Why the Right’s Fixation on ‘Rules For Radicals’ is Absurd

“Rules For Radicals” is one of those books few had heard of before Fox News (specifically, Glenn Beck) started promoting it as a central tenant of modern liberalism, one of many efforts of the Right to define the opposition on their terms (liberals, seeing themselves for the most part as simply the mainstream, do not do this nearly as well). 

It’s been given the name “The Liberal Bible,” ironic given that author Saul Alinsky, according to Forbes’ Ralph Benko, was “an aggressively anti-communist, anti-big government populist with a healthy contempt for liberals. He seemingly would be more at home in the Tea Party than the Democratic Party.”

Ironic, too, that one of Alinksy’s precepts—promoting caricatural enemies to rally groups around a cause—is a central tactic of the Right (immigrants, homosexuals, Muslims, Obama and his supposed secret agenda, etc.).

Lucifer's Way: Alinsky or Cliven Bundy?

Maybe you’ve heard the claim that Saul Alinsky dedicated “Rules For Radicals” to Lucifer. While this is not true (he dedicated the book to his wife, Irene), there is a shout-out to Old Nick written by Alinsky himself on a page of quotations that also includes Thomas Paine and Rabbi Hillel:

“Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history... the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer.”

In the era of Yippies, W.I.T.C.H. and levitating the Pentagon, this was no doubt meant to be deliberately jarring, and fits right in with the acerbic politics of the day. There’s not too much that needs to be said about this except that the action credited to Lucifer—rebelling against the establishment and winning his own “kingdom”—could just as easily be attributed to Myles Standish, George Washington, Sam Houston and John DeLorean—a pretty un-devilish bunch (though some might disagree about DeLorean). 

It certainly does not describe Barack Obama, who decided to join ‘em rather than beat ‘em. Describes Cliven Bundy pretty well, though.