I Had Never Heard of Saul Alinsky Before Newt Gingrich

[romantico]

I posted Bill Maher's BRILLIANT rant about who the $#@* is Saul Alinsky on another forum and got a freeper response. Here is what they posted after I posted Bill's Video

"Anyone who thinks they are going to learn ANYTHING from watching Bill Maher needs a brain transplant. For Maher to sit there on national TV and say that Saul Alinsky is some civil rights activist who fought for the rights of black people and is otherwise an "unknown" is simply ridiculous. Alinsky is best known (and still a HUGE influence today) because of a book he wrote called RULES FOR RADICALS (didn't hear Maher mention that at all, did you?). Some of the tactics he wrote about included:

*A "fart-in" wherein a large number of African Americans "won" a free dinner and a night out at the opera or ballet. The dinner would consist largely of baked beans and other gas-promoting foods so the white, rich establishment at the opera/ballet would have to sit in a theater amongst a large group of people who were passing gas.
*A "piss-in" wherein he encouraged African Americans to use the urinals and toilets in public places and not let others use them.

Alinsky is considered the king of community organizers and the idea that Obama has never heard of him or never read his book is asinine.
Maher also did not mention that Alinsky was a Communist/Marxist and that his book is still HUGELY popular today (currently number 59 in Books at Amazon with over 180 reviews). So the idea that the radical left don't know this guys is completely dishonest. But then, Maher counts on the ignorance of his audience, and it looks as if that ignorance is plenty strong!"

My jaw dropped. Never heard of these so called 'fart in's' or 'piss in's'. Besides just not responding, any suggestions on how to counter such hatred?

[murielm99]

2. Ask the fool for documentation.

I met Saul Alinsky when I as in college, during the sixties. The man prided himself on having no political affiliation. He was neither right nor left wing. He simply wanted to help people use the existing systems to get what they needed to survive.

[Ishoutandscream2]

3. Never had, either.

He was a community activist, but there are not (from what I've been reading) any connections to Alinsky being a Communist or Marxist. To the radical right, anyone who fights for change is un-American. Unless that person is a teabagger.

I am a month younger than Obama, and I had never heard of this man. Now, the president is much smarter than I am, but who's to say (as the mouth-breather stated) that Obama has read him. Gosh, according to my right wing friends, Obama is not very smart to begin with.

[former9thward]

21. Obama was a community organizer in Chicago.

I was in Chicago and involved in politics. Anyone involved in politics in Chicago was very familiar with Alinsky's work and writings. Obama was hired by an Alinsky group to do organizing and he even wrote a chapter in a book called After Alinsky: Community Organizing in Illinois.

[bayareamike]

4. Alinsky was not a member of CPUSA and said he didn't believe

in adhering to rigid ideologies.

[mzteris]

5. ask him if he knows this:

"Adam Brandon, a spokesman for the conservative non-profit organization FreedomWorks, which is one of several groups involved in organizing Tea Party protests, says the group gives Alinsky's Rules for Radicals to its top leadership members. A shortened guide called Rules for Patriots is distributed to its entire network. In a January 2012 story that appeared in The Wall Street Journal, citing the organization's tactic of sending activists to town-hall meetings, Brandon explained, "his tactics when it comes to grass-roots organizing are incredibly effective." Former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey also gives copies of Alinsky's book Rules for Radicals to Tea Party leaders. "


(Though I agree about Maher - I can't stand that guy. Not even close to "funny" in my book. Give me Stewart or Colbert any day!)

[Iggo]

17. Hey OP. ^^^This right here!!!^^^

[mzteris]

6. the f**t in part is possibly from here?

http://www.progress.org/2003/alinsky13.htm

Eastman Kodak
Empowering People, Not Elites
Saul Alinsky

Interview with Saul Alinsky, Part Twelve

[napoleon_in_rags]

7. I heard of Alinsky through Glenn Beck

His show on Fox was the place leftists could go to learn about their own "conspiracy". He must have said impolitic things, for the right to choose him as our "leader".

[Major Nikon]

10. No doubt that was where Gingrich heard of him also

In other words, Gingrich is channeling the idiocy of Glenn Beck. I suppose it's not that much worse than is own idiocy.

[mzteris]

8. link to a bio of him with references to these...

http://books.google.com/books?id=ow5nHDDfcPAC&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=%22alinsky%22+pissin&source=bl&ots=6H0e0OtsmJ&sig=uxmXcnVEZK_AFWXCzN7gJLfHMHg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xLslT7ycMIqjsQLl7p2MAg&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22alinsky%22%20pissin&f=false


they never happened, but he did "consider" them as an exercise in the absurd. Ways to garner attention - legally - and sensationally - to things that needs attending to.

[romantico]

9. Thanks!

This guy 'claims' he is not Republican nor "Democrat'. I love these people who make that claim then bash liberals and Obama non stop while saying they are not Republican or Democrat.Meanwhile, they never have a bad word to say about conservatives.

[creeksneakers2]

11. The right wing believes Saul Alinsky is the

architect of every action Obama or the left takes. The right believes that Obama follows Alinsky to the letter and that everybody on the left studies Alinsky.

The right has lots of quotes they claim come from Alinsky advocating shocking tactics. They believe there is a plot to create complete disorder and a breakdown of society to make way for a new communist order that enslaves humanity.

Everybody on the right has heard of Alinsky. If Alinsky's books are still selling, its probably righties buying them.

[emulatorloo]

12. The Republican Noise machine pushed the Alinsky meme in 2008 as well.

Not as much as the William Ayers and Reverand Wright meme, but it was there.

[romantico]

13. Facts

Facts are not something they like. Now he is making claims he can not back up and downplaying the Tea Party/Right Wing using his book.Thanks again for the posts!

[Trajan]

14. A common fallacy is to assert the characteristics of a specific case apply to all general cases ...

Fallacy of converse accident .... Some liberals read Alinsky, and so therefore ALL liberals are Alinksy-ites ...

Hasty generalizations are a method of casting a negative pall over an entire movement ... They work because humans aren't all that damned logical, and buy into such claims automatically ...

We counter such hatred by promoting Liberalism against such claims ... The nation's citizens have lived under the umbrella of legislation that began under FDR, and ALL have benefited under the New Deal/Great Society regime .. Even the TeaHadist numbskulls among us ... They falsely attribute their own middle class success to a set of philosophical planks that are NOT in effect, and would go down with the rest of the ship if those planks were made policy .... The job of promoting Liberalism has apparently been too great a task for the Democratic party, who have been chasing Reagan's 'moderates' ever since .... well, Reagan ...

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. Bottom line, his name sounds Jewish and sounds like "Trotsky".

That's all Newt needed to pick his name to repeat over and over. It's just meant to invoke thoughts of radicals, Communists.

Same as the "foodstamp president" thing is a dogwhistle to a racial stereotype, and other stuff he said earlier in primary season about Obama wanting to make America look more like Detroit than Texas, invoking the stereotype of Detroit as the classic representation of Inner City (read: black and poor) America.

[L. Coyote]

16. Why is he promoting his opponent?

[JI7]

18. where did you read he was a marxist/communist ?

[romantico]

19. I

I didn't he did. Still waiting for him to answer that. SO far have asked him 3 times. I also asked where in the Bill Maher video did Obama say he had never heard of Alinsky. No proof Obama ever made that claim or even pretended to have never heard of him. This guy is obsessed with Maher. Upset that he did not mention his book on radicals in his opening rant. I said A) Bill had 5 minutes to make his point and B) It had nothing to do with what he was saying. Here is what this other poster had to say: (his words,not mine)

"The main idea of that rant was "Saul ALinsky: Who the HELL has ever heard of him??"
Well, my post response was to do TWO things:
1. Fill in the blanks that Maher CONVENIENTLY left out (how could someone try to sum up Alinsky without mentioning Rules For Radicals??).
2. Prove that Alinsky is a LOT more well known than Maher wanted his audience to believe.
You have (nor anyone else in this thread) have done NOTHING to disprove my claims!"

I usually don't engage idiots like this but I just could not let this SOB LIE the way he was without calling him out on it. Others are seeing he is nuts so I am glad I drew attention to that I guess.

[DCBob]

20. Those buying the book are probably Republicans with all the fuss Gingrich is making.

Most Democrats could care less.