Most martial arts will stress one important point – use your opponent’s strength against them. I did Tae Kwon Do for a number of years and learned that the surprise attack works well, when you have a "straight ahead" attacker use a more circular pattern. Good puncher? Switch to a lot more kicks and stay to the "outside". Better kicker? Do the opposite. It all hinges on the pattern you can identify and know how to neutralize the advantage. Always seem to work well (those many years and many pounds ago)..
Seems to work well in politics as well – have a plan for what is unfolding in front of you (or, if really caught by surprise, what’s going on behind you). That, however, seems to have been the problem for conservatives lately – what IS that pattern, how do I know there IS a pattern, and if I even have an idea of what is going on, how to neutralize it.
We’ve all been hearing about Alinsky’s Rules for a while, and I finally found a really decent abridged version of them here (having not bought the book yet). It is worthwhile reading and upon doing so, have found a number of them have been attempted to be used against Doug and I by various Progressive folks in the past ("…you’re not following your own FAQs by showing that lady…" – Rule #4 [it failed by the way – they hate being ignored. Better yet, they’re not used to having their enemies doubling back and going onto the offensive against them!]).
And I think that’s the key for conservatives lately – few have taken the time to read the Rules. You should…and start using them yourselves! After all, they’ve had much success with them – just think of it as political Akido – recognize the pattern, develop a plan ahead of time to neutralize the pattern, and execute the plan:
RULE 1: "Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have." Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. "Have-Nots" must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)
RULE 2: "Never go outside the expertise of your people." It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don’t address the "real" issues. This is why. They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)
RULE 3: "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy." Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)RULE 4: "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules." If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)
RULE 5: "Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon." There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)
