RULES FOR RADICALS... Conservatives.

[Danno 1,228]

‘Rules for Radical Conservatives’

We live in perilous times with the future of the American way of life in question, and it’s simply not enough to have superior ideas. You need to have a strategy for advancing them. Conservatives and libertarians have never been as good on the strategic level as the Left. Simply look had who controls the major institutions: the major media, universities, cultural institutions, non-profits, the entertainment industry. And yet, poll after poll demonstrates that the liberal/left is a much smaller proportion of the population than conservatives.

Now along comes a superb book Rules for Radical Conservatives by David Kahane (a pseudonym), as a corrective. The subtitle explains it nicely: ”Beating the Left at Its Own Game to Take Back America.” The book is tightly written and brilliantly lays out a roadmap for success, giving us a powerful counterweight to Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals.” Part One explains the problem, and how the left has seized the narrative, taken over the universities, and used political correctness in an attempt to “take the nation down.” Part Two offers the solution. The message is clear: we must take the culture back, make the constitution the center of our political thinking, and recognize that the fight for freedom will never end. Kahane energetically makes the point that its time we stop being so defensive and instead seize the offensive.

Conservatives and libertarians, at least those that I know, would rather be doing something else than fighting political battles. They have families and other interests outside of politics, but the intrusions of the Left have forced them into the political arena. Kahane reminds us that we have no choice but to fight these battles or literally all will be lost.

Pick it up and give it as a Christmas gift. Sobering but necessary reading, written with verve and a refreshing confidence.

Posted by Peter Schweizer Dec 16th 2010 at 9:36 am in Culture/Art, Politics, Strategy |

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Take back America? Back where? The stone ages?

[Danno 1,228]

Take back America? Back where? The stone ages?

Are you the only American left, who thinks this country is going up hill?

Most feel on almost every measure we are loosing ground, receding, going down hill.

If that was the stone-age..... Take me back there.

[scandal 951]

Are you the only American left, who thinks this country is going up hill?

Most feel on almost every measure we are loosing ground, receding, going down hill.

If that was the stone-age..... Take me back there.

Danno, the polls agree with you - the majority of Americans currently believe we're "on the wrong track", whatever that means.

It's certainly true that we're in tough economic times, high unemployment and lost savings do not help. Distrust of government at an all time high.

But personally, I would feel really crappy if I approached life with the pessimism I hear from you and those who are always complaining about how bad everything is, and by extension how good it must have been before.

Do people really have that short a memory of 1970s stagflation and lineups at gas stations? Of Watergate and Vietnam? Of Jim Crow laws, segregation, lynchings and Mississippi Burning? Do people in this country not learn their history and appreciate the dire poverty our grandparents lived through in the Depression, the bank collapses in 1907 and all during the 19th century? We used to have slavery in this country. We used to have infant mortality 100 X today's rate, and life expectancy of roughly 45 years. Sickness, poverty, bone-crushing labor for pittance wages, and early death were the typical lot of vast numbers of Americans just a few generations ago.

I'm not saying everything is swell and wonderful today, but this hankering for "the good old days" leaves me baffled. I'm ever so thankful to live in America - a country that's free, open, wealthier than its ever been, and full of opportunities our ancestors could not dream of.

I guess I'm an incurably glass-half-full guy, and would go bonkers if I had to see everything as dimly as and dourly as you seem to.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

I love the new Republican strategy of claiming to be out maneuvered and put upon. Silly nonsense all, but working like a good snake oil salesman's pitch on half of America.

Things are not perfect, perhaps not even great, but the whining about liberals bringing doom is positively hilarious!

[Pooky 3,825]

Things are not perfect, perhaps not even great, but the whining about liberals bringing doom is positively hilarious!

It's just the same as some here whining about the GOP bringing doom upon us all.

I prefer to think that they're all politicians, so basically they're going to screw us royally and walk away with a well-paid gig when we finally vote them out. That way, if one of them does something good I can smile and say that a few are slightly less weaselly than the others.

That way I'm never disappointed too much.