RE: ‘Rules for Radicals’

Oct 28, 2022
Oct 28, 2022 Updated Apr 13, 2025
9

Editor,

Charles Bonnici’s Oct. 24 letter to the editor claimed to represent ideas from the 1971 book “Rules for Radicals” by Saul Alinski. Alinski never wrote the nonsense Mr. Bonnici erroneously quoted, which one can easily confirm by reading the book and easily debunk in two minutes on the web (Snopes declared it false in 2014, Reuters News Service in 2016 and again in 2020).

(9) comments

Tafhdyd Oct 28, 2022 4:26am

Craig,

Thanks for your letter pointing out the fallacy of the “Rules for Radicals” letter from the 24th. There are many people that only see the hard copy of the Daily Journal and do not see the accompanying comments that are available to the subscribers of the electronic copy. Unless they take the time to check the facts themselves they would not k

Tafhdyd Oct 28, 2022 4:33am

Sorry, little phone, big fingers. To finish my comment they would not know about the false statements of the letter and may further spread the false information.

Terence Y Oct 29, 2022 10:23am

Mr. Wiesner, I haven’t read the book or the analyses and interpretations of Mr. Alinski’s book and you may be correct but I would say that citing Snopes and Reuters News Service doesn’t lend much credence to your claim. Believe it or not, they’ve been known for citing fake news as truth – enough times that they can’t be taken seriously anymore.

Tafhdyd Oct 29, 2022 1:38pm

Terence,

I haven't seen you in the comments very much, have you been on vacation? As for sources, are you saying RSBN, OAN and Newsmax are better than Snopes and Reuters?

Terence Y Oct 30, 2022 8:54am

Taffy, my friend, thanks for asking - I was on vacation and according to many major news sources, I just left the island where Mauna Loa is ready to erupt (more fear reporting, IMO, but this is Mother Nature and she may surprise us again). I hope all is well, or is getting better, with you. As for politically-related sources, I’d trust RSBN, OAN, and to a lesser degree, Newsmax, more than I’d ever trust Snopes, Reuters, CNN, MSDNC, and their ilk.

Ray Fowler Oct 31, 2022 8:59pm

I wondered why we have not seen you in the comments section for a while. You know, Jorg was incommunicado as well. Were you guys vacationing together?

Terence Y Nov 1, 2022 9:02am

Hi Ray, unfortunately, Jorg doesn’t share his vacation schedule with me. I’m not sure why as I’m sure we’d get along famously. Now that the country has done away with mandated COVID theatre, we’re able to again gallivant around the country.

craigwiesner Oct 30, 2022 6:35am

The first thing I did was to open a PDF of the actual book and search for some of the phrases falsely attributed to Alinski. Then, I went online to see where the lie might have originated and found it in letters to the editor like happened here. Then I found the places that debunked it. Now, this morning, since I saw your post, I've been enjoying reading about how folks on the right now embrace Saul Alinski's ideas. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/02/08/right-saul-alinsky-canada-truckers-00006903

Terence Y Oct 30, 2022 9:02am

Mr. Wiesner, thanks for a glimpse into your efforts at due diligence. The description of your process is more convincing than saying Snopes or Reuters has debunked a claim. Now if only we could expect the same efforts at due diligence by writers before they attempt to push COVID masking theatre, or push experimental jabs on bodies and especially kids bodies (subjecting them to known and unknown side effects), or expect “green” electricity to make a difference in emissions when fossil fuel generating plants continue to supply the bulk of electricity around the world.

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