Saul Alinsky

This is a guest post by Byron Kennard.
 
Late in 2010, I read Whole Earth Discipline by Stewart Brand and, frankly, I almost wish I hadn’t. Reading Brand’s book convinced me that global warming is a threat that’s breathing down our necks right now. Until then, even though I am a stalwart environmentalist, it was just one of several worries that kept me awake at nights. Now it became Nightmare # 1.
 
But what the devil was I to do about it?
 
After decades in the trenches, I’d just about given up on conventional politics, especially now that “climate deniers” have managed to disable our national government’s capacity to respond to the threat – yet another reason to toss and turn all night long.  
 
But then looking at the preposterous, anti-science claims these climate deniers are making I thought, “Gee, these guys are begging for ridicule.” And I remembered organizing guru Saul Alinsky’s observation that, “Ridicule is the most powerful weapon there is because it is almost unanswerable.” 
 
It occurred to me that, while I personally don’t possess the political power to combat climate deniers, I do personally possess the power to ridicule them. Years spent writing, producing, and performing political satire in community theater weren’t wasted after all!