Political Clarse

The term 'political class' is being waved around at the moment like a loaded pistol at a poker game. 

It's not clear whether Ken Clarke started it while pompously woofing about UKippers, or whether Farrago reached into his arsenal when counter-jibing about the "ossified elite".  

Either way, it's alarming. 

Mosca, Weber and other students of the political animal may have used the term in a derogatory sense, but we run the risk that petty politicians struggling under the weight of grandiose delusions will ignore the irony and claim it as a badge of honour. We are talking, after all, about a bunch of cretins who will clutch at any brick they can add to the wall between 'us' and 'them', even if it means building a duck house with a moat. They are desperate, in fact, to ossify any elite they can lay their hands on. 

So let's have no more loose and dangerous references to 'political class'. If it must be written down, then at least spell it in a way that reveals the true meaning. 

Image from BucklesAndTees.