BloggeRhythms

Senior White House adviser, Kellyanne Conway, appeared on Fox News Business channel this morning. Discussing the current attacks by Democrats on a host of targets, she explained that they were so surprised by Trump's unexpected presidential win they were caught flat-footed. Which is why they’re grasping at any straws they can find to try and discredit him and his win of the Oval Office.     

Ms Conway’s response was remindful of the previous administration itself, which was often noted here as seemingly using Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals when dealing with opposition. Published in 1971 the activist and writer included the following four items on his list which Democrat leadership appears to be employing now:  

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.”

Rule 8: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.”

Rule 11: “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.”

Rule 13: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.”

However, what is apparently missing from Democrat present strategy is that while they’re doling an excellent job of ridiculing, pressure-building, negativity and hurtful target selection regarding the POTUS, they have no viable or attractive alternatives of their own. 

And what’s worse for them, the new POTUS seems to be taking the best position on all of the issues presently in contention. A few examples follow on that subject. 

While Trump needs 60 Senate votes to fund construction of a wall along the Southern border, Chuck Schumer knows that if Republicans put money for the wall into a bill, and Democrats block it, it doesn’t matter what else is in the bill — Schumer will make it all about the wall anyway. That way they’d crush a central feature of Trump’s political identity while thrilling the Democratic base 

Yet, while the strategy’s “thrilling” to the Democrat base, the GOP is already in a very good position to gain several additional Senate seats in the 2018 Senate elections. What’s more, 10 Democrats Senators in states that voted for Trump in 2016 have to face the voters in 2018.  If the GOP gains only five seats in 2018, they’ll be just three votes short of a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. 

Even more importantly,  numerous polls show that strong majorities of Americans want to reduce the flow of drugs, preserve U.S. jobs for Americans, also wanting Congress to pass laws that help Americans. Meaning that while Democrats may be happy with Schumer's antagonism, the majority of voters probably won't be.

Similarly, pursuing the yet to be proven Democrat claim about a Trump/Russia connection may be another one that will eventually backfire, as reported by Ezra Dulis @breitbart.com yesterday.

“Mr. Trump’s demand for a congressional investigation appears to be based, at least in part, on unproved claims by Breitbart News and conservative talk radio hosts that secret warrants were issued authorizing the tapping of the phones of Mr. Trump and his aides at Trump Tower in New York. 

“The Breitbart article in question cites the Times’ own reporting on the intelligence community. Their January 19th article, “Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry Into Trump Associates’'.” 

“An editorial note at this link reveals that the print version of this article was headlined: “Wiretapped Data Used in Inquiry of Trump Aides.” 

“It quotes an anonymous source who says that “wiretapped communications had been provided to the White House” as part of an investigation into “the business dealings that some of the president-elect’s past and present advisers have had with Russia.” 

At the end of the article, the Times‘ reporters fret that then-Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions would “for a time be the only person in the government authorized to seek foreign intelligence wiretaps on American soil.” 

The same issue was further investigated and reported upon by Jim Hoft @thegatewaypundit.com who wrote yesterday: “The Main Stream Media and other enemies of the current President are challenging the proposition that President Obama wire tapped President Donald Trump during the 2016 Presidential race.  President Trump started this discussion with his tweets over the weekend.” 

Four Trump tweets were given as examples of those sent over the weekend, such as: “DonaldTrump: “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” 

Mr. Hoff then writes: “This is now being referred to as Obamagate! 

“It is not unfounded that former President Obama would wire tap President Trump during the election process.  This is because he has done this before.” 

Individuals wiretapped by the Obama Administration were then posted from WikiLeaks, which on February 23rd listed the following examples:  

  “The US National Security Agency bugged a private climate change strategy meeting; between UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin;
”Obama bugged Chief of Staff of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for long term interception targetting his Swiss phone;
”Obama singled out the Director of the Rules Division of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Johann Human, and targetted his Swiss phone for long term interception;
”Obama stole sensitive Italian diplomatic cables detailing how Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implored Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to help patch up his relationship with US President Barack Obama, who was refusing to talk to Netanyahu;
”Obama intercepted top EU and Japanese trade ministers discussing their secret strategy and red lines to stop the US “extort[ing]” them at the WTO Doha arounds (the talks subsequently collapsed);
”Obama explicitly targeted five other top EU economic officials for long term interception, including their French, Austrian and Belgium phone numbers;
”Obama explicitly targetted the phones of Italy’s ambassador to NATO and other top Italian officials for long term interception; and
”Obama intercepted details of a critical private meeting between then French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel and Berluscon, where the latter was told the Italian banking system was ready to “pop like a cork”. 

“In addition to the above list we also know now that Obama wire tapped various individuals in the US media that were reporting information not flattering to the Obama Administration.  It is widely known that Obama’s Justice Department targeted journalists with wiretaps in 2013:

“Fox News’ James Rosen and his family, were part of an investigation into government officials anonymously leaking information to journalists. Rosen was not charged but his movements and actions were tracked. 

“Also in 2013, members of the Associated Press were also a target of the surveillance.  The ultra liberal New Yorker even noted that “In moderate and liberal circles, at least, the phone-records scandal, partly because it involves the dear old A.P. and partly because it raises anew the specter of Big Brother, may well present the most serious threat to Obama’s reputation.”

“Reporter Sharyl Attkisson said in 2014 that her personal computer and CBS laptop were hacked after she began filing stories about Benghazi that were unflattering to the Obama administration.”

All of which led Mr. Hoft to conclude that “Obama is no stranger to wire tapping.  His administration tapped phones and computers of friends and foe alike.” 

Which also means that pursuing these kinds of issues against the new president not only leads to similar retaliation, evidence abounds that the precedent was set by others long before he ever took office. Particularly in the case of Obama. 

And then, another Democrat misfire was found whereas, according to breitbart.com, a Louisiana Democrat congressman, Cedric Richmond, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus apologized Sunday for a joke he made about a controversial photo featuring Kellyanne Conway.  

During his speech at the Washington Press Club Foundation's congressional dinner Wednesday evening, Richmond referenced a controversial photo showing Conway kneeling on an Oval Office couch during a gathering. 

Richmond said: “But I really just want to know what was going on there, because, I won't tell anybody. And you can just explain to me that — that circumstance, because she really looked kind of familiar there in that position there. But don't answer. And I don't want you to refer back to the '90s.” 

“On Thursday, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel urged Richmond to apologize for the comments, which she called "disgusting" and "offensive. A snarky joke for you is just a reminder of the demeaning comments women hear every single day," Romney McDaniel said. "And trust me, it happens to all women." 

Trying to scramble back and save some face, “Richmond said he decided to apologize after a discussion with people I know and trust" and said he understood "the way my remarks have been received by many." 

"I have consistently been a champion for women and women’s issues, and because of that the last thing I would want to ever do is utter words that would hurt or demean them," his statement said. "I apologize to Kellyanne Conway and everyone who has found my comments to be offensive." 

Nonetheless, the odds are that this will come back to haunt him in future campaigns. Because what Democrats in particular seem to continually forget is that they now live in a digital age. Which means that their attention to data accumulation and recorded performance, good and bad, is most often ignored. But, since their erroneous performances are now preserved forever, their opposition will surely employ all that’s available at appropriate times in the future. 

All of which means that, so long as Democrats, from top to bottom, keep employing Alinsky's rules for ridicule, pressure-building, negativity and hurtful target selection against their rivals they’re also demonstrating clearly that they have nothing else to offer that’s of value to constituents. Which surely should turn out to be a long-run losing proposition.

That's it for today folks. 

Adios