This is a Letter to the Editor of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News responding to Nick Gier’s take on Obama as Savior.
I’d enjoy hearing more about Judith’s experiences in Chicago.
In a recent column (“His View: Obama, Trump or Putin: Who’s the real Antichrist?” March 16) Nick Gier mentions Barack Obama’s role as a community organizer, comparing it to “Jesus’ work with the poor and the oppressed.” He neglects to say how Obama was trained in this field by disciples of Saul Alinsky, who also influenced young Hillary Rodham. She consulted with him in writing her senior thesis at Wellesley, but turned down his offer of a job in favor of law school.
Obama’s ongoing connections with Alinsky associates led to his becoming a U.S. senator for Illinois, home of both Alinsky and Hillary. Obama himself, of course, hailed from Hawaii, while his father was African. Anyone familiar with the role ethnicity played in the politics of his adopted state knows his career climb was unique.
Back in the mid ’70s, after writing a story about the local NOW group for a newspaper in Springfield, I attended a workshop for women in Chicago run by Heather Booth, another Alinsky disciple and community organizer. To my surprise she told us that we should blame men for any problem in our lives, and she had us do “actions,” waving our hands, jumping up and down and yelling like bratty kids at our targets.
Disgusted by all the collectivist bull, I went home and joined up with Phyllis Schlafly’s conservative group. Not until recently did I read Alinsky’s book “Rules for Radicals,” which confirmed my old suspicions and brought up new ones. Most damning was one of the dedications at the front. No one who comprehends its implications could possibly confuse his job of “community organizer” with the mission of Christ. Alinsky’s message is downright devilish, as he praises “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.”
Judith Gordon
Moscow
