Organize This

The Democrats are taking offense at what they consider slams against “community organizers” in both Rudy Giuliani's and Sarah Palin's speeches at the RNC. MoveOn.org sent out an email saying Palin “told us that she can be condescending and dismissive of the real work Barack Obama did helping real people on the South Side of Chicago." Obama himself sent out an email of protest. The Democrats feel strongly that community organizers do not deserve jibes like “a mayor is kind of like a community organizer—but with responsibilities,” or Giuliani's “he was nothing, nada, zero. He was a community organizer—what's that?”

I can't speak for others here. I imagine community organizers are really a huge constituency who would, otherwise, have voted solidly Republican. But nothing could be more perfectly calculated to make me want to support the Republicans. What the hell, after all, is a community organizer, but a social worker? When has a social worker ever done anything but harm?

A professional community organizer, as opposed to a volunteer, an elected official, or a pastor, is alomst necessarily a Pharisee. They pretend to be doing out of the goodness of their heart what they are really doing for money; or for ego; or for a political agenda. By not being elected, they avoid the ordinary scrutiny. But a professional community organizer is a person, an outsider, who thinks he knows better than the people of the community itself what is good for them, and believes they need not be consulted on this.

What could be more profoundly anti-democratic? It has to mean that the community organizer considers himself or herself intrinsically superior to the people around him. He or she wades in uninvited to “improve” them.

All the best and biggest empires were built on the basic principle of community organizing.

Good intentions may well mix here with huge ego—but it is the huge ego, not the good intentions, that is certain. Ego might as easily be mixed with a bullying instinct, an instinct to control, or an instinct to make money off the less fortunate. Condescending and dismissive indeed.

Having been a professional community organizer ought to disqualify anyone from the Presidency.