The Fall Of The Old Paradigm

Glenn Greenwald: "That said, I think the citizenry is becoming less and less defined by loyalty to one of the two parties, and these partisan divisions are breaking down, becoming much less clean. We saw that with opposition to TARP, the general anger toward corporatist control of Washington, discomfort with our policy of endless wars, and the widespread disgust with incumbent power. Far more important than Right v. Left is insider v. outsider (or politically powerful v. powerless). That fact is becoming more crystallized, and the more that happens, the more the artificial barriers that divide citizens (Right and Left) will erode, the more apparent will be the commonalities. The political establishment (both parties) benefits from keeping citizens divided against one another based on trivial distractions and tribal loyalties, which has the effect of strengthening the political establishment. That's been the impediment to having citizens across the ideological spectrum join together to combat abuses of power in Washington, and I think it's eroding. That, I think, is what Washington elites fear most."