Sarah Palin, Anwar Ibrahim and the Politics of Alinsky
The establishment fears Anwar’s impact as an inspiration and figurehead of the Opposition. Surround him with as much tawdry drama as possible, and the Malaysian public will grow sick of even the mention of his name.
By Leading Malaysian Neocon
Ordinary Malaysians are getting fed up of all the sex allegations against Anwar Ibrahim. This strikes a chord with me – it reminds me of a parallel situation that has been unfolding in the USA.
The Big Government article ‘MSM Uses Palin’s Own Children as Political Weapons Against Her’ (http://biggovernment.com/jjmnolte/2011/05/07/msm-uses-palins-own-children-as-political-weapons-against-her/) describes how the liberal-dominated mainstream media in America constantly shines a sickly spotlight on Sarah Palin.
The MSM parades, mocks and lambasts every minute detail that is even remotely connected to Palin, including the personal lives of her children.
The reason for this constant noise, according to the article, is that U.S. Democrats and their allies fear the impact she has on the political scene – even as they belittle her as wholly inconsequential and not worth a second thought.
After all, Palin turned Obama’s 2008 impending landslide against McCain into a mere majority of votes. She has made Senators, Congresspersons and Governors out of underdogs by endorsing them in the 2010 U.S. elections. With just a Facebook posting criticizing Obama’s policies, she has gotten the U.S. President and Robert Gibbs leaping to respond – on national TV, no less.
If you thought the exact opposite of Sarah Palin, then Congratulations! You’ve been dutifully following the MSM. According to them, Palin is just a retro-hairstyled bimbo who sees Russia from her house and thinks North and South Korea are the same. (Recently, our own local MSM pundits have not been innocent of this either – you know who you are.)
Surround her with as much triviality as possible, and the American public will grow sick of even the mention of her name. They will think of her only as a joke. “Sarah Palin? That airhead? You can’t be serious!” Soon even the world’s public ends up laughing about her.
This strikes me as exactly what is being done to Anwar Ibrahim.
The establishment fears Anwar’s impact as an inspiration and figurehead of the Opposition – if not the de facto leader – even as they portray him as a sidelined, has-been, depraved lackey of America and Israel.
Surround him with as much tawdry drama as possible, and the Malaysian public will grow sick of even the mention of his name. They will equate him only with dirty jokes. “Anwar Ibrahim? Maybe he can still win the next election if he suddenly comes from behind, ha ha ha!” Soon even the world’s public ends up laughing about him.
Just try this experiment out: Ask the next armchair pundit you meet if they know what Anwar Ibrahim’s economic, social and governance recommendations for the country are. The sex allegations have so permeated the atmosphere around Anwar that they have crowded out any serious discussion about him as a real political leader.
That is why sex videos featuring men who look nothing like Anwar are being bandied about. Who cares if no one is convinced it is really him caught on tape, as long as they keep talking about it and nothing else! Tomorrow another ‘whistleblowing insider’ could even release a sex tape featuring only women, and still claim it features Anwar Ibrahim!
The late community organizer Saul Alinsky is a major influence on Barack Obama‘s philosophy. In Saul Alinsky’s book Rules For Radicals, Rule 12 describes how to delegitimize an opponent: 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.
You tell me if this does not describe exactly what is being done to Anwar Ibrahim now.
Malaysia has truly ‘matured’ politically if we are using underhanded tactics on par with the experienced Americans. Sadly, this is not something to be proud of.
from
‘Leading Malaysian Neocon’
