Government · Nationwide · August 18, 2026
Judge Upholds Trump's Religious Liberty Commission Against Interfaith Lawsuit
What Alinsky tactic is being used
2 of the thirteen rules are in play here — campaigns rarely run just one.
Rule 4
“Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
The whole suit was built on making the administration live up to its own book of rules: rather than contesting the commission's theology, the coalition invoked the Federal Advisory Committee Act's 'fairly balanced' membership requirement and its records provisions, and the executive order's own promise to celebrate 'religious pluralism.' The story says the litigation itself forced release of transcripts and meeting materials the administration had withheld — the tactic worked exactly where the gap between stated rule and practice was real, and failed where Judge Cronan found the statute set no standard and no deadline.
Counter-Rule 4 · Radical Integrity
Close the gap between stated values and actual practice before anyone else finds it. This tactic only works where the gap is real.
Close the gap yourself before someone else measures it. Read Executive Order 14291's Section 1 language and then check whether the commission's own conduct matches: the Federal Register meeting notices, the posted transcripts on justice.gov, whether minutes and materials go up before rather than after a lawsuit. If your church or ministry runs a board or grant program, publish its membership and minutes on time this month, and say plainly to friends who ask that the transcripts were released under litigation pressure rather than pretending they were always public.
Rule 3
“Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.”
The fight was deliberately moved off ground where the commission's members are strong — preaching, doctrine, public witness — and onto federal advisory-committee procedure: fair balance under chapter 10 of title 5, APA reviewability, records disclosure. Dan Patrick, Franklin Graham and Cardinal Dolan are not administrative-law practitioners; Democracy Forward is. Cronan's own reasoning shows how technical the terrain was, turning on whether the statute defines 'fair' balance and whether the President's appointments are reviewable at all.
Counter-Rule 3 · Preparation and Width
Prepare the unfamiliar ground before you are dragged onto it. "I don't know, I'll find out and come back" beats an improvised answer.
Prepare that ground now instead of improvising on it. Read the executive order and two or three of the Federal Register meeting notices for the commission so you know what a designated federal officer, a public comment deadline and a fair-balance claim actually are. When someone at a Bible study or a town hall asks whether the commission broke the law, say what the July 27, 2026 ruling held and what it did not decide — and if you do not know, say 'I'll find out' rather than guessing.
Chapter 3 sets out the rules; Chapter 15 answers each of them in turn. This is that pairing applied to this story.
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