what exactly is the deal with Saul Alinskey

[demtenjeep]

why does bloaty think it is such a bad thing

[elleng]

1. Sounds New York/Jewish/Socialist/Communist/Radical???

[baldguy]

5. Bingo!

They don't know who he was, but he sounds Jewish.

He also died when Obama was 11 yrs old.

[frazzled]

7. Chicago Jewish (and not a socialist)

Just to point out that all Jews are not from New York. He was University of Chicago trained (as an archaeologist), and claimed never to have had an ideology: he distrusted them:

"I've never joined any organization—not even the ones I've organized myself. I prize my own independence too much. And philosophically, I could never accept any rigid dogma or ideology, whether it's Christianity or Marxism. One of the most important things in life is what Judge Learned Hand described as 'that ever-gnawing inner doubt as to whether you're right.' If you don't have that, if you think you've got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated. The greatest crimes in history have been perpetrated by such religious and political and racial fanatics, from the persecutions of the Inquisition on down to Communist purges and Nazi genocide."

[elleng]

8. My resonse to the OP was that 'Alinsky' SOUNDS like . . . ., to many haters.

[frazzled]

18. I know; just putting in a plug for Chicago

and the University of Chicago, especially because so many here associate it with only with conservative, Friedmanesque values when in reality it has produced as many significant figures of the left, from Alinksy to Seymour Hersh and Susan Sontag (who, come to think of it, are/were all Jews).

[elleng]

20. AND I lived in Chicago 10+ years, in Univ Chicago + Obama neighborhood,

Hyde Park!

Chicago's a great city, as I learned after moving there after college; I haven't lived in New York since graduating from college!


And, as to U. Chicago 'left,' my first job was in U. Chicago Law School sponsored Civil Legal Aid Service at Cook County Jail, and 'we' (I was 'legal secretary!') took a couple of cases to Supreme Court in behalf of prisoners!

[renegade000]

11. "doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated"

sounds pretty much like the modern republican party...

[JI7]

15. it's the right wing stereotype of the NY Commie Jew , regardless of where they are from , but they

view Chicago as the same evil as NY, SAn Fran , Massachusettes etc.

[ellisonz]

13. +1

Sounds Jewwy.

[grasswire]

2. scary code word

Obama apparently wrote something about Alinsky. So did Hillary -- her college thesis. And the Pugs tried the same crap with her, tagging her to radical Alinsky.

[Lint Head]

3. Because he was a community organizer and wrote a book on how to organize.

Newt thinks he has our Bible. Ha! Ha! Ha!

[JaneQPublic]

12. His book "Rules for Radicals" was a text for a "Social Work Methods" course I took...

...in the 70s at a midwestern state college (not exactly a hotbed of radical philosophy).

It's basically a book on practical tips and tactics for dealing with local leaders to get services, opportunities, rights, etc. for the population groups that an organizer or social worker would be supporting.

The real question is exactly why Newt links Alinsky to Obama, other than the fact that Obama probably read the book and they both lived in Chicago. It's not as though Obama was "palling around" with him, to use Palin's term.

[Myrina]

16. The name "Saul Alinsky" is a wingnut dog-whistle

.... the same as saying "Leftie commie 60's hippie America-hating radical" but not in so many words.
Even though Alinsky wasn't quite any of those things.

[Lint Head]

17. Newt is playing to the ignorant wing nuts. All you have to do is say a name that sounds like it ends

with ski they think it's a communist name. Repugs think any community organizing is communist because community sounds like the word communist. Idiots all.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Cause Cadgrich Is An Anti-Semetic Demogogue...

He didn't use the name regularly until he started campaigning in the south. It goes right to the racists and bigots that Gneut knows is his bread and butter. As a member of the Jewish faith I find it highly offensive as I know the slippery slope Gnewt's role models in Nazi Germany followed...

[Lint Head]

6. The GOP will paint him as a communist but he was not.

This is from wiki:

When asked during an interview whether he ever considered becoming a Communist party member, he replied:

"Not at any time. I've never joined any organization—not even the ones I've organized myself. I prize my own independence too much. And philosophically, I could never accept any rigid dogma or ideology, whether it's Christianity or Marxism. One of the most important things in life is what Judge Learned Hand described as 'that ever-gnawing inner doubt as to whether you're right.' If you don't have that, if you think you've got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated. The greatest crimes in history have been perpetrated by such religious and political and racial fanatics, from the persecutions of the Inquisition on down to Communist purges and Nazi genocide."

[Gold Metal Flake]

9. Emmanuel Goldstein

[elleng]

14. is a character in George Orwell's classic

dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is the number one enemy of the people according to Big Brother and the Party, who heads a mysterious and possibly fictitious anti-party organization called The Brotherhood. Despite being a key part of the story, he is only actually seen and heard on telescreen, and may in fact be nothing more than a useful propaganda fabrication of the Ministry of Truth.

However, Goldstein's persona as an enemy of the state serves to distract, unite and focus the anger of the people of Oceania. Ostensibly, Goldstein serves an important role as both a convenient scapegoat for the totalitarian regime in 1984, and justifying reason for more military buildup, surveillance and elimination of civil liberties.

[ThoughtCriminal]

10. Alinskey was considered radical

When allowing non-whites to vote was a "Radical" idea.

[DLine]

19. To the typical ignorant right winger...

A name like "Saul Alinskey" just sounds "not like us".