Elites Beware: Eric Cantor’s Defeat May Signal A Populist Revolution
” Expecting House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to win his GOP primary in Virginia, I spent Election Day in Pennsylvania – interviewing angry Republicans, Democrats and independents about the rise of political populism.
I was in the wrong state, but I had the right topic. Cantor’s defeat has less to do with immigration reform than it does with an uneven movement that should frighten conservative and liberal political elites to their shallow cores.
Americans see a grim future for themselves, their children and their country. They believe their political leaders are selfish, greedy and short-sighted – unable and/or unwilling to shield most people from wrenching economic and social change. For many, the Republican Party is becoming too extreme, while the Democratic Party – specifically President Obama – raised and dashed their hopes for true reform.”
Only someone who has lived in a cave for the past twenty years could believe that real change can come from the District of Corruption . Despite the best efforts of the Corporate-State run media to demonize all things Tea Party and despite the occasional drug-addled morons shooting up the neighborhood a la Las Vegas , more and more citizens are coming to the conclusion that the ballot box and the courts offer no recourse …
” At the West Chester’s popular D.K. Diner, a U.S. veteran who served five combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan said the only solution may be a revolution against political elites. “We may need to drag politicians out and shoot them like they did in Cuba,” said a grim-faced Frederick Derry two days after a Los Vegas couple allegedly shot two police officers. The attackers draped their bodies with a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, according to ABC News, pinned a swastika on them and a note that read “The revolution has begun.”
A violent revolution is unconscionable. But what may be in the air is a peaceful populist revolt – a bottom-up, tech-fueled assault on 20th century political institutions. In a memo to his fellow Democrats, former Clinton White House political director Doug Sosnik writes persuasively about “an increasing populist push“ across the political spectrum.
At the core of Americans’ anger and alienation is the belief that the American Dream is no longer attainable. Previous generations held fast to the promise that anyone who worked hard and played by the rules could get ahead, regardless of their circumstances. But increasingly, Americans have concluded that the rules aren’t fair and that the system has been rigged to concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a privileged few at the expense of the many. And now the government is simply not working for anyone.”
Sosnik is wrong in that the government is working for some people and some businesses , just not the bulk of the taxpaying public . It’s working just fine if you draw a publicly funded paycheck as a federal employee or are a lobbyist , politician or corporate bigwig . It also works quite well if you happen to be a member of the media elite as the cronyism and nepotism between those two entities is well-documented .
But he is correct in thinking that the time is nigh for the average citizen to choose sides and decide if he/she will indeed take part in the destruction of the barricades .
” Which side of the barricade are you on? Populists from the right and the left – from the tea party and libertarian-leaning Rand Paul to economic populist Elizabeth Warren – are positioning themselves among the insurgents. Sosnik pointed to six areas of consensus that eventually may unite the divergent populist forces:
- A pull back from the rest of the world with more of an inward focus.
- A desire to go after big banks and other large financial institutions
- Elimination of corporate welfare.
- Reducing special deals for the rich.
- Pushing back on the violation of the public’s privacy by the government and big business.
- Reducing the size of government.
In Washington, Cantor’s defeat is being chalked up to the tea party’s intolerance toward immigration reform. While he paid a price for flirting with a White House compromise, Cantor’s greater sin was inauthenticity – brazenly flip-flopping on the issue. Typical politician.”
Mr Fournier’s contention that Elizabeth “Fauxcahontas” Warren is anything but a confirmed Statist aside , we are willing to concede that the lines of battle are being drawn and that there is much common ground to be found between the Occupy crowd and the Tea Partiers .
The question remains , which American personage will be able to unite these disparate interests and lead the charge over the barricades of corruption to reinstate American republicanism and reestablish a nation of limited government .
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