In accusing Barack Obama of "Saul Alinsky socialism," GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is banking on his audience having NO IDEA who Alinsky is. Alinsky is the perfect Gingrich target: he's unknown, he has a name that sounds conveniently Jewish, Russian, intellectual, and foreign all at the same time--qualities likely to energize knee-jerk hostility in Newt's fan base. 

But most importantly, Alinsky is dead and can't sue for damages.
 
In point of fact, the only thing Alinsky and Obama have in common is that they were, at different points in US history, Chicago community activists and organizers. They never met. Obama was still a kid when Alinsky died in 1972. When he says Alinsky was a socialist, Gingrich is also lying. Alinsky grew up in a rough, poor neighborhood in Chicago and dedicated his life to helping people from his community. His organizational tactics were praised by William F. Buckley and celebrated in Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle." Alinsky self identified as a radical, but never as a socialist. 

Tell Newt to quit libeling a noble man who can no longer defend his good name. 

We the undersigned demand you stop libeling a dead man. You have used the good name of Saul Alinsky to demonize US President Barack Obama, implying that Alinsky was a socialist. Alinsky was nothing if not a self-made man. Born into a poor family, he put himself through the University of Chicago, and then went on to organize his community's most oppressed people. Alinsky is a hero. If you cannot honor his memory, please leave it alone.