Glitter, Radical Protests, and Tee Ball on the South Lawn.

Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals

The whole book is a useful read, albeit a bit dated — it was published by a professional organizer in 1971. But Alinsky’s rules remain widely applicable:

  1. Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.
  2. Never go outside the expertise of your people.
  3. Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.
  4. Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.
  5. Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.
  6. A good tactic is one your people enjoy.
  7. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
  8. Keep the pressure on. Never let up.
  9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
  10. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
  11. If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.
  12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
  13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.

A Glitter-Infused Protest

Reading today’s headlines would have made Saul Alinsky proud: around 200 activists grabbed the national news cycle by holding a dance party. Of course, holding the dance party outside of the vice president-elect’s home in Washington, D.C. definitely helped.

A Brief Buyer’s Guide: Glitter

I do not like the aftermath of glitter. Glitter gets everywhere and stays there for approximately the rest of forever. Seriously, glitter is so good at adhering to things that forensic scientists have written lengthy odes to glitter’s value in solving crimes.

But we’re going to need a lot of glitter for protest dance parties in the near future, so let’s talk about the environmental impact of glitter. On Amazon, you can buy glitter by the pound for under $20 per pound (which I’m not linking to, because no one should have that sort of power). When you buy a pound of glitter, you’re buying a pound of tiny pieces of plastic you fully intended to scatter around. Glitter is really does stick around forever.

So we need to switch to the biodegradable stuff. Luckily, biodegradable glitter comes in a variety of lovely colors, perfect for adding that something special to your next protest. No word yet on what forensic scientists think of biodegradable glitter, though.

Fireworks, Another Bright and Sparkly Option

Every American Inauguration Day has been celebrated with fireworks. The president-elect is keeping the fireworks for tomorrow’s festivities, even though he fired Charlie Brotman, who has announced every American presidential inauguration since 1957, when Brotman swore in Dwight D. Eisenhower for a second term. Brotman also was the stadium announcer for the Washington Senators, as well as announcing tee ball games on the South Lawn of the White House.

via GIPHY