22MOON.COM
You can see the whole Earth from the Moon!

.

.

.

.

BREITBART:

George W.

Bush-by-proxy

syndrome

By Andrew Breitbart

August 17th, 2009

The Washington Times

WASHINGTONTIMES.COM

There is an extensive body

of writing from both sides

of the political aisle that has

analyzed the extraordinary

depths of hatred leveled at

former President

George W. Bush.

His birth into a wealthy

and politically connected

family is where a lot of the

animus starts.

His rejection of his

Connecticut roots and

adoption of a rugged Texan

persona naturally riled his

birth-constituency.

His disjointed speaking style

also alienated many others –

especially those who covered

him in the Northeastern media.

Naturally,

some of his initiatives

were controversial.

His allies say he

didn’t do enough.

But all presidents

make mistakes,

pursue unpopular ideas,

possess off-putting

personality traits and

don’t do enough to

appeal to their core

supporters.

Something far more insidious

was at work in the hatred of

our most recent

former president.

Now that Mr. Bush is quietly

going about his retirement,

this strain of rage –

the GWB43 virus –

has spread like wildfire,

finding unsuspecting targets,

each granting us greater

perspective into what not

long ago seemed like a

mysterious phenomenon

isolated only on our

43rd president.

.

.

The first person to catch

the virus was Sarah Palin,

whose family also was

infected,

including,

unforgivably,

her children.

Then it was Joe the Plumber,

for asking a question.

Next were the Mormons.

Then it was Rush Limbaugh –

who hit back.

Next, tax-day “tea party”

attendees were “tea bagged.”

Then there was

a beauty contestant.

And a Cambridge cop,

too.

And now we have

town-hall “mobs.”

Smile …

you’ve been

“community organized.”

When put on

the media stage,

these individuals and

groups have been isolated

for destruction for standing

in the way of a resurgent

modern progressive movement

and for challenging its

charismatic once-in-a-lifetime

standard-bearer,

Barack Obama.

.

.

This is their time,

we’ve been told.

And no one is going

to stand in the way.

The origins of

manufactured

“politics of personal

destruction”

is Saul Alinsky,

the mentor of a

young Hillary

Rodham,

who wrote her

92-page

Wellesley College

senior thesis on

the late

Chicago-based

“progressive”

street agitator titled,

“There Is Only

the Fight.”

.

.

Mr. Obama and

his Fighting Illini,

Rahm Emanuel

and David Axelrod,

have perfected

Mr. Alinsky’s

techniques

as laid out in his

guidebook to

political warfare,

“Rules for

Radicals.”

.

.

In plain language,

we see how normal,

decent and even private

citizens become nationally

vilified symbols overnight –

all in the pursuit of

progressive political victory.

“Rule 12:

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.

(This is cruel,

but very effective.

Direct,

personalized

criticism

and ridicule

works.)”

.

.

With the complicity of the

mainstream media and

abetted by George Soros’

money and netroots nation,

Mr. Bush never

stood a chance.

.

.

But the more

the virus spreads,

the more we study it

and, perhaps,

find the cure.

The repetitive use of

the same technique against

anyone who would dare

stand up and oppose the

progressive movement

and especially its leader

has exposed the game

and rendered its tactics

less effective.

In fact,

one could make the

argument that the

Republican Party,

usually slow on the uptake,

has finally figured it out.

There are no major

Republican targets out

there opposing Mr. Obama

and his aggressive agenda.

The conservative movement

appears leaderless,

but perhaps for the best.

.

.

Maybe that is the strategy:

Standing back and letting

the Obama machine flail

in its pursuit of

its next victim.

A grass-roots movement

of average Americans

has stood up,

making it extremely

difficult to isolate and

demonize an individual.

Mr. Alinsky noted in

“Rule 12”

that it is difficult to go

after “institutions.”

And attacking “tea baggers”

and “mobs” has only created

more resistance and drawn

attention to the left’s

limited playbook.

Even Americans expressing

their constitutionally

protected right to free

speech are open game.

Now that many people

are Googling the Alinsky

rule book and catching up

with the way Chicago

thugs play their

political games,

Mr. Obama and the

Fighting Illini are going

to be forced to create

new rules –

or double down

on the old ones.

Worse yet,

as his approval ratings

descend rapidly –

Rasmussen has him

at 47 percent,

the lowest of his

presidency –

angry citizens may be

turning the tables on him,

using Mr. Alinsky

against him.

They won’t have to

“freeze” and “personalize”

him either.

He’s got 3 1/2 years left

with the klieg lights

focused on him.

And if Mr. Obama can’t

get the economy rolling

and continues to demonize

everyday folks for

his failures,

he will be further isolated

from sympathy and even

ridiculed.

Yes, it’s cruel –

and effective.

Ask Mr. Bush,

the magnanimous guy

who gave the new president

a heartfelt hug the day he

took office.

He knows.

Boy,

I wish I could see

his famous smirk right

about now.

I always loved

how much they

hated that.

Andrew Breitbart

is publisher of the news

portals Breitbart.com

and Breitbart.tv.

His latest endeavor,

Big Hollywood

(http://bighollywood.

breitbart.com),

is a group blog on Hollywood

and politics from the

center-right perspective.

.

.

.