Customer Reviews

Rules for Radical Conservatives: Beating the Left at Its Own Game to Take Back America

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Instead of bizarre fantasies involving human waste, I would like to offer a real review. This book is a witty and much-needed take on the tactics that many politicians use - and that we must understand and counteract if we are to be successful in changing our ways.

It pains me to say this, but the message of this book is correct. Conservatives need to understand what Alinsky tactics are all about.

Highly recommended.

Walsh/Kahane puts it best when he notes (as does anyone paying attention) that liberals demonize, mock and attack only those things they legitimately fear, e.g. Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann, Christians, reason, moderation, competing viewpoints, etc. The more fundamentally correct, true and tenable a position is, the more liberals will screech and shriek AROUND the issue, without ever addressing the issue itself:

Arizona immigration law mirrors Federal laws = RACISTS! PROFILERS!

Opposition to Muslim community center located near Ground Zero (to include a mosque and--as acknowledged by center's proponents--as celebration of 9/11/01 attacks) = RACISTS! ISLAMOPHOBES!

Saul Alinsky is denied emeritus status, in part because a board member's father was killed by proponent of Alinsky's ideology and tactics = THREAT TO ACADEMIC FREEDOM!

I'm tired of getting played by their rules; I want to play BY their rules. And I will support those who will metaphorically punch them in the mouth. (see Coulter, A.; Gutfeld, G.; Rubio, R.; Christie, C.; DiNizio, P.; Malkin, M.; Goldberg, J.; Sowell, T.; et al.)

I think anyone who really reads David Kahane's book RULES FOR RADICAL CONSERVATIVES (Beating The Left At Its Own Game To Take Back America) has to admit that in what is sometimes a tongue-in-check approach the author is making some really good points---and setting the record straight.

There is sometimes a big disconnect in what is the truth and what is portrayed as the truth, espcially in a time when some in the media and in politics have built a career of twisting facts for their own gain. I think it is high time that Americans take it upon themselves to really become educated about the issues and not letting others define who or what we are.

Kahane take a methodical approach to looking at exactly how we got into the shape we are in today, but he doesn't stop there. If he has, we wouldn't have caught what I believe to be the book's purpose. He gives us a commonsense roadmap to getting on the right track and staying there.

With an all-important mid-term election on the horizon, there is not one individual who shouldn't feel as though this election---and every election---is critical to what is happening in this country. Kahane stresses this in a way that is not preachy, but matter-of-fact. If we want to see real change from the busines as usual, we have to start working today.

In my opinion RULES FOR RADICAL CONSERVATIVES is just the shot in the arm needed to wake us up and keep us moving forward.

Rules for Radical Conservatives is not a manual for either faint-hearted `compassionistas' nor one looking for a new second hobby. This manual takes it for granted that we - you, me, any serious conservative/libertarian independent - will fight to the death. That means last-resort barricades, in extremis, but, more, and more likely, we cannot rest if we want our freedoms. We really must be diligently vigilant from first voter registration in youth until the voter dies if he - we - want to stay free and own the prosperity we earn.

For me, it seems some proselytizing among the `super-entitled' is going to be necessary. These hearts which only bleed for themselves and their petulant claims need to be reclaimed for their own real, true, actual, historically tested, time honored American good. This book, and through Kahane's experience and hard-earned resolve we have some means spelled out and other methods given blueprints. As well, I even see some application to resistance of Sharia Islam given active play.

Though I am still in the reading process and not yet done, I do miss the necessary, even vital, moral component by which Thatcher helped resurrect Great Britain, Reagan gave leadership to us during his Presidency and Pope John Paul II, the Great, helped free eastern Europe from Stalinist communism. This is an important aspect, our morality. Our founders more than recommended it, they insisted on it. Alexis de Tocqueville noted its fundamental place in the American exceptionalism and citizen persona. Is there a sequel in the works that trumps the low amorality (at best) of Alinsky-ist anarchistic nihilism and despotic socialism with return to Judeao-Christian principles to guide our general population and policies?

I could say more, but I am such a verbosity machine. Still and all, a five-star book by an interested and involved writing citizen: Thanks, Mr. Kahane.

This is a sobering wake up call which illuminates the low level tactics the Left has been employing over the last 40 years or so.
Kahane's style is tongue-in cheek but that has the effect of giving his message resonance. His chief point is to take off the gloves and realize the nature of the opponent. Political correctness is DEAD. Truth is the new "hate" speech or so the Left would have us believe. No more acquiescence to the left on anything!
Any and every statement from the liberal camp is to challenged. Once speech is controled then thought is restricted and liberty is in peril.
Kahane implores the reader to not relinquish the moral high ground. Example: if you disagree with Obama and have the temerity to put voice to that then you must be a "racist". Policy can't have anything to do with it.
The technique of course is to discredit an opposing voice (certainly a "racist" or "hater" isn't worth listening to.) If there is contempt to dish out the Left serves a healthy spoonful. Contempt and derision are useful tools and giving the left a dose of Thierry own medicine is the prescription.
What's good for the goose.... Also the left hates to be mocked about anything. Never pass up a chance to take shots (deservedly or not, it doesn't matter). Look at that a$$wipe Colbert and learn. Adopt a healthy contempt for the "values" of the opponent and be vocal about it. Do not accept a charge of "hater"; this is time to drive a stake through Political Correctness. This book belongs on the shelf next to Thomas Sowell's "Dismantling America", "Visions of the Annointed", Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism" and Orwell's 1984/Animal Farm.

In "Rules for Radical Conservatives," David Kahane takes off the mask that the American left has shown the public for decades. Instead of assuming that liberals are just another legitimate political philosophy, Mr. Kahane shows that it is a philosophy that is aimed at turning America from a constitutional republic to a tyrannical regime that would never reverse back. Instead of accepting the premises of the left, we must reject their premises. Accepting the liberal premises of the left results in adopting all of their policies as well. Rather than debating policies on the liberals' turf, it is better to articulate our (superior) philosophy, which will result in the policies following the philosophy.

The left did not get to where they are today through convincing people that their side is right. Rather, they have done so through intimidation, coercion, emotional arguments, and through steadily gaining ground in the universities, media, schools, and our bureaucracies. Even today, the liberals are a distinct and insular minority, representing about 20% of the country, but their dominance in the blue-states and cities--mostly on the coasts--have still allowed them to have far more influence than their numbers would imply. My view is that they have gained power mostly because Republicans have not acted principally to reject the FDR philosophy and instead advance the Founders/Ronald Reagan/Ayn Rand philosophy into law. Democrats also have campaigned as Republicans. Even the hard-left radical Obama campaigned on Republican themes of lower federal spending and tax cuts.

Conservative author Michael Walsh takes on the fictional persona of "David Kahane," a Hollywood screenwriter with impeccable leftist credentials -- son of 60's radical parents, graduate of Columbia University -- to tell dumb conservatives how the left works and how to counter the tactics described in the liberal playbook, Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.

Yeah, right. The critiques are sharp and funny. Indeed, he says many things that ought to be wince-inducing to conservatives. (The GOP really is "the stupid party" and Kahane's critiques are on point.) But, unlike Kahane, the left really believes the junk it espouses, and tends to be in denial about its own narcissism and lust for power. Kahane's clarity and cynicism are something the average liberal doesn't possess; and that makes his characterization a little off. Also, I don't exactly buy into his feigned magnanimity in offering his pearls of wisdom to his benighted conservative readers. The Kahane persona works better in shorter articles than it does in book form, in my opinion. This is why I gave it only four stars.

("The Kahane Persona" sounds like the name of a Robert Ludlum novel, doesn't it? Hmmm...)

Even so, it's a good, engaging read. If you're a libertarian or conservative, you'll love it. If you're a liberal, forget it, it'll just disturb you.

Great Reading. If you think it is satire, it is. If you think it is political, it is. But it is much much more. History written in a most witty, concise form. Facts are lurking on every page nustled in with humor. This is a must read for anyone and everyone no matter if you are left right or ambidextrous. David is my favorite commie/lib writer. He tells the story of how the commies have taken over and then laughs at the reader for falling for it.
I'm not sure where else you will find out the connection between Joseph Kennedy sr. and his gangster bootlegging partner and Bill Clinton. Amazing stuff on every page.
And yet through it all it isn't condescending nor offensive just simple facts and information.
All presented in a most intertaining way.
Thanks David K.
Now we all must fight back against Polital Correctness and all forms of bullying.
Best Always,

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! If you buy it, do not read it. Kahane has let the cat out of the bag. Now conservatives will know how Saint Saul(Alinsky) provided the playbook for liberal/progressives in the Cold Civil War we find ourselves in. If ignorance is bliss and you value your bliss, stay away from this eye opening tome. If you think you can keep fighting fair in this Cold Civil War, do not educate yourself to the methods used on our culture and our values.
Curse you Kahane! How dare you sell the conservatives a clue when they are not even buying one? Oh yeah, and your old man Che, too. I hope you enjoy your pieces of silver under your rock.

I also have not read the book, but I have read all of David Kahane's articles from National Review Online, from which this book sprang. Therefore, I believe I can make a recommendation more informed than that of our knee-jerk "1-star" friend. Like Stephen Colbert, "Kahane" (journalist/novelist Michael Walsh) has adopted an extreme persona from "the other side" to poke fun and also make some serious points. The difference is, Colbert is parodying a right-wing media type that does not actually exist, whereas Kahane describes a left-coast lefty mindset that actually does. He is well-acquainted with it because he lives and works among folks who subscribe to that philosophy. I doubt Colbert spends much time around conservatives. Through the satire and hyperbole, Kahane's serious point is that conservatives need to adopt the Alinskyite tactics of the left to beat them at their own game. It is up to the reader to decide whether such tactics are worthy of the conservative movement, but Kahane is always entertaining, provocative, and worth reading.