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Last Thursday’s special meeting of the Council was marked by what appeared as a sneakiness that reminds one of Chicago Politics. It was a concerted effort by this communities “Radical lobby” that owns Mayor Steve Flock, to muzzle citizens and squelch the democratic process. Caught in an on the fly change of the official agenda, the more vocal of the radical environmentalist had left the chamber, thinking the fix was in, when Spear brought attention to the substantial crowd that had gather that evening to defend Off-Road Recreation.
This kind of undemocratic maneuver was unexpected but in retrospect predictable. Yes, the off-road issue is contentious and often draws rowdy and vocal crowds on both sides of the argument, but it is an important topic that has garnered a substantial interest of the community. You’ve got to hand it to the other Council Members (Klink, Harris, Cole and Spear) for their quick realization that they were not going to be a party of some backroom deal of Mayor Flock and his Radical Environmentalist friends. On that night the adults overruled the man-child. I think it is important to give kudos when kudos are well deserved and in this case, Jim Harris along with Steve Spear set the mayor straight and forced Flock to open the meeting to at least Public Comment on the issue. The off road community owes a thanks to Mr. Harris and Mr. Spear for their sticking to their guns and forcing parliamentary rules on the council thereby overriding the mayor.
The GPAC was tasked to design a recreational system in the general plan that would embrace all forms of recreation not just those forms that the “Radical lobby” that stacked the Commission believed to be “good”. We as a group have to blame ourselves for believing that because we believe in fairness and compromise that those that do not like Off-road recreation believe in those same concepts of fairness and compromise.We should have come forward at the beginning and became a stakeholder on the GPAC. Shame on us.
They do not and will never except a compromise as expressed by the veiled threat of Pat Flanagan on Tuesday Night when she opined to the Council that they must consider CEQA and its legal ramifications. In other words if the “Radical Greens” don’t like the outcome of the trails issue they might well sue. Fulfilling Saul Alinsky’s Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself. That is a sure sign that they have no desire or intention to come up with a equitable compromise.
In 1971, Saul Alinsky wrote an entertaining classic on grassroots organizing titled Rules for Radicals. Alinsky’s Rule 10 says: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, “Okay, what would you do?” Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” is their Bible and they live and die by them. They have no plan to compromise and have no compromise in their plans.
Since we in the off-road community have always been willing to compromise and have done so to the point of our own determent, we’ve started to get wise to the fact that the “Radical lobby” have no intent to compromise and have no constructive alternatives. Having a constructive alternative would mean that they would have to quit complaining and stop organizing. The quest for power is the life blood of a Radical.
Alinsky’s Rule 1 states: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do. We’ve all bought into this belief that the Radical lobby of environmental extremists are a huge political force, but time and time again they have been unable to translate their bravado into votes. In the whole Basin there are about 40 or so absolute die hard enviro-radicals but they have been able over the years to con and confuse local politicians to believe that there numbers exceed all reality.
Remembering that power is the ultimate goal groups like this have to have a enemy to vilify to gain that power. Where they went wrong is they went against the hapless Off-Road Community. We didn’t know that we were supposed to fear them. We were just to much of a bunch of rednecks and rubes to realize that were supposed to react to their “Rules for Radicals” accordingly. What they have found is they chose to make enemies of the very people that they were supposed to organize in their cause.
What they did not count on was that we the proletariat were not swayed by their grand schemes but were indeed repulsed by them. What then happened was over the next 5 years is we organized against them. They are now considered the enemies of freedom and liberty. They are the ones that people now guffaw and rile against as they try harder and harder each time to wrench control of local government. They are amazed and bewildered as to why we did not react as big business and big government has always done. I suppose we are just to stupid to know that we were supposed to lay down like dogs.
No longer are people moved by ridiculous emotional testimony and unsupported anecdotes of the “Radical lobby.” The days of their, “Believe us not your lying eyes,” rhetoric are over.
By us stand against the “Radical lobbyists” we have emboldened others, including government to stand up against their inflated rhetoric and tell them simply, NO. Who would have thought a rag tag group of folks could bring at least San Bernardino County local governments back from the brink? We in the Off Road Community drew a line in the sand a point where our liberty and freedom will not be assailed further. Others, using facts and truth now stand to silence the forces of fascism. That drives them nuts.
While we have much to learn about finally defeating Alinskyites at least on this front we have some little victories that signal to other freedom loving people we can in the end save our country from what are essentially a minority of misfits and malcontents hell bent on complete power and control of American Society.
Cactus Thorns has been online in one form or the other since 2001. What started as a personal blog documenting the corruption and lack of Due Process of the 29 Palms Community Development Department has turned into over these many years into a hugely popular Independent Alternative News Media Outlet. We have partnered with other media including The Desert Star Weekly, Joshua Tree Star, other blogs, indie media and an incredible staff of volunteer Reporters, Commentators and Opinion Makers to create one of the most read, honest and dependable alternative to the Local traditional Media services in the country. Thanks to you the reader we are in the 5% of most read sites in the World.
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Seems as though Mr Flock would rather hear his own voice than anyone else.