megimoo
09-10-2009, 11:24 AM
The Definitive Dossier of ACORN
To understand ACORN you must first know and understand its philosophical god father, Saul Alinsky. Alinsky wrote the cult classic Rules for Radicals. More importantly, he was a master at grassroots campaigning, confrontational politics, ridicule, and trench warfare. He was in fact the god father of the so called community organizing movement. Alinsky taught this group all sorts of things.
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For instance, there is Alinsky's rule #13, identify, isolate, freeze, escalate. Often, ACORN will picket in front of someone's house and protestors will follow the target everywhere in an effort to implement these four tactics. This is how ACORN was able to force banks to lend in underserved areas in their campaign to enforce the Community Reinvestment Act. It's also what ACORN does when they are trying force a CEO into a financial arrangement. This is how Alinsky would take on forces that would otherwise be more powerful than his own. Alinsky organized for those that the rest of society left behind. He provided a road map for organizing and leading a movement of the poor and disadvantaged which, if implemented properly, can became a force within all of society.
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In one example of ACORN's use of Alinsky rule number 13, they went after the CEO of H&R Block. The CEO lived in a well to do suburb. So, ACORN showed up in full force, several hundred. They screamed and yelled on the street across the street from his home. That shook the very sensibilities of the well to do suburbs. Suddenly, the entire neighborhood was talking about how the CEO had a mob outside his home. By so doing, they identified the target, the CEO, and isolated the target, by making him the talk of his neighborhood. After this protest, ACORN didn't stop. They followed him around everywhere: the movies, shopping, the grocery story, his kids little league games, etc. This is an escalation. The same tactic that got him to freeze were escalated until he broke. Eventually, H&R Block entered into an agreement with ACORN.
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Alinsky also taught ACORN what this was in fact all about. Here's how Alinsky characterized it.
In the politics of human life, consistency is not a virtue
...It’s true I might have trouble getting to sleep because it takes time to tuck those big, angelic, moral wings under the covers
....The judgment of history leans heavily on the outcome of success or failure; it spells the difference between the traitor and the patriotic hero. There can be no such thing as a successful traitor, for if one succeeds he becomes a founding father
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Alinsky's main priority in community organizing was the accumulation of power. That's the exact same priority that ACORN has as a community organization. It's very important to understand that ACORN's priorities are the exact same as the priorities of the founder of the movement, Saul Alinsky, the accumulation of power.
.........................
ACORN is most effective because it understands that the most effective way of attaining power is by mastering grass foots activism. ACORN knows what's going on because it's foot soldiers are on the ground. People associated with ACORN are likely NOT spending much time in an office. Instead, they're walking the streets registering voters (legally or otherwise), signing petitions, and attending all the local meetings and get togethers. ACORN knows what's going on because they're interacting with the folks on a personal level nearly every hour of every day. That was taught to them by Alinsky and it's a lesson they took to heart.
.......................
http://www.gop.com/obamaacorntree/
............................
http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2009/08/definitive-dossier-of-acorn.html
To understand ACORN you must first know and understand its philosophical god father, Saul Alinsky. Alinsky wrote the cult classic Rules for Radicals. More importantly, he was a master at grassroots campaigning, confrontational politics, ridicule, and trench warfare. He was in fact the god father of the so called community organizing movement. Alinsky taught this group all sorts of things.
.........................
For instance, there is Alinsky's rule #13, identify, isolate, freeze, escalate. Often, ACORN will picket in front of someone's house and protestors will follow the target everywhere in an effort to implement these four tactics. This is how ACORN was able to force banks to lend in underserved areas in their campaign to enforce the Community Reinvestment Act. It's also what ACORN does when they are trying force a CEO into a financial arrangement. This is how Alinsky would take on forces that would otherwise be more powerful than his own. Alinsky organized for those that the rest of society left behind. He provided a road map for organizing and leading a movement of the poor and disadvantaged which, if implemented properly, can became a force within all of society.
....................
In one example of ACORN's use of Alinsky rule number 13, they went after the CEO of H&R Block. The CEO lived in a well to do suburb. So, ACORN showed up in full force, several hundred. They screamed and yelled on the street across the street from his home. That shook the very sensibilities of the well to do suburbs. Suddenly, the entire neighborhood was talking about how the CEO had a mob outside his home. By so doing, they identified the target, the CEO, and isolated the target, by making him the talk of his neighborhood. After this protest, ACORN didn't stop. They followed him around everywhere: the movies, shopping, the grocery story, his kids little league games, etc. This is an escalation. The same tactic that got him to freeze were escalated until he broke. Eventually, H&R Block entered into an agreement with ACORN.
.......................
Alinsky also taught ACORN what this was in fact all about. Here's how Alinsky characterized it.
In the politics of human life, consistency is not a virtue
...It’s true I might have trouble getting to sleep because it takes time to tuck those big, angelic, moral wings under the covers
....The judgment of history leans heavily on the outcome of success or failure; it spells the difference between the traitor and the patriotic hero. There can be no such thing as a successful traitor, for if one succeeds he becomes a founding father
..........................
Alinsky's main priority in community organizing was the accumulation of power. That's the exact same priority that ACORN has as a community organization. It's very important to understand that ACORN's priorities are the exact same as the priorities of the founder of the movement, Saul Alinsky, the accumulation of power.
.........................
ACORN is most effective because it understands that the most effective way of attaining power is by mastering grass foots activism. ACORN knows what's going on because it's foot soldiers are on the ground. People associated with ACORN are likely NOT spending much time in an office. Instead, they're walking the streets registering voters (legally or otherwise), signing petitions, and attending all the local meetings and get togethers. ACORN knows what's going on because they're interacting with the folks on a personal level nearly every hour of every day. That was taught to them by Alinsky and it's a lesson they took to heart.
.......................
http://www.gop.com/obamaacorntree/
............................
http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2009/08/definitive-dossier-of-acorn.html