Obama follows the Rules for Radicals

Jim Geraghty has written a must-read on our perplexing president. Yes, he's "pragmatic," but, Geraghty writes, "a pragmatist as understood by Alinsky: One who applies pragmatism to achieving and keeping power."

His touting of neglible budget cuts as significant are straight from Rules for Radicals:

When Obama announced a paltry $100 million in budget cuts, and insisted this was part of a budget-trimming process that would add up to “real money,” he clearly understood that the public processes these numbers very differently from the way budget wonks do. Alinsky wrote: “The moment one gets into the area of $25 million and above, let alone a billion, the listener is completely out of touch, no longer really interested, because the figures have gone above his experience and almost are meaningless. Millions of Americans do not know how many million dollars make up a billion.”

His ability to be whatever we want him to be, to shape-shift, can be explained through Alinsky's principles:

Moderates thought they were electing a moderate; liberals thought they were electing a liberal. Both camps were wrong. Ideology does not have the final say in Obama’s decision-making; an Alinskyite’s core principle is to take any action that expands his power and to avoid any action that risks his power. [emphasis added]

Power is the bottom line. And Obama isn't the only liberal who adheres to the teachings of Alinsky:

Alinsky’s influence goes well beyond Obama, obviously. There are many wonderful Democrats in this world, but evidence suggests that rising in that party’s political hierarchy requires some adoption of a variation of the Alinsky philosophy: Power comes first.

Liberals can holler that conservatives are power-hungry and manipulative, too. But the values of conservatism, respect for individual autonomy and small government, are not as compatible with Alinsky-type methods as are the values of those who believe they know better how to run the lives of others.

Please read the rest.

File it alongside this TIME article, commented on here.

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