Letter: Charging Newt with prejudice
GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich speaks during a campaign stop in Columbus, Ohio. (Feb. 7, 2012) Credit: AP
The article on Saul Alinsky and Newt Gingrich is appalling and offensive ["What Newt doesn't tell us about Saul Alinsky," Opinion, Feb. 1]. The writer tried to paint Gingrich as prejudiced: "Why would he use a code phrase that evokes Jewishness? Nah, that can't be it." You are trying to entice your readers with some red meat, and you should be ashamed.
According to Alinsky, the main job of the organizer is to bait an opponent into reacting. You obviously are an Alinsky disciple yourself. The good done by LI-CAN, the Long Island Congregations Associations and Neighborhoods, has no relation to whether Gingrich is prejudiced. You are picking a target, freezing it and polarizing it -- another Alinsky rule!
Choosing a president is the most important act that a U.S. citizen is asked to do. Maybe people should read "Rules for Radicals" so they can get a full understanding of the allegations about President Barack Obama's belief system and his sympathies. Dead or alive, Alinsky is influential and did inspire Obama, in my opinion, and that is something we should all be very afraid of.
Peter Flynn, Cold Spring Harbor
