Ave Caesar Morituri Te Salutant

Ave Caesar Morituri Te Salutant

The Boston Globe reports that The New Praetorian Class gathered in open session down in DC yesterday to hear Karl Rove promise them all a future bright with pride, passion, patriotism, and power.
The usual suspects gathered at the Ronald Reagan Building to hear the likes of Kayne Robinson of the NRA denounce “Snobs from Boston who are contemptuous of Sioux City”. Liberal media (broadly defined as an news agency not owned by Richard Mellon Scaife or Rupert Murdoch) was condemned and the democratic party’s fall (along with the end of the two party system in the US) was prophesied.
Classical political theory describes modern democracy as eternal competition between various elite groups whose range of action is constrained by the strong rule of law. These elites are reasonably porous to the talented and sufficiently servile. Moreover in the US at least, the rule of law and the federalist system constrain elite competition preventing any one group from achieving an unwonted supremacy.
Then came Karl Rove who apparently got dissed by some long hairs at an impressionable age and has spent every waking hour since then scheming to make the GOP the one true Vanguard Party of the USA. And what the hell he may succeed. For he has acted as midwife to a New Praetorian Class in this country, composed of rich sociopaths, radio demagogues, corrupt “journalists”, intellectual servitors, religious hysterics, and niche issue fanatics. All of whom are banking on a very radical future for us all.
It truly does not matter that Karl’s goals seem crazy to any sensible person, he couldn’t care less what common sense dictates. These are feeling people, ruled by their emotions much as the Abbie Hoffman’s Yippies were ruled by impulse and passions. And their main emotion right now is one of ugly triumphalism and a revolutionary sense of grievance against the last one hundred years of progress in the USA. There are those who say they’ll never achieve their agenda, that it is crazy and will self destruct. The fact of the matter is, the New Praetorian Class thinks otherwise and is banking on creating what amounts to a one-party that matters style banana republic by 2016.
The question then becomes, can we simply trust that history will stop them or that a “sensible” republican like John McCain will somehow gain control of the New Praetorian Class? History IS a great punisher or hubris but that schedule is perfectlyt inscrutable. As for hoping for some great white moderate to ride in and save the day, keep in mind the praetorians have been jacking up moderates for years, they control the GOP’s nomination process and will no doubt back an even more extreme candidate for President when the time comes.
Humble Elias gives them credit though, they are perfectly upfront about the mayhem they advocate.
Now what?
Knowledge of their intentions we have? Now it is a question of what actions are going to be taken?