To add to Dan’s post below, today’s Chicago Tribune has a story discussing Alinksy. And last week, the Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet had a column wondering why the Right seemed to like tossing his name around. She didn’t answer the question, but I will: while Alinsky’s radicalism was totally home-grown American, “Saul Alinsky” sounds . . . foreign. Russian, maybe. Or Jewish. It’s a dog-whistle for the Right.

6 replies on “Even More Saul Alinsky”

  1. It’s similar to saying “Jane Fonda”. It’s an appeal to the old Law & Order voters that Nixon went after in 1968. It’s a reminder to “Real Americans” that dirty fucking hippies are still a threat, 45 years on.

  2. Probably for the same reason that Bob Dole used to rail against the U.N. when he ran for president and invoked the name Boutros Boutros-Ghali with a smirk.

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