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Barack Obama's Rules for Revolution: The Alinsky Model

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Barack Obama’s Rules for Revolution: The Alinsky Model examines the roots of the current administration’s effort to subject America to a wholesale transformation by looking at the work of one of the President’s heroes—radical Chicago “community organizer” Saul Alinsky. The guru of Sixties radicals, Alinsky urged his followers to be flexible and opportunistic and say anything to get power, which they can then use to radically change existing social and economic institutions. In this insightful new booklet, Horowitz discusses Alinsky’s work in the 60s—and his advice to radicals to seize any weapon to advance their cause. This became the philosophy of Alinskyite organizations such as ACORN and influenced the future President who came up through the Chicago network created by Alinsky’s network. After analyzing Saul Alinsky’s work and pointing out that the godfather of “social organizing” created “ not salvation but chaos,” Horowitz then he asks the crucial question: “And presidential disciples of Alinsky, what will they create?”

37 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

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About the author

David Horowitz

187 books338 followers
David Joel Horowitz was an American conservative writer and activist. He was a founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website FrontPage Magazine; and director of Discover the Networks, a website that tracks individuals and groups on the political left. Horowitz also founded the organization Students for Academic Freedom.
Horowitz wrote several books with author Peter Collier, including four on prominent 20th-century American families. He and Collier have collaborated on books about cultural criticism. Horowitz worked as a columnist for Salon.
From 1956 to 1975, Horowitz was an outspoken adherent of the New Left. He later rejected progressive ideas and became a defender of neoconservatism. Horowitz recounted his ideological journey in a series of retrospective books, culminating with his 1996 memoir Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey.

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5 stars
130 (50%)
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64 (24%)
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33 (12%)
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22 (8%)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Richard Wise.
Author 5 books106 followers
December 1, 2020
Rarely have I read such total nonsense. I spent almost a decade as an Alinsky organizer and I can say with some authority, Horowitz has it all wrong. It is pretty clear that the author's objective had little to do with an honest critique of either Obama or Alinsky. The book is simply an exercise in right wing propaganda with almost nothing in it that bears any resemblance to reality or truth.

Alinsky was not a Marxist. If anything, he was an Athenian democrat. Does anyone believe that he, and organizations inspired by his methodology would have received so much support from the Roman Catholic Church if they were Marxist?

Short and sweet, Alinsky's was a methodology not an ideology. Alinsky organizing was grass roots. We organized communities based on issues identified by the communities themselves. In declining urban areas, working block by block, we built organizations, then coalitions then community congresses all around community defined issues. We employed mass power tactics, but never indulged in violence. As Alinsky said, getting your people arrested is not a prescription for building organization.

For folks with a real interest in understanding how it really worked, read Rules For Radicals. Like fiction based on fact? May I humbly suggest my Redlined, A Novel of Boston.

Unfortunately, there is no "bullshit" shelf, so I listed the book under Social Change.
Profile Image for Keith Wilson.
76 reviews1 follower
June 2, 2020
Absolute BS

The modern left, with its anarchists and communists and nihilists and perverts and atheists, seeks to topple American institutions and destroy a way of life that is the envy of the world. At least in this author's mind. The goal is not to help people who are denied the American dream, it's to amass power for its own ends. Not to stop disenfranchisement. Not to get access to affordable medical care. Not to seek to address ever-increasing wealth inequality and discrimination and the slaughter of innocents by police. Not to stop the efforts to make this a Christian nation. Power. It's all that matters. Lie, cheat, steal, it's all okay to get power to destroy America. Only, it's not Democrats who are seeking to destroy America. It's Republicans who are trying to turn this nation into a puritanical plutocratic theocracy, where wealth is the only factor to judge people on. Where poverty and illness are the fault of people's lifestyles and laziness. Where minorities should not be allowed to vote. Where lies and accusations are standard tactics, and trickle-down economics is the justification for tax cuts for the rich. On and on and on. Projection and assumptions and innuendo and guilt by association. It's all here, and more. Socialist Democracy is not about libraries and roads and public utilities and worker's rights and clean air and water and soil and consumer protections and affordable health care. It's about power and destruction and communism. Learn the truth! Read the Book! Drink the kool-aid and deny reality! All hail the mighty dollar and those who have lots of them!
Profile Image for Tom.
38 reviews4 followers
June 6, 2012
This is an excellent interpretive piece clearly, concisely summarizing and explaining what our bizarre President Obama is attempting to do in transforming our capitalistic, free-market, freedom-loving and preserving nation into a socialistic European-like state. David Horowitz was raised by communist, progressive, left-wing parents who were devoted to radical revolution and overthrow of the USA. He, more than most, "gets" what is going on, having lived, supported, and championed Obama's sick ideology. He recognizes clearly much of the evidence of the sly transformation being pursued by the Obama regime. A must read for anyone interested in the future of the USA and freedom and liberty through a free-market, Christian values and Constitutional country. Too bad every possible voter couldn't read and re-read this little primer in progressivism and its hellish beyond.

Anecdotally but equally interesting and important, Horowitz exposes how the Clinton couple, and notably Hillary, have consumed and embraced this poisonous doctrine.

Lastly, the reasons for giving this 5 stars? So critically important ... so easy to read and understand ... so timely ... so credible ... so validated by observation of current events ... so obviously true!
Profile Image for Adam.
62 reviews
October 13, 2012
Let me preface this by saying I have never and do not plan on voting for Obama, but this was purely a political hit piece full of generalizations and falsehoods. The most comical being trying to marginalize McCarthyism by saying, "In the McCarthy era only a handful of Communists went to jail" as he tries to prop up someone contrary to Alinsky who pursued such a witch hunt. However that was a minor point, his booklet is very scarce on citations, but those he includes contain YouTube links and articles from a think-tank the author, himself, founded. Alinsky was quite an extreme character, but the author is pushing a narrative that is dubious at best.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
10 reviews
January 22, 2019
This review only applies to the Kindle edition:
I gave it only one star because the Kindle edition that I read had horrible editing and formatting! Paragraphs stopped in the middle of sentences, paragraphs were repeated on subsequent pages, words were dropped or run together, etc. all through this edition. It made it difficult to really digest what the author was saying. However, what a I was able to glean from the edition did make a lot of sense and truly applies to what we are seeing happening in our country today.
Profile Image for arthur h. cooper.
11 reviews
May 11, 2020
I liked the spot on references to Obama, Lenin and Marx quotations and backgrounds.. I thought the book was too short and to the point. I would enjoy the long version..

Horowitz presents us with the unvarnished truth. David is telling us what's happening to us right here and right now. We are waiting for the first blow and proclaim righteous defense. Problem is a slow blow from within. Like a cancer, we won't figure it out til it's too late. Horowitz is giving us a very real wake up call.
Profile Image for Bob Richie.
1 review
Read
October 18, 2019
Sun Tzu for the Left

Horowitz neatly and succinctly lays out the methods of the left to seize power and control. Those ends are the whole game and any means to get there are fair in their eyes.
Profile Image for Deividas.
24 reviews
March 9, 2020
The book is not about president Obama, he's just mentioned here as one of Alinsky's method practitioners. It's a complementary reading to Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. Horowitz is good at adding more details and clarity with facts and own insights.
13 reviews
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August 18, 2019
A MUST READ

A MUST read for those who love America! An easily read blueprint of the radical lefts plan and methodology to destroy America as we know it!
Profile Image for Steven Yoder.
358 reviews
June 28, 2023
This booklet connects Jacobins, Marx, Lenin, Saul Alinsky to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and how their ideas are tearing down America.
Profile Image for MK.
6 reviews1 follower
September 10, 2015
This book is the "ah ha" moment in understanding the lunatic behavior of Barack Obama.

Have you ever encountered a person whose action seem so confusion and erratic that they make no sense at all? After beating your head against the wall, you have 2 choices: cut this person from your life, or come to realize that the reason they don't make sense to you is because they are not conforming to a set of standards that you are familiar with, that your preconceived notions about "where they are coming from" are way off the mark. And then comes the "ah ha" moment.

Such is the person of Barack Hussein Obama. His behavior and attitudes seem to defy logic or any semblance of cultural integrity. However, the reality is that he has his own set of rules and his own formula for measuring integrity. He is not a fan or advocate of America, nor American culture. He is dedicated to the destruction and manipulation of the country based on the decidedly destructive ideals of his mentor, Saul D. Alinsky, who spent his life trying to destroy America from the top down.

Only $.99 (Amazon) and it's not a long read. Truly eyeopening!
Profile Image for David Johnson.
2 reviews
November 26, 2017
An exacting parallel of one of the most dangerous community activist organizers of the modern age with the most liberal elected president. Clear, succintly packaged and well explained, this book identifies the writings and intentions of the elder organizer who has become mentor to the president.
What is probably more stunning than knowing how Obama follows Alynski is knowing Alynski's direction, thinking, methods and intentions.

Teaching the most confidential tactics of unconventional and guerilla warfare used by the military are morphed into mass shootings, public displays of violence, domestic terror organizations, sniper assassinations of law enforcement and a president who embraces and accepts such for political behavior. Such is the "Rules for Radicals" by Saul Alynski, and Barack Obama's acceptance toward an Alynski model revolution. In other words, a race war, a breakdown of civil order, and a collapse of a moral code.
Profile Image for Rich Welsh.
1 review
November 20, 2013
EXCELLENT book. You can read it in one sitting, but the information you gain will last a lifetime. It explains why Barack Obama does what he does and the agenda behind it. Ever wonder why Obama lies so much and why his followers not only give him a pass for his deceptions but expect him to lie? Read this book and you'll find out!

Written by David Horowitz, a former radical communist who saw the light.
71 reviews
March 19, 2015
I read this instead of reading Alinsky book. I don't want to benefit alinsky by buying his book. This book did not give the detail I wanted about the original book. it did show reasons why I dislike Obama. point being to bring down society from within. use violence to get people to mistrust police and government and then demand change.
218 reviews1 follower
August 5, 2010
Short booklet showing the connection of Sal Alinsky's ethics and his belief that the ends justify the means to President Obama's agenda. It is an interesting read and makes some powerful connections.
Profile Image for Avel Rudenko.
325 reviews
August 10, 2011
Read it! Find out the TRUTH. Obama's secret ulterior motives and hidden agendas to rob America blind of all of it's Sovereignty. Alinsky model is currently used by Obama to take our freedoms away and leave us with NOTHING!
3 reviews3 followers
January 6, 2014
The truth of progressive socialist

WE THE PEOPLE must educate ourselves with the past in order to have a future!
Evil has a way of disguising itself when mankind desires out way their needs!


Profile Image for Kymberly.
698 reviews36 followers
June 19, 2015
This is a short book I read on a drive with my husband. So much stuff that we are indoctrinated in through government school without even realizing where it comes from. Scary now I know it is from Alinsky. Scary where are country is and where it is going, people need to wake up.
Profile Image for Greg Foley.
45 reviews
November 15, 2022
To understand Obama, and liberal political techniques, this is essential reading. Obama actually taught Alinksy's methods. Hilary Clinton was also influenced by Alinsky, having met him in high school.
219 reviews1 follower
September 14, 2011
A short read, but a must read. Where are we headed? It all fits together.
1 review1 follower
January 26, 2015
Eye opening

This a very good look into the mind of today's radicals. How they view our nation and culture and they want to destroy it.
2 reviews
December 10, 2015
Very educational

It makes what so many politicians say an do make since.
The additional insight makes national news much more understandable
Profile Image for Kyle Kiel.
12 reviews
March 20, 2016
How ...

Disgusting point of view on life. How is it that Society gives up so much power and influence to the Alinsky, Obama, Clinton and Soros of the world?
2 reviews
April 28, 2017
interesting read

there is a lot that can be learned if everyone would just learn to read between the lines and stop all people like alinskey
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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