>>>It starts at the local level.
>
>Politicians quickly convince themselves that voter dissent is sound and fury that easily can be distracted onto some other cause du jour, such as whether the sniper in the "Sniper" movie should have been a woman or whether the sniper was a hero or murderer. Soon the anger is vented in other directions and the status quo presses on. Historically the incumbents won't act until the tines of pitchforks impact well-padded derrieres.;-) I know you call that dramatic and no, I don't suppose the weapon of choice will be a pitchfork- but once there is nothing left to lose, an angry rabble loosely guided by disenfranchised middle classers is an unstoppable force.

Actually, it can be done without the pitchforks but it takes:
a. some cathartic event like Watergate or
b. exceptional leadership - we haven't seen that since FDR- or
c. both.