especially attracted to institutions where there are unearned
wealth, sinecures, and ambiguous standards of accomplishment. - 5. Our
people must always be seeking to restore America's tested, historic,
foundational principles and to guard and protect our Constitution and
our cherished institutions. - 6. Civility must never trump truthfulness.
Civility is a highly commendable virtue; truthfulness is vastly more commendable. - 7. Ideology must never trump truthfulness.
We
Republicans need to constantly examine our own ideological principles
to make sure they are, first and foremost, true. Then we must proclaim
them boldly and straightforwardly. - 8. Never try to out-compassion a bleeding-heart radical leftist.
Conservatism
is the most compassionate -- and most truthful -- political philosophy
there is. Radical leftism, by contrast, is based on false promises
intended not to better the lives of anyone, but to recruit gullible,
ignorant people as "useful idiots." - 9. Challenge radical leftists to live up to their own publicly proclaimed ethical principles.
They never do. They just fake it. (Cf. Alinsky Rule #4: "Make the enemy live up to their [sic] own book of rules.") - 10. Refuse to use the favorite language of the radical left.
Their
language is always intended to spread lies and propaganda and to create
confusion, fear, and retreat, not to convey truthful information. - 11. The language our people use should boldly convey real information accurately, precisely, and above all, truthfully.
- 12. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.
This
is Alinsky Rule #5, word for word, but we Republicans have a special
advantage in applying it to radical leftists because ridicule or
satire, to be really effective, must be rooted in truth. That's why
leftist ridicule flops; it's usually based on lies. - 13. Attempting to reason with intractable, hardcore radical leftists will always end in futility.
Such
people are incorrigibly anti-rational, so it is impossible to establish
an authentic interlocutory interface with them. The only realistic way
to engage them is to crush them politically, using any and all truthful
and lawful tactics.
There is another sense in which these Rules for Republicans are not a counterpart at all, but are diametrically opposed to Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, specifically in a moral sense. There is no place in Rules for Republicans for perpetrating Alinsky-like deceit or bullying to implement an agenda.
However, there is also no place in these Rules for Republicans
for self-deception, and certainly no place for cowardice or
faintheartedness. There is only a simple call for two universally
accepted virtues: truthfulness and courage. At stake, right now in this
very present time, is nothing less than the fate of our historic
representative republic.
for self-deception, and certainly no place for cowardice or
faintheartedness. There is only a simple call for two universally
accepted virtues: truthfulness and courage. At stake, right now in this
very present time, is nothing less than the fate of our historic
representative republic.
Paul Jacobson is a freelance writer living in Cleveland, Missouri. He can be contacted at pjpublications@fairpoint.net.
Read More: http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/rules_for_r...
Top Opinion
-
Dark Knight 2010/09/18 14:39:35
+3When you combine the 'genes' of sloth and avarice, you not only create a Liberal, you create a person who is driven to admire liars (i. e. Democrats).
Stu