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The Revolt of the Masses (Electorates are casting a global no-confidence vote in their leaderships)
The Wall Street Journal ^ | September 3, 2009 | Daniel Henninger

Posted on 09/02/2009 7:16:50 PM PDT by St. Louis Conservative

When the political world arrives at the point where even the Japanese rise up to toss a party from office after almost 54 years in power, it's time to see something's happening here, Mr. Jones.

The ever-entertaining Karl Marx described a society's least politically engaged people as the lumpen proletariat. Well, it's beginning to look as if the globe's lumpen proletariat has decided they've had about enough of the lumpen bureaucratariat. It could be a revolution under way, though not the one predicted by the boys at the barricades.

To Mr. Marx, the lumpen proletariat (often slurred into a single word, lumpenproletariat) was the most marginalized, hopeless, faceless swath of the underclass. Were he alive at this moment, it is not beyond imagining that Karl would have joined the charge against what has become a lumpen bureaucratariat—the permanent, often faceless overclass of gerrymandered politicians, bureaucrats for life and the public unions and special interests that swim alongside like pilot fish.

The vote in somnolent Japan suggests that electorates are casting a global no-confidence vote in their leaderships. The same weekend the Japanese unloaded the Liberal Democratic Party, German voters withdrew Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling majorities in the state legislatures of Thuringia and Saarland.

In the U.S., political handicappers are predicting heavy Democratic losses in the House next November. This just four years after ending GOP control of Congress in the 2006 elections and two years after sweeping into office Barack Obama and his Democratic partners.

Congress's approval rating remains stuck around 30%. This number may be more important as an indicator of public sentiment toward the nation's leadership than presidential approval.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: democrats; elitism; obama; plutocracy
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1 posted on 09/02/2009 7:16:50 PM PDT by St. Louis Conservative
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To: St. Louis Conservative

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing!


2 posted on 09/02/2009 7:20:08 PM PDT by Panzerlied ("We shall never surrender!")
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To: St. Louis Conservative

Part of the problem is we elect people who promise easy solutions to hard problems. To solve our debt problems, sacrifice will be required (e.g., less entitlements, spending cuts), but no one wants to hear that. A politician who tells the truth would be defeated—that’s why its an oxymoron.


3 posted on 09/02/2009 7:21:29 PM PDT by rbg81 (DRAIN THE SWAMP!!)
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To: St. Louis Conservative

US Congress TOAST as well.


4 posted on 09/02/2009 7:21:53 PM PDT by ExTexasRedhead
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To: Panzerlied

‘The next gale of wind will bring the clashings of battle...’
- Tomas Paine (IIRC)


5 posted on 09/02/2009 7:22:19 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: rbg81

To the Democrats, “sacrifice” means higher taxes and an ever expanding government. “Sacifice” only applies to taxpaying citizens, not the government - the government will never “sacrifice”.


6 posted on 09/02/2009 7:23:47 PM PDT by St. Louis Conservative
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To: St. Louis Conservative

problem is who comes after the clowns


7 posted on 09/02/2009 7:24:20 PM PDT by Flavius
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To: rbg81

Not only that, politicians running for office speak in vague generalities instead of clearly outlining a vision. How many times have you heard candidates who’ll go to Washington to clean up “waste, fraud, and abuse?” I think people are on to the 2-party schtick and will vote for the candidate that best represents the Constitution.


8 posted on 09/02/2009 7:25:04 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist ("It (Gov't) can't make you happier, healthier, wealthier, and wise" - Sarah Palin 07/26)
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To: Flavius

I hope an average Joe with some common sense!


9 posted on 09/02/2009 7:28:42 PM PDT by Freddd (Government run health care=paying more and being denied what we already have.)
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To: St. Louis Conservative

I remember in my childhood hearing the cry of the adults: “Throw the bums out!”

Unfortunately, it’s often easy enough to thrown them out, but then, nine times out of ten, who takes their places?

History suggests: More bums.


10 posted on 09/02/2009 7:28:50 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

That’s why I roll my eyes every time BHO says he can reduce health care costs by eliminating “waste”. Just wave a wand and make it happen—yeah, right. Any journalist with half a brain should call him on it. But I guess that’s an oxymoron too.


11 posted on 09/02/2009 7:30:23 PM PDT by rbg81 (DRAIN THE SWAMP!!)
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To: Panzerlied
You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing!

And Bill Ayers is in for a surprise.

12 posted on 09/02/2009 7:39:15 PM PDT by Rocko (Report this post to flag@whitehouse.gov)
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To: St. Louis Conservative
This hopey-changey admin is polarizing this country like we've never seen since the civil war, all the while stealing Americas wealth to give to his favored few.

So what do you suppose will happen next?

13 posted on 09/02/2009 7:39:20 PM PDT by Bullish ( Reality is the best cure for delusion.)
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To: Flavius

“Who comes in after the clowns” You are correct ,could be a problem. The republicans , even Rino’s, are way better than what we have now. This is no complement to the republicans either. Remember the “contract with America” ? Remember that thing about term limits in the platform? When Armey gained his new power then all of a sudden it was...we don’t need no stinkin term limits. The Republicans are beholden to special interest money too. That money is more important to them than either their constituents or their country.


14 posted on 09/02/2009 7:39:35 PM PDT by rsobin
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To: Panzerlied

There’s a storm coming....


15 posted on 09/02/2009 7:40:58 PM PDT by Newton ('No arsenal is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.' -Ronald Reagan)
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To: ExTexasRedhead

Exactly.


16 posted on 09/02/2009 7:42:59 PM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
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To: OneWingedShark

There is change in the air and it smells of pitch and sulfur.


17 posted on 09/02/2009 7:57:05 PM PDT by Maelstorm (Party like it is 1776)
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To: Panzerlied

The problem is the voter fraud that WILL happen.


18 posted on 09/02/2009 8:11:18 PM PDT by diamond6 (Is SIDS preventable? www.Stopsidsnow.com)
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To: Freddd

Like Joe the Plumber?


19 posted on 09/02/2009 8:11:41 PM PDT by diamond6 (Is SIDS preventable? www.Stopsidsnow.com)
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To: rsobin
Remember that thing about term limits in the platform? When Armey gained his new power then all of a sudden it was...we don’t need no stinkin term limits.

Wasn't term limits passed and declared unconstitutional because the states have the right to set the requirements for their reps
20 posted on 09/02/2009 8:13:40 PM PDT by uncbob
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