I had to look this one up

Charles Krauthammer, in an op-ed decrying the Christine O'Donnell upset of Mike Castle in Delaware on Tuesday, used the word "lumpenproleterians".

I admit, I couldn't use that in a sentence until I researched it. But NOW I can!

Wikipedia is sometimes criticized as a source of information, but I have to say, their entry on Lumpenproletariat was informative.

This part caught my eye:

Frantz Fanon also argued in "The Wretched of the Earth" (1961) that revolutionary movements in colonized countries could not exclude the lumpenproletariat, as it constitutes both a counterrevolutionary and a revolutionary potential. He described the lumpenproletariat as "one of the most spontaneous and the most radically revolutionary forces of a colonized people." However, it is an ignorant and desperate class, particularly susceptible to being co-opted by counterrevolutionary forces. Therefore, he claimed, education of the dispossessed masses should be central to revolutionary strategy.

Which is an excellent characterization of the Tea Party movement. Good on yah, Krauthammer. You nailed 'em. (Oh, Krauthammer thinks the Tea Party is "among the most vigorous and salutary grass-roots movements of our time"). That may be. That doesn't make them any less ignorant or any less susceptible to co-opting. In fact, much of their vigor thrives on ignorance and desperation.