#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.)

This has been bothering me for a while now and although I read almost everything I can find on the health care bill, I have not seen this mentioned.

The architects of the health care bill have implemented several traps for conservatives and anyone who would oppose them politically.

I think everyone remembers what happened to Joe the Plumber after he sinned against humanity by daring to ask a question. The left sprang into action and multiple people, many of them in the MN state government immediately began doing opposition research on poor Joe.

Within a day or two, we found out all sorts of information on Joe. Turns out that he was “not really a plumber!” and that he may have had some tax issues. Clearly these were things we needed to know in order to properly form an opinion about the idea of wealth redistribution.

Although it is encouraging to note that some people did lose their job over the disclosure of information obtained from government data systems, this happened only after intense scrutiny and let us not forget that at the time, the Republicans were still in power and there was at least the possibiligy of Federal attention so the peons were offered up in sacrifice. Surely this was an isolated incident. Surely nobody with access to government systems would every do that.

What we saw was just a taste of what lies ahead.

Soon, all of your medical information will be in a Federal computer network. All of it.

Have you ever been depressed? Have you taken anti depressants? Have you ever had an STD? Did you disclose your partners so they could be “informed”? Have you ever seen a therapist? What did you talk about?

Just imagine, across the spectrum of political candidates, just what kind of information will lie dormant in the medical record system. Know anyone with anger issues? How about compulsive behaviors or addictions? (a candidate with an addiction? shocking!).

What about someone that had an abortion and keeps it confidential and later decided to join the ranks of the pro-life activists?

Just imagine what kind of havoc could be made with the occasional disclosure of this information. You might be thinking that if this happens, there will be consequences. Sometimes, yes. Underlings will be found out in an audit. Just as even now, the Fed is prosecuting people who snooped passport information.

Yet – some information can be second sourced. If you find that someone has an addiction, you can always talk to the dealer at their favorite casino. You can always have an ex-lover or associate come forward to talk about the those “crazy days in college when we were experimenting…”.

The real benefit will not be the destruction of the odd Senate or Gubernatorial candidate, it will be in the power to chill many people from even considering running for office.

This is too much information on too many people to allow the government to consolidate it. This is an enormous power grab that will not be fully understood until it is far too late.

There is much discussion of late regarding the left’s play book “Rules for Radicals”. By now many of us have read excerpts and summary descriptions of the contents of this book.

While we should all be aware of this book and the application of its tactics, it might be useful to take a step back. Rules for Radicals is not holy writ. It is not a magical formula for unlimited political power.

It may have been effective when used by the left at the lower levels of power against a complacent, uneducated population. Until now, it has arguable never been consistently applied from the lofty heights of national executive office. At least, not in the United States.

This book that has served Obama and his crowd so well up until now is no longer working as well as it once did. This is because Rules for Radicals is a book on asymetrical political warfare.

Imagine what wold happen if Islamic insurgents somehow found themselves in control of a proper army and all of it’s resources. I am sure they would have a very good time for a while testing out the big guns and certainly making a big show out of dispatching some of their more troublesome enemies. No doubt there would be much celebration and of course at least a handful of their people would be lost to accidents: fighter planes would crash, helicopters would break down and someone is bound to fumble a JDAM every once in a while. Power in all forms must be respected.

Insurgents are not wired to maintain a proper army or it’s resourced. They do not have the discipline or the mindset. They would not know how to efficiently and consistency utilize their resources at capacity. Discipline would break down. Morale would suffer. The insurgent leaders would be shocked to learn that there is more to running a proper modern army than just giving orders, selecting targets and declaring victory.

What the insurgents cannot escape is their world view and their belief system.

The Alinsky way, for all of the shock and awe we saw earlier this year, is currently self destructing under their weight of it’s own achievement. Does anyone really think they can continue to play those games for 3 more years?

In the book “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe“, the Witch Jadis lays claim to the life of one of the errant child protagonists based on “Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time“. According to this set of rules, she has a valid claim on the childs blood. As a product of the best universities and convinced of her own infallible brilliance, she fails to take note of the “Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time“. With out giving too much away, this oversight and hubris proves to be her undoing.

The disciples of Alinsky need to meet the students of Sun Tzu.

If you have never read “Art of War”, you need to make a point to read it. We do not need to sink to the level of radical leftists. Their thinking is limited and narrow.

Their current troubles are predictable because they do not understand those who love liberty. It is possible that many of them do not even understand what it is behind their movement. They are knowledge and fact averse. They hide from and distort reality at every turn. What we are seeing unfold is the ultimate result of this mindset.

President Obama has made a series of profound strategic errors. These mistakes will only continue to grow and compound and will result in his ultimate political defeat if he does not quickly change course. Even now, it is probably too late. He is behind the curve. His loops are getting longer and his forces are losing confidence and trust. He is on the verge of what will be the most spectacular and humiliating political defeats in American history.

Instead of reading Alinsky and Marx, he should have Read Clauswitz and Sun Tzu.

His missteps are almost too numerous to list:

1. By being unaware of the law (data collection/retention) and unaware of his mannerisms and the publics capacity to grow weary of his animated image on television, he has failed to understand himself.

2. By shuting out all Republicans and relying only on Democrats to pass his agenda, he has united and energized conservatives and fair minded independents. In doing so, he has failed to understand his enemy.

The very essense of Art of War is the idea that victory is gained not by thuggish confrontation but by insightful perception. We are admonished that if we know ourselves and we know our enemy, we will not be in danger in a thousand battles.

Obama is a bully at heart. He is impatient and wants to take by force what a more clever man would take by cunning and patience.

He apparently never read that General is wisdom, credibility, benevolence, courage, and discipline. Or maybe, like a certain other President, he has trouble with the word “is”.

Just a few more tidbits (from Chapter 2 – read a free translation of Art of War at www.sonshi.com)

• A protracted battle will blunt weapons and dampen ardor.

• If troops lay siege to a walled city, their strength will be exhausted.

• When weapons are blunted, and ardor dampened, strength exhausted, and resources depleted, the neighboring rulers will take advantage of these complications.

• Then even the wisest of counsels would not be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

• Therefore, I have heard of military campaigns that were clumsy but swift, but I have never seen military campaigns that were skilled but protracted.

3. Now that the public is engaged and enraged, instead of employing subtlety and diplomacy, he has opted to lay siege. Tsk tsk. Even the President has limited resources and he is squandering them.

There is so much more I could cover, but the inspiration for this diary entry is one of my favorite passages from Chapter 8:

Therefore, there are five dangerous traits of a general President:

1. He who is reckless can be killed politically neutered. (currently in process)
   
2. He who is cowardly can be captured controlled. (this is a man terrified of being disliked)
   
3. He who is quick tempered can be insulted. (this one has been shocking to see but it might be his biggest weakness)
   
4. He who is moral can be shamed. (Not all of these apply)
   
5. He who is fond of the people can be worried. (I bet you didn’t know his disinterest in America could be a strength?)
   

These five traits are faults in a general President, and are disastrous in warfare.

The army’s party’s destruction, and the death insignificance of the general President are due to these five dangerous traits.

They must be examined.

You should keep in mind that Sun Tzu thought that a single one of these traits was a disaster in the making.

Be encouraged.