Reply #18: An asinine remark, easily shown to be dead wrong.

[RichM]

What do you think Cheney's secret energy plan was, if not an example of the corporate takeover of national energy policy?

Why do you suppose the EPA & Dept of Interior & "regulators" of virtually every industry are all staffed by former high officials of those very same industries? What is this, if not a corporate takeover of the government?

Haven't you ever looked at a page of statistics showing the percentage of the US economy accounted for by the biggest 500 corporations, over the last 5 decades?

Have you ever read "Wealth & Democracy?" It describes, among other things, the distribution of wealth in the US, & how it's changed in recent decades. The distribution has never been so lopsided as it is today -- not even in the "Gilded Age" of the 1890's, nor in the 1920's.

What social force do you think Republicans represent, if not the corporate oligarchy?

What do you think economic neoliberalism, & agreements like NAFTA are, if not attempts by corporations to create rules that circumvent governmental authority, & thus grant corporations immunity from all public accountability for their actions?

What you call "breathing ideological fire" is merely a natural & logical reaction to awareness of the true state of things -- a problem you won't be burdened with, I'm quite sure.