This downright mocking of Governor Palin is the latest reincarnation of the same kind of mocking that both the MSM and Hollywood have engaged in since Palin first burst on the scene in September of last year.
In fact, the treatment that Palin has undertaken is straight of the Saul Alinsky rules for radicals #13.
identify, isolate, freeze and escalate
Palin's first appearance in that gym in Ohio in September was a springboard to national prominence. Within hours, the derision and mocking also began. What's most interesting was the immediate mocking and derision from leaders of the feminist movement.
When I saw that John McCain had picked Sarah Palin as his running mate this morning, I was on the elliptical trainer, and my rage propelled me to the most furious workout I've had in a while.It's always exciting to see women enter the political fray at higher levels. But a lot of feminists out there, are appalled by the cynicism and condescension inherent in this choice. It's as though the McCain camp believes our irrational she-hormones will lead us, like sheep, to pull the lever for any candidate who looks like us--even if she has a strong record, as Palin does, of standing against women's interests.
He hopes to court Hillary Clinton supporters with a woman VP who said on camera that she didn't like Hillary's "whining" about gender issues, a woman with unpopular, far-right positions on reproductive justice issues and LGBT rights. She's a woman who rides high on being a super-mom, but has an environmental record that won't leave the world in good shape for the next generation, her kids' generation.
Almost immediately, self professed feminists showed the most protest of the choice of Palin as the Vice Presidential choice for the Republican party. This was rather peculiar because while Palin is of course a woman, she has never been necessarily known specifically for feminist issues. So, why were feminists in particular so bent out of shape?
Well, let's take a look at Alinsky rule #13. The first part of the rule is to identify the threat. The feminists identified Palin right away as a threat, a threat that is to their leadership in the movement. (in other words they could see Palin as a role model to women) The second rule is the isolate the threat. By mocking her and calling her out as someone that isn't a friend to the feminist movement, that's exactly what they were doing. The third rule is to freeze. What this means is to do everything you can to stop some one's momentum. Column after column portraying her not as a feminist but an enemy to the feminist cause was meant to do this. This is a bit off topic, but all those ethical complaints that have been filed against her within Alaska also do a great job of freezing Palin as she has to deal with each individual complaint. The last part of the rule is to escalate. This means that as intense as the criticism was in the beginning, that was only the beginning. We have seen this. The mocking, derision, and insults have only gotten worse. It's simple. Feminists saw Palin as a threat to their leadership and, consciously or not, they carried out Alinsky tactics to eliminate that threat to their power.
Beyond the leaders of the feminist movement, it was the MSM and their allies in Hollywood that carried out these very same tactics over and over. How many times have we heard mocking jokes about Palin seeing Russia from her house? How many jokes have been made about her daughter's pregnancy? Everything from her accent, her looks, and her intelligence have been mocked. What the MSM and Hollywood have done is fixate on each and every of her flaws, real and perceived, and pounded on them over and over in an attempt to marginalize Palin. They have identified the threat,Palin. They isolated that threat by mocking her. This froze her momentum, and since, they have only escalated the mocking and derision.
Make no mistake, I am not saying that politicians shouldn't be the target of jokes. I am also not saying that everytime a media or comedian makes a joke they are trying Alinsky tactics. This is different. The jokes and derision are intense, consistent, and they never end. This is all part of a larger strategy. It's meant to do exactly what Saul Alinsky meant for these tactics to do. Identify, freeze, isolate, and escalate are tried and true tactics for countering and marginalizing an opponent.
I have already given my advice for what I would do if I were Sarah Palin to respond to these attacks. On a personal level, I am sure that anyone that can win a state championship on a bum ankle can take the attacks from the likes of David Letterman. On a political level, Palin would need to turn these attacks on the attackers. They are coming entirely from folks that can be labeled as establishment, elites, and insiders. Most of America is none of those. If she makes the case that these attacks are coming from insiders that don't care about the folks in most of America, she can use them to create a populist theme.
9 comments:
I am so glad this cat is out of the bag and more people are exposing and talking about Saul Alinky's tactics. O'Reilly did a segment of his program to it a couple of weeks ago. Good start.
Wow what pure nonsense you write.
You normally quite rational, but your blind love for Palin is amazing.
1. This is Letterman. He does comedy.
2. The first youtube videos that made fun of her were because of RIDICULOUS answers to basic questions.
For a recap go here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrzXLYA_e6E&feature=fvst
HOW CAN YOU WATCH HER ANSWERS AND TAKE HER SERIOUSLY AS A POTENTIAL LEADER OF AMERICA???????????
That you and others like you still refer to an interview from eight months ago is proof that it is Alinsky like tactics. Why are you still fixated on these interviews?
Letterman is a comedian however making jokes about her look and her daughter is way over the top. I think every reasonable sounding person can agree with that.
I don't think there's any doubt that the MSM hates Palin and has actively looked to undermine her. I am just pointing out that the tactics they use are out of Alinsky.
Well Fox hates Obama and loves the right
MSM loves Obama and loves the left
So what?
The link I provided is a window into the scary world that is Palin.
Alinsky, Smakinsky. You appear to have too much time on your hands.
They mock her just as Republicans and the more far right deride Obama as a socialist or among the more insane Bible-bashers a Muslim or the Anti-Christ.
Fox hates Obama? Do you have proof of this?
I agree that conservative blogs and talk radio put Obama through the same sort of treatment, however they aren't nearly as powerful together is the MSM and Hollywood is.
Right, Sarah Palin is going to take on the elite, establishment, insider media...by denouncing them on appearances in the elite, establishment, insider media.
Getting in good with the media is pretty much a necessity for any prominent person in this country. I'm still convinced that the whole thing with Barry Bonds has more to do with his antagonistic attitude toward the media than his steroid use.
But if you're waiting for Palin to get better treatment from the media, don't hold your breath. They're still mocking Gore for allegedly inventing the internet.
In any case, the media's treatment of Palin can go both ways. Ripping her to shreds might not be fair, but they don't want to be seen as giving her a pass when she can't answer the most basic questions.
Which MSM appearances are you talking about? Palin does Greta, talk radio, and Hannity.
Obama has said all sorts of ridiculously dumb things. He thinks there are 57 states. He thinks they sell arugala in Iowa. He thinks that JFK's meeting with Kruschev went well.
What someone like you does is dismiss when someone like you acts like a jackass and fixates when your political opponent does.
I am not sure which basic question she couldn't answer, but Obama calls Iran a "tiny country". He told Al Aribiya that in the late 1970's our relationship with Iran was good.
Within two days of the Virginia Tech shooting, he was speaking in Milwaukee comparing that shooting to the violence of losing your job to outsourcing, not being allowed to have an abortion, and the violence of not having your voice heard, among dozens of "violences" that were painful to listen to and so inappropriate that it was despicable. Unfortunately, the MSM totally ignored this disaster and monstrocity of a speech.
What you want is for Palin to be defined by the interviews. In your mind, someone with a nearly twenty year political career in which she has cut taxes, the size of government, blown the whistle on corruption, renegotiated oil contracts, sent more money back to her state's residents because of this renegotiation, should be defined based on some interviews. Of course, that's absurd. yet, that's what the MSM is doing to Palin. It is of course in the spirit of Alinsky.
Here is a snippet from that Milwaukee speech. Keep in mind that two days earlier 31 students were gunned down. Then, he compares that tragedy to this,
"We [inaudible].... There's the violence of men and women who have worked all their lives and suddenly have the rug pulled out from under 'em because their job has moved to another country. They've lost their job, they've lost their pension benefits, and they've lost their health care and they're having to compete against their teenage children for jobs at the local fast food place paying $7 an hour.
There is the violence of children, whose voices are not heard, in communities that are ignored. Who don't have access to a decent education, who are surrounded by drugs and crime and a lack of hope.
So there's a lot of different forms of violence in our society and so much of it is rooted in our incapacity to recognize ourselves in each other - to not understand that we are all connected that we are all connected, fundamentally, as a people -- that as I said at the convention in 2004 that 'I am my brother's keeper' and 'I am my sister's keeper.' And that those who may not look like me, or talk like me, or worship the same god that I do, are nevertheless worthy of respect and dignity and a sense of common humanity."
If this speech was given any coverage in the media, he would have been through then and there. But it was kept quiet. Talk about mocking someone. How about someone that thinks there is a moral equivalency between gunning down 31 people and losing your job to outsourcing.
Yet, folks like you don't mention this about Obama. At the same time, you want Sarah Palin to be defined by her interviews. What if we defined Barack Obama by this Milwaukee speech?
The left has such a blind spot when it comes to Palin that they can't see how they are giving away their fear with their constant attacks. All they know is, the only time BO was behind in the campaign was when Palin was announced and gave her speech. They will not allow anyone to mess with their messiah's popularity; therefore, detroy her by any means.
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