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The Maligning of BP
Everything is soothed by oil, and this is the reason why divers send out small quantities of it from their mouths, because it smooths every part which is rough.
- Pliny the Elder, Natural History
The British anger is really over the fact that Americans lack the stiff upper lip for which the British are so famous. Instead of just sucking it up and putting on a brave face we seem to be engaged in a constant state of whinging and it's hard for the British not to believe that it's nothing more than wanting to make them and one of their prized corporate citizens look bad.
In fairness to the Americans, one has to observe that the oil being spilled (the word that is consistently used to describe something that never having been contained except by nature, was hardly capable of being "spilled") is having a devastating effect on the environment and its inhabitants. Millions of people are having their lives irreversibly altered if not shattered with no prospect of returning to a pre-spill way of life during their lifetimes, presidential promises to the contrary notwithstanding. The environment will be irreversibly altered for hundreds of square miles with no prospect that the life contained therein will recover within the foreseeable future.
And it's not that BP (referred to as "British Petroleum" by some commentators, in an attempt, the British think, to create more anger towards their country) did not do everything within its power, sort of, to protect against the very disaster that occurred. So thorough was BP that in the response plan that it furnished the government describing how it would deal with disasters, it said it had plans to protect "Sensitive Biological Resources" in the Gulf. It defined those resources to include "Sea lions, Seals, Sea Otters and Walruses". That shows an amazing thoroughness since sightings of any of those creatures in the Gulf have, in recent centuries, been extremely rare. (During the recent congressional hearings in which executives from other companies that were drilling in the Gulf testified, it was disclosed that many of the response plans prepared by them also promised to protect those animals.)
BP also identified its "primary equipment providers in the Gulf of Mexico Region for deployment of spill response resources on a 24 hour, 7 days a week basis." One of those providers, identified in a link on the proposal, was to a Japanese Home Shopping site but that was just a mistake and does not suggest BP was negligent. The fact that it identified them was significant even though when the event occurred the providers, including the Home Shopping Network were, contrary to the representation, unavailable. In its response plan it also says it has "personnel, equipment, and materials in sufficient quantities and recovery capacity to respond effectively to oil spills from the "worst case discharge scenarios" covered by the plan and it is almost certain that it believed that.
A rarely mentioned fact about the response plan is that it is almost 600 pages in length. That, too, speaks to the thoroughness of BP's work.
Considering all of the foregoing, it is easy to see why the British are so upset by criticism of the company and its consequential damage to BP's reputation.
BP is a very important British company. It has historically paid really good dividends and its stock is widely held by teachers' unions, pension funds, etc. Boris Johnson, the mayor of London spoke for the British public when he expressed worry about "anti-British rhetoric" and "name-calling" from American politicians. George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer said it was important to remember the "economic value BP brings to people in Britain and America." (The Americans will be forgiven if that benefit has been somewhat eclipsed by the disaster.) In addition, BP pays close to $1.4 billion in British taxes and any diminution in that amount would harm the British economy.
The Conservative peer, Lord Tebbit, was quoted in the New York Times as calling the American response "a crude, bigoted, xenophobic display of partisan, political, presidential petulance against a multinational company." Sir Chrisopher Meyer, a former British ambassador to the U.S. said that the British government "must put down a marker with the U.S. administration that the survival and long term prosperity of BP is a vital British interest." That is easy for Americans to overlook when contemplating the long-term survival and prosperity of residents of the gulf coast.I am taking the concerns of the Brits to heart. I will, as I hope this column proves, say nothing but nice things about BP. And irrespective of what happens to the people who live on the Gulf coast, I join BP's president in expressing the hope that he can get his life back. I am sure this has been an unpleasant and stressful time for him.
41 Comments so far
Show AllWhen I visit someones home, it is up to the host to provide the bathroom facilities so that I do not have to resort to taking a crap on their new carpet.
The same with the USA and BP, it was the host's reponsibility to provide the basic groundrules to that BP did not take a crap over the Gulf of Mexico.
BP was doing what public corporations are supposed to do...produce maximum profit. It is up to the americans to set the rules to provide safety.
Of course, the Americans did set the rules to provide safety, and then promptly waived most, if not all of them, because BP is such a great company. After all, when the company provides a 600 page manual indicating how it is going to protect sea lions and walruses in near-tropical waters, why wouldn't the government agencies believe that BP was competant?
This is ridiculous.
When you visit someone's home, it is up to YOU not to crap on their new carpet. If you take the position that you have the right to crap on someone's carpet, then fine: they have the right to pull out a shotgun and blow your head off.
If you get drunk, get into your car, and kill someone, no matter if the police are incompetent, lazy, or took bribes from you to allow you to drive drunk, you are still guilty of killing someone. It is still your fault.
I've mentioned that I rarely "get" Brauchli, so maybe it's me.
I guess this BP billet-doux is egregiously unctuous tongue-in-cheek.
But IMO, this entry matches Michael Winship's for forgettableness.
It seems to be an "off" day here, not that it's CD's fault.
You don't get it either.
I agree with the thrust of this article. I mean, the people killed in the platform explosion were victims of an accident. It's not as if the British dropped a team of commandos in the middle of the night and executed them... An ally would never do that.
Ray Berthiaume
I don't understand why Britain is so upset over our criticism of BP. The country doesn't own BP does it? But maybe Britain is in bed with BP, the way our congress is in bed with OUR corporations.
Retaining the name BP kept Britain's name involved. That wasn't a good idea. The original company was British but that was aeons ago - since then some Persian Gulf company and Amoco, and goodness know who else have become part of the corporation. A corporation is a corporation is a corporation - whatever its name. The fight ought to be against corporations, all of 'em. I suppose, though, it's an easier and less dangerous way to let of steam by whinging about Britain, England...or in the Brits' case, the USA.
Not really.. Sorry. You don't get the article either. Do a bit of research and read the article again. Trust me, it's good.
Sorry, but you really don't get this.
All very funny but it does serve to lay the emphasis on BP.
This is stupid.
As with drugs, the guilty party is the user.
At least, somebody who gets the joke. But, I don't find your analogy very good. Of course, if we stopped using oil, there would be no need to drill, but come on... What is the average Joe going to do? Start a revolution by himself.
I don't own a car, I walk and I bicycle, and take public transportation everywhere I can, but not everybody can do that. We need a revolution to achieve a system that weans us away from petroleum, and I'm sure your heart and head are in the right place.
But in the meantime, BP and our gov't have a responsibility to act with some competence and seriousness. He's mocking the silly Brit politicians who have made fools of themselves by bleating that we're being rough on their darling BP. Jesus, at least they need to be mocked that way after the horror of the devastation in the Gulf, and the 3-Stooges performance of BP before, during, and after this calamity.
Don't you think?
Whatever the Brits feel or say, I take heart in watching the Gulf Stream and knowing that mother England will be awash in oil residue and all of BPs toxic melange come Christmas...
Hope they enjoy the stench.
England has never proven to be reliable or trustworthy...
I remember something about a revolution that happened one time...
Do try to stay on topic.
For all the talk about the "incompetence" of BP in cleaning up the mess they made, I don't see anyone else offering to help, or suggesting more "competent" solutions to the disaster.Certainly not our government, or the Coast Guard, or even the flippin' Navy.Assorted idiots are suggesting that we nuke the well.That's desperation for you.It looks like a case of 'all the king's horses and all the king's men etc. etc.Presumably BP's 600 page manual had something to say about something other than sea lions and walruses??
Go stand in the corner with a dunce hat on your head.
I have read some god-awful attempts at something or other in my time, but the several minutes wasted looking at this piece of trash beats all.
Sorry, but you're just not smart enough to get this.
Robert Reich hit the bull's eye on this topic: it's not about Americans vs. Brits. It's about shareholders Vs. citizens. It's about the owning/ruling class OF BOTH COUNTRIES vs. the common citizens OF BOTH COUNTRIES. "City-of-London" is the Brits' "wallstreet", and it's the same nest of vipers as wallstreet. And those aren't the only two financial districts in the world(but they are the two main ones; some argue "the City" is the primary one, & wallstreet is its' last "colony" upon the lower 48 states). They are ALL the same nest of vipers, practically speaking. We the People, of the U.S., should be making alliance with the common citizenry of Britain to take down both these nests of vipers. They BOTH are CERTAINLY trying take us & the Brit commoners down.
Exactly! Well said.
Sorry, but no more aristocratic system in Europe for...oh... several centuries now. There are no more Commoners and Aristocrats. Now there are capitalists and workers, just like in France, Canada, Australia, the US...
Try reading the article again, and don't take yourself or the article so seriously... There's something sort of hidden there that you might enjoy. Then again, you might just not be able to understand it...
You delude yourself. It never went away. It's more covert. R U paid to run interference for them? U had better not get in the way of what's coming down. U'll get run over. Forget the article. Listen, & look at what's REALLY going on in the world. It's all coming down this year. The Inter-alpha group of financiers is now bankrupt. Just like the 1930's (only worse),the world must now choose between FDRism, or fascism. Monetarism is dead. But I don't believe U R genuine. This is for others who read here.
PART of "FDRism vs fascism" is glass-steagall vs austerity for the commoners/people. See which way the pols choose. This will show which side they're on. Beware of those who say "away with soc sec/medicare/etc... we must save the 'to-big-to-fail' banks". They side with the enemy (whether witting or unwitting).
Just because there's obviously an elite (Duh!), doesn't mean they're aristocrats. They're... ahem... CAPITALISTS. You really should read Marx's Das Capital, a few hundred other books, do some thinking, do some organizing work on the left, and then try to put together a coherent post on political-economy.
The earth-shaking switch from land to $$$ was one of the planet's biggest shock, after the impact of the comet 65 million years ago. It's given us monopoly capital, with it's incredibly voracious and destructive appetite for ever greater profits.
"Monerarism is dead"!????? You don't even understand the simple meaning of the words you're using. Go do some reading.
By the way, I should have been warned by the dreadful translation of Pliny the Elder, which makes no sense whatsoever.
Go read an Archie and Veronica comic book. You don't get this at all.
This is how government and beaurocrazy work.
From the biggest contract to the smallest job application.
A complete list of ideal requirements is drawn up.
Even Conditions beyond the possibility of practical fulfillment.
So the listed government requirement includes sea lions, and walrusses.
Showing what a thorough and nature minded institution it is.
Just as carefully, and with great attention to every point.
The companies that wish to have the contract,
Write another document that answers every point.
Literally, and provide careful reassurance where reality differs
from the requirements.
The writers know that the assessors will never check beyond any bald statement. The assessors are very good friends with the applicants.
So the award of contract goes not to a company with an application that has the best coverage of facts, and does not in any way predict performance. The contract goes to company who is the bestest of friends, usually those with the biggest flow of money.
WTF...???????????????????????
you really don't get it?
Is this the end of a beautiful friendship?
Read the article again. And no, it's not the end of the relationship between the US and Great Britain.
another slick article.
Um - no. We Brits take no pride in corporate citizens (well, we brits who aren't conservatives or Lib Dems or millionaires) at all. Nor in BP. Put them in the dock for all I care. What we want to see is a little less of the double standard from the USA. Of course, the spectacle of American "justice", whether it is a firing squad or a row of senators throwing rotten eggs, is always offensive, but what really stands out is the American refusal to treat the citizens of other nations as equals. So we want to know why the prized corporate elite of Union Carbide never had to face a congressional committee, why Union Carbide never had to cough up for its crimes, why the citizens of Bhopal, all of them, have the equivalent of cents in compensation, not 20 billion dollars. Why? Behind all the legal trickery, the answer is obvious: they are Indian, and they are poor.
I really believe you Brits, for whom I generally have a lot of respect (hitch-hiked all over your country some years ago and had a marvelous time), have lost all ability to be...logical.
You're all over the map with your post. Sure we have ridiculous spectacles and parts of our culture is as gross and disgusting as is perfectly obvious. But your points are defensive, and unrelated to the issue.
The company that crapped all over Bhopal (and still does with their 390 tons of left-over chemicals!) is as horrible as they come--which means pretty much normal for big corporations. But while it was a subsidiary of an American parent company, it was based in India... period. So are you saying that because of the link with a US company, the US congress should have hauled over the coals the executive of an India-registered company for their (admittedly) egregious horror of an industrial accident!? Just like the British Parliament should haul BP over the coals for what they did in the Gulf!??? Let us know when that happens, will you?
BP is a criminal corporation, even waaaaay beyond the norm in a group of horrible companies that will do pretty much anything for their bottom line. With their 3-Stooges-like behavior before, during, and after the explosion, it's totally to be expected that they will have to pay heavily for what they did.
Do you understand 'democracy'? You don't seem to. The Congressmen and women who are going after BP, are in some cases the gov't representatives sent to Washington by the citizens whose lives have been destroyed by BP's incompetence and tragic cost-cutting greed. These citizens chose those politicians and pay their wages with their taxes. See what I mean? It's called DEMOCRACY. You guys invented the modern version of it, for which I am always grateful. But you just don't seem to get it.
Incredible that you and your silly politicians would not undertand the issue here.
getreal, I fully 'get' the article as satire --- it's interesting, amusing, etc.
However, there IS a much more significant issue --- than this satirist author himself understands --- in the way the BP 'spill' (existential oily explosion) crisis is being handled, and the very different way in which the previous string of corporatist Empire crises; Middle Eastern imperialist oil wars, the global financial crisis, and the overall democracy crisis were handled, and the seminal difference is meant to send a clear 'signal' to the global corporatocracy itself about the way this new 21st century global EMPIRE is going to operate.
A little background:
As is well established through any serious thinking and the reading of Chalmers Johnson, Chomsky, Andrew Bacevich, Chris Hedges, John Perkins, Sheldon Wolin, Gabriel Kolko, Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, William Greider, Ralph Nader , etc, etc,... a global corporate/financial/militarist EMPIRE has now fully taken over the one remaining global military SUPERPOWER, our former country, by hiding behind the facade of a TWO-Party 'Vichy' sham of faux democratic government (aided by the equally 'Vichy' corporatist propaganda media).
The extent of the take-over or 'capture' of the entire government (not just MMS, Treasury, EPA, DOD, FED, Congress, Supreme Court, etc. etc.) was, as the Brits might say, a "long, hard, expensive slog" by the corporatocracy, which involved massive amounts of lobbying, PR, media control, citizen "Hoodwinking" (as John Perkins notes in his most recent book of that title), and a well greased 'revolving door' between the nominal 'Vichy' government and the global corporate EMPIRE --- which intends to shift the very paradigm of Empire power from the five century model perfectly critiqued by Paul Kennedy in his epic "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers", of nation-state centric EMPIRES to a 'Brave New World" era of truly global corporate-centric EMPIRE (singular) ---- and they (the global corporate EMPIRE) don't want no competition from any friggin up-start, late comer, wannabe, alternative corporate empires trying to leverage a different former nation-state vehicle.
Understanding the seminal importance of the specific use of 'our' former government (and their 'highly sucessful' investments) to 'capture' this single SUPERPOWER can best be appreciated by reading Gary Wills fantastic "Bomb Power" --- which reveals that the real 'golden rule' today is not merely, "he (the Empire) that holds the gold rules", but must be backed up with "the corporate EMPIRE that holds the bomb rules". Thus the current well planned, long developing, and well disguised behind the facade of 'democracy' grand scheme global corporate EMPIRE which is already extant, wants to send an unmistakable 'signal' to ANY other potential wannabe corporate Empire pretenders that the "Great Game' is over --- that this existing (though carefully disguised global corporatist EMPIRE) which rules behind the US government facade and its cast of pliant political pawns is THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN.
The difference in how Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, CitiGroup, AIG, Exxon, Halliburton, Boeing, Lockheed, etc. etc. and even GM were dealt with during and after the Middle East imperialist oil wars,and during and after the global financial crisis (ie. 'shakedown' of other former nation-states), and how the nominally British incorporated BP was treated during this oil spill example is THE MESSAGE, THE 'SIGNAL', THE RULE of how this new singular, signal, seminal global corporate EMPIRE is going to work.
This 'signal' is clear and unmistakable to any multinational 'global' corporation that aspires to be a part (partner) in the new global corporate/financial/militarist EMPIRE --- and the signal is "this is how we are going to operate behind the facade of the former US government that we have already co-opted at great cost in planning and long term investment, this is the only extant global EMPIRE that controls the only military 'superpower', and the only global corporatist EMPIRE that controls a dumbed-down but violently supportive citizenry that has proven (multiple times) to be complacent and supporting global military power to do our bidding, and this is the only fully functioning global 'Vichy' charade of democracy with the media guile and international legal power to overpower all waning nation-state resistance".
Therefore, this message, this 'signal' to BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Sinopec, UBS, Allianz, HSBC, ENI, BNP, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Daimler, Volkswagen, Siemens, Samsung, Hitachi, Airbus, ... is that this is the way the new 'members only club' is being chartered --- that one single global corporatist EMPIRE is being forged and merged together behind the facade of the one surviving old nuclear super-power 'nation-state':
"It's already a fait accompli.
It's already being played by these rules.
It's already being played on this/our center court.
And anyone who doesn't agree (and accept it) will suffer the consequences, which we have amply demonstrated on BP through our current US political actors and media.
And the real benefit to you as an agreeable member of this new global corporatist EMPIRE is that we use the ageless trick of EMPIRES, of 'divide and conquer', only on the proles, the rubes, the patriotic citizens, the oil territories and former nation-states, etc. ... and that we enforce an absolute unity of purpose in our single global EMPIRE --- but quietly, for the time being.
getreal, that's what getting real is really about in this BP example, signal, thingy!"
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
Thank you for sharing your reading list and your thoughts. You might understand that basically 'all of us on the left' read pretty much the same things, so you're not going to impress anybody here by indicating what you've been reading.
Again, not meaning to be insulting, but you seem more interested in strutting your deep reading than really dealing with the issue at hand. This is a simple, straight-forward article to mock those silly Brit politicians who are bleating that we Americans are being too rough on their beloved BP--a group of bankers, really, and not an oil company in the normal sense.
He indicates the damage done, the side-splitting silliness of such major projects applied for with 600-page documents that are completely ludicrous, but which would have remained perfectly unknown to the population had it not been for the disaster in the Gulf.
If he wanted to explain the sham of our 'democratic' system, etc., presumably he would write a book. This article worked perfectly for the obviously tight little purpose the writer had in mind. Most people here, including you, it seems, just can't focus and simply get it.
While the general political-economic situation has intensified (obviously in the wrong direction), you are overly dramatic and mistaken that the 21st century is that different from what came before.
About the sham of US 'democracy', it's as obvious as can be--the two parties rely on the same source for their oxygen ($$$), so the profiteers control both. Look at what happened to that hilarious little Texas billionnaire, Ross Perot. He understood deeply as a US-based profiteer that free trade might be good for trans-nationals, but it was bad for the country of the US and it's citizens, whether workers or profiteers. With all his horse sense, his hilarious and competent communication ability, and his billions, he was only able to help didlin' Willie beat Papa Bush, but what about his main issue of free trade? Didlin' embraced it like he did that plump congressional page, and Perot was not able to launch a successful 3rd party, because the real $$$ didn't want him to. In other words, where it really counts, Willie was no different than Papa.
We all get that.
About Will's book, not sure if you really got it. It's really about the imperial presidency, and goes to the root of democracy. The Brits with their supremacy of the House of Commons attempted with some success to keep the supreme power away from one individual. In the US, our fathers attempted the same with the balance of power thingy (I like the way you use that word), but the Bomb--among other things and dynamics--has contributed to creating the Imperial presidency, and the obvious advantage for the $$$ crowd to control key self-serving decisions: only one person to control. While they do control all politicians to a large extent, putting huge power in one person they have under their collective thumb is obviously a huge advantage. (You might want to read the following and other sources of analysis)
http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/page2/jeremy_bernstein_on_garry_wills_bomb_power_20100128/
About the timeless and universal reality that "they with the gold make the rules", you're completely mistaken. Since we left the trees, those with PHYSICAL POWER get the gold, and therefore make, interpret, and enforce the rules. The Bomb did not change that by... one atom, shall we say. Those with military power have always built the empires that stole the gold (and everything else) from the weaker countries/regions. Whether that power was with sticks, stones, bows and arrows, guns, tanks, whatever... the basic dynamic is timeless and universal. The Bomb does concentrate things nicely, and Wills makes a convincing case that the President with the ultimate power to unleash that horrific weapon, has become monstrously powerful, and easily controlled by the $$$ crowd, and leaving out of the picture all the other elected officials.
Anyway, your impressive post, as most here, is off topic. We read an article with a tight focus--mocking silly Brit politician in their laughable whining against US politician who are giving BP a rough time. Their silliness is so understandable. BP, a group of wildly profitable bankers (who rent equipment and subcontract the work for drilling) pays out huge dividends to British investors, and that is obviously at play right now. So, these silly politicians are obviously playing for their peanut gallery by whining against US treatment of BP. This article mocked that really well.
You write: "However, there IS a much more significant issue --- than this satirist author himself understands --- in the way the BP 'spill' (existential oily explosion)..."!?
So because the writer doesn't talk about everything that is wrong with our democracy, he undertands that LESS WELL THAN YOU!? Not too pompous, are we?
And "existential oily explosion"!? What ridiculously pretentious verbiage.
I know... you're going to accuse me of being nasty and insulting. But geez... you make my point so perfectly.
getreal, thanks for the gentle push-back on my arrogance in ranting against this new global Empire.
Perhaps you would be willing to ride on my anti-Empire chariot (as was done on Roman Emperors' chariots) to continually and rightly chide me with the reminder, "you are only mortal --- despite your arrogance that you are a leader of the anti-Empire movement".
Yes, getreal, I have the notable fault of being too forceful, and perhaps too "pompous", as you say, in my repeated rants about the unique and guileful nature of this novel 21st century corporate/financial/militarist global Empire.
I am, however, continually chiding myself when I discover additional nasty aspects of our new global Empire --- and that is what happened with this June CD post.
I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the nature of this disguised global corporatist Empire which I have been writing about for many years, about its techniques of disguise, and about its rapidly tightening noose on our people, our country, our environment, etc. But I was struck dumb by discovering an aspect of the global Empire's strategy and discipline in enforcing that the new Empire --- their unrivaled corporate global Empire --- would be a private club, by invitation only, and that this new global Empire would by edict be a vehicle exclusively exercised by global corporations which actively helped pervert the US government, population, and military to carry out the interests of this single global Empire.
Despite the amount of time and effort thinking about how this new global corporate Empire was progressing toward its existential end-times, I had not previously realized that various global corporations would be forced to join the leading US global corporations and forcefully conscripted into the inner circle, and need to pay 'tribute' to the new Empire --- and most importantly forced to publicly disown their national identity and any sense of national sovereignty in pledging allegiance to the new American-style corporate global Empire.
Thus, when I noticed the new global corporate Empire's treatment (in their global corporate controlled media) of UBS, Toyota, and most recently BP --- compared to their treatment of Goldman, Citi, Bank America, AIG, and GM --- it became shockingly clear to me that this was a signal of foreign policy of the new Empire (not the foreign policy of the former nation-state of America) that new corporate citizens of the global Empire would be forced to pay homage, tribute, and 'kiss the ring' of the new global corporate Empire being built in America --- and in the style of a distinctly 'American-style' global corporate EMPIRE (or 'Washington consensus' Empire, if you will).
The 'signal' and lesson here seems to be both simple to understand, and brutally blunt: --- If you are a non-US incorporated global corporation, you will be expected to fully comply, contribute financially, and honor this single hegemon 'global corporate Empire' and abide by our system (IE. 'our thing') of using our control of the nominal (facade) of the US government (including our political pawns and military functionaries) to operate the appearance of normal government relations and popular control of all various global citizens through the application of our global corporate media propaganda (and/or economic discipline).
You will pledge allegiance to our unrivaled (but unmentioned) Global Corporate Empire under all circumstances, since we have shown that by total control of the US government. military and population through a political two-party 'Vichy' facade of media influence, that the extant Global Corporate Empire has already established an 'air tight' method of global control and preeminence.
"If you are not with us, then you are against us. And we will both retaliate and loot both the country of your nominal incorporation, its citizens, and even your own corporate officers and owners."
"Please feel free to review the current operation and results of our global corporate Empire economic policies in the Middle East, non-cooperating European countries like Greece, Iceland, and Spain, and particularly the effective discipline of corporations like UBS, Toyota, and BP that have been taken by our global corporate media and our US political functionaries, in addition to our military discipline of lesser developed 'resource territories' before deciding to join 'our thing'".
In short the mew, and entirely novel, Global Corporate Empire of the 21st century has amply demonstrated both the success of its strategy in 'capturing' and fully taking over the government and people of the United States, and in effectively using its military super-power and economic coercion to exercise imperial power over what were traditionally viewed as sovereign nation-states, resource territories, multiple populations, faux 'elected' governments, and even foreign flagged transnational corporations through-out the world.
This new Global Corporate/Financial/Militarist Empire is now sending out membership applications to global corporations through-out the world and clearly signaling them as to how the next "Great Game" is going to be played --- with them or without them.
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
Getreal, are you CB's publicist?