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Rules for Radicals Defeated: A Practical Guide for Defeating Obama/Alinsky Tactics
Rules for Radicals is the playbook for the Left. If you want to understand how the Obama Administration operates you need this book. You will also learn twenty principles to defeat the Alinsky tactics without compromising your morality. Learn how the Obama Administration thinks, and how to counteract them. Learn it. Live it. Take America back.
- GenresNonfictionPhilosophy
204 pages, Paperback
First published May 4, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 29, 2014
I read Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" concurrently with this book. Author Hedgpeth does a good job in accurately assessing "Rules" and also suggesting credible counters. I read this because I was reading "Rules". I read "Rules" because, while I'm Conservative, I believe it prudent to learn what leading Progressives believe, confess, and teach. Consistent with this reasoning, I subscribe to "The Nation" as well as "National Review"; "The New Yorker" and "Foreign Affairs". This approach is also suggested by Hedgpeth. I highly recommend both the approach and this book to readers from both sides of the aisle.
February 24, 2016
This book was written during the 2012 election cycle and was intended as a guide for conservatives to keep President Obama from winning a second term. This is stated at the end of the first chapter.
On page one of this book is a disclaimer: "Anything contained in this book that is not documented is strictly the opinion of the author." I suspect this was added on the advice of an editor or a lawyer to cover for the mistruths printed inside.
There are a couple of things said about Saul Alinsky in the first chapter that are not quite right:
1. The book claims Alinksy was a Marxist. This is stated factually in the first chapter and later repeated as an opinion towards the end of the book, which I suppose the author believes is acceptable because of the disclaimer. The fact is Saul Alinsky never subscribed to any political party or ideology at all. None. He was not a Marxist or a Democrat or a Republican.
2. The book claims that Saul Alinsky's goal was to destroy capitalism and replace it with a Marxist utopia. This one is ridiculous. Saul Alinsky was a community organizer and his life's ambition was to help small communities of people who were oppressed gain some control (power) over their situations to make their lives better. He never had any ambitions at the national level at all.
3. In the first two chapters the author paints a picture of Alinsky and all liberals as morally bankrupt. This is a thesis throughout the book, which is important because he also connects Hillary Clinton and President Obama to Alinsky, therefore showing that they, too, have no moral code. It seem strange to me that he chooses as evidence a particular example from the Alinsky book. In that, Alinsky describes a time when a company produced evidence of Alinsky sleeping with a young woman and threatened to make it public if he didn't stop his protests. Alinsky wasn't married at the time and the woman was also a single adult, so he told them to go ahead. As a result of that, an insider in the company brought Alinsky proof of a senior executive in the company involved in a homosexual affair. Alinsky chose not to use the information, and explained in his book that it was too far. He would not stoop to that unless there was absolutely no other way, thus proving that Alynski had moral boundaries. Well, the author in this book ignores Alinsky's explanation and tries (unsuccessfully) to state that the incident does not in any way show Alinsky had any morals at all, because the author says he didn't. What I find strange about this is it disproves the entire second chapter of this book, yet the author chose to include it, anyway. Maybe he didn't expect anyone to have read the Alinsky book.
The third chapter of this book describes each of Alinsky's tactics and then attempts to provide examples of how President Obama used each of them, either during the 2008 presidential campaign, or during his first term as President. Well, Alinsky wrote his book "Rules for Radicals" as a guidebook for community organizers. Few of his tactics actually would work for a politician, although some do. Some of the examples presented here seem to fit an Alynski tactic, but the majority just don't quite work the way the author presents them. Also, if these examples given about President Obama do prove he used or uses Saul Alynski's tactics, then I would say all or most politicians do, as well, because similar examples can be given for many of them.
In the fourth chapter, the author provides his own "rules" to defeat Alynski tactics. I suppose he chose to call them rules because calling them tactics might confuse the readers. I believe the rules he provides would be very effective. In fact I see them in action all the time.
The final chapter is an essay of the author's predictions and opinions about the 2012 election and what he believes conservatives should do to win.
On page one of this book is a disclaimer: "Anything contained in this book that is not documented is strictly the opinion of the author." I suspect this was added on the advice of an editor or a lawyer to cover for the mistruths printed inside.
There are a couple of things said about Saul Alinsky in the first chapter that are not quite right:
1. The book claims Alinksy was a Marxist. This is stated factually in the first chapter and later repeated as an opinion towards the end of the book, which I suppose the author believes is acceptable because of the disclaimer. The fact is Saul Alinsky never subscribed to any political party or ideology at all. None. He was not a Marxist or a Democrat or a Republican.
2. The book claims that Saul Alinsky's goal was to destroy capitalism and replace it with a Marxist utopia. This one is ridiculous. Saul Alinsky was a community organizer and his life's ambition was to help small communities of people who were oppressed gain some control (power) over their situations to make their lives better. He never had any ambitions at the national level at all.
3. In the first two chapters the author paints a picture of Alinsky and all liberals as morally bankrupt. This is a thesis throughout the book, which is important because he also connects Hillary Clinton and President Obama to Alinsky, therefore showing that they, too, have no moral code. It seem strange to me that he chooses as evidence a particular example from the Alinsky book. In that, Alinsky describes a time when a company produced evidence of Alinsky sleeping with a young woman and threatened to make it public if he didn't stop his protests. Alinsky wasn't married at the time and the woman was also a single adult, so he told them to go ahead. As a result of that, an insider in the company brought Alinsky proof of a senior executive in the company involved in a homosexual affair. Alinsky chose not to use the information, and explained in his book that it was too far. He would not stoop to that unless there was absolutely no other way, thus proving that Alynski had moral boundaries. Well, the author in this book ignores Alinsky's explanation and tries (unsuccessfully) to state that the incident does not in any way show Alinsky had any morals at all, because the author says he didn't. What I find strange about this is it disproves the entire second chapter of this book, yet the author chose to include it, anyway. Maybe he didn't expect anyone to have read the Alinsky book.
The third chapter of this book describes each of Alinsky's tactics and then attempts to provide examples of how President Obama used each of them, either during the 2008 presidential campaign, or during his first term as President. Well, Alinsky wrote his book "Rules for Radicals" as a guidebook for community organizers. Few of his tactics actually would work for a politician, although some do. Some of the examples presented here seem to fit an Alynski tactic, but the majority just don't quite work the way the author presents them. Also, if these examples given about President Obama do prove he used or uses Saul Alynski's tactics, then I would say all or most politicians do, as well, because similar examples can be given for many of them.
In the fourth chapter, the author provides his own "rules" to defeat Alynski tactics. I suppose he chose to call them rules because calling them tactics might confuse the readers. I believe the rules he provides would be very effective. In fact I see them in action all the time.
The final chapter is an essay of the author's predictions and opinions about the 2012 election and what he believes conservatives should do to win.
March 11, 2015
Has numerous typos, but the information is solid.
July 19, 2017
An illustrative guide on modern political debate, not only on the US context where the book was written, but also applies surprisingly well to the Western European context among others. If you are not familiar with Alinsky's guidelines that politically active people, those on the left mainly, use today to achieve political goals through mostly unethical behavior and fallacious argumentation (a.k.a. "the ends justify the means"), you owe it to yourself to educate yourself. The parts of the 2012 US presidential election are obviously somewhat dated, but the core message is concise and useful.
January 10, 2018
This book provides a practical guidebook for those seeking to understand and defeat the Alinsky tactics used by the Obama Administration, Occupy Wall Street, and other far-Left organizations.
Should of been more comprehensive with practical defensive and offensive litigious like strategies. Know what your antagonist knows before you begin your point. Understand the functionality of radical positions 'cause ya don't have to prove them wrong you only have to prove they don't know how their point works.
Should of been more comprehensive with practical defensive and offensive litigious like strategies. Know what your antagonist knows before you begin your point. Understand the functionality of radical positions 'cause ya don't have to prove them wrong you only have to prove they don't know how their point works.
December 12, 2020
Educational and well researched. The topic is controversial of course seeing as many people deny the effect Alinsky had on the politics of the Progressive Democrats. After reading this however, it becomes very hard to deny that leaders didn't know about these tactics and anyone deeply familiar with politics over the last 40 years can easily see where they have been used repeatedly. A sad thing really seeing as they represent the lowest of the low ethically speaking for political behavior, which is not known for being very ethical to begin with.
September 23, 2017
An intriguing analysis of the tactics of Saul Alinsky and how they were employed by President Obama, which offers moral counter-tactics to those of the Cultural Marxists.
November 11, 2022
Very enlightening.
May 31, 2023
Interesting book, primarily focussed on demonstrating that Saul Alinsky's tactics were used successfully by the Obama campaign and administration.
March 21, 2017
Damn AND Damn.
If you want to see what the the Left, Liberals, and Radicals are doing,
this is the blueprint.
I now know what to spot and how to spot it.
I am awake.
If you want to see what the the Left, Liberals, and Radicals are doing,
this is the blueprint.
I now know what to spot and how to spot it.
I am awake.
August 10, 2016
This is an excellent book for those interested in wanting to counteract the leftist tactics successfully used by Obama, Trudeau, and now Clinton. I decided to read this book because I not only wanted to learn about Alinsky's successful tactics but also how to combat them. Now I understand how these tactics are allowing the left to be so successful and powerful.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews