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you fold like the dodgers in September…

“I’m totally burnt out by blogging ad nauseum about Sarah Palin. I don’t care if Barack Obama drops Joe Biden in favor of getting Palin on his ticket, I’m not mentioning her in another post until at least Sunday?”

Comment by torch on 9/05/08 at 9:47 am

I would respond that Korach (Numbers 16:1-35) of desert rebellion and earth swallowing fame was a community organizer, and Moses was a governor.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 9/07/08 at 4:24 am

Community organizers complained that their work was demeaned by Sarah Palin’s speech. Is that true? Probably. Lest we forget, it is the Obamanites who made that experience a factor in the campaign. Lest we forget, it is the Obamanites who disparage Palin because rising rapidly to *Governor* of a State is somehow less valid as a background for potential President than being a *community organizer*.

But is that a problem? Should we care? Let’s ask ourselves - what is the role of a community organizer? How necessary, how legitimate, how positive and productive is that function?

The political system of the United States is focused on government by consent. The winner can legitimately claim a mandate. The losers always claim that the process was tainted and try to subvert it by extralegal or extracurricular action. This then is the role of community organizer. To try to assume power outside of the electoral system, by demonstrations, petitions, publicity via media manipulation etc.

Meet the new boss,
Same as the old boss.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is the archtypical model. If and when the revolutionary change artists become the establishment they encounter the same challenges as the previous one and cope with them in the same ways, and probably not as effectively until they gain some experience (hopefully before causing irreparable harm).

Comment by Ben Plonie on 9/08/08 at 11:25 pm

Community organizers:

Moshe Rabbenu
Jesus of Nazareth
Judah Maccabee
Paul Revere
Theodor Herzl
Lubavitcher Rebbe
Martin Luther King
Nelson Mandela

Generalize from that, Ignorant Cliche~ Boy!

Comment by The Web Guy on 9/09/08 at 12:15 am

I just did. And I said - the community organizer is someone who activates dissent and action at the grass roots level. It is a statement that the government is not accounting for the will of the people. In a dictatorship that is a given. In the United States it is a statement that the system is not living up to its ideal of consent of the governed.

As to whether the C.O. is acting legitimately or whether the change is idelogical or political therefore depends upon context.

When Obama sent his special forces to disqualify his political opponents from running including the incumbent in order to enter politics, it may have been community organizing in a technical sense but it was antidemocratic in the sense that it disenfranchised the various constituencies of those candidates. In fact, the US system of running the last man standing does some of this as well. I personally favor the Australian system which has the effect of isolating extremists and valuing the votes of the majority. I don’t have time to explain it now but it works something like the election of the school boards in my area, and more effectively accomplishes the stated goal of one-time Supreme Court candidate Lani Gueniere (spelling) to fine tune the process to enfranchise more voters.

Add Hitler to the list (Beer Hall Putch and Reichstaag Fire)

Comment by Ben Plonie on 9/09/08 at 6:39 am

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