The mantra of the Free Market pervades every moment of our daily lives, and this morning was not different from any other morning as I tuned to CTV News.

I heard from the talking heads that billionaire Michael Bloomberg had been elected mayor of New York. The talking heads were asking themselves if this latest billionaire turned politician would have a vested interest in the economic recovery of New York as Bloomberg has invested some $55 million of his own money in his marketing campaign for the mayoralty election.

Our talking heads were prompt to respond that the Market is too big for Bloomberg to interfere with. And possibly our talking heads are right in saying that the Market is too big for billionaire Bloomberg as I am going to tell you that there are some other big guys around such as President George Bush Jr and his entourage of good friends. These big guys play hardball as they are mainly in the core businesses which drive the Free Market along with American foreign policies: oil and arms.

We must recall that President George Bush Jr and Vice-President Dick Cheney made their money in the oil business and now in their war against terrorism they are also defending the interest of the oil business which extends from the Persian Gulf to Central Asia. Further, the Bush family and their patriotic friends make money from wars as they have an interest in the Carlyle Group which has been described as the world's largest private equity firm dealing with defense and aerospace. The marketing work of the Carlyle Group has been commanded by notable patriotic people such as former US defense secretary Frank Carlucci and former US secretary of state James A. Baker.

Our world is getting too convoluted and complex to comprehend, and now with the shutting down of the media we are left in the darkness for the benefit of our politicians and their corporate and patriotic friends.

References

Network Coverage a Target of Fire From Conservatives, by Jim Rutenberg and Bill Carter, New York Times, November 7, 2001. Commenting on the coverage of the war in Afghanistan Erik Sorenson, President of MSNBC, states 'Any misstep and you can get into trouble with these guys and have the Patriotism Police hunt you down.' http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/07/politics/07MEDI.html

BUSH CONTINUES ILLEGAL AND INHUMANE U.S. PERSIAN GULF POLICY, Marjorie Cohn, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, February 7, 2001, Jurist The Legal Education Network http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumnew17.htm

The ex-presidents' club, Oliver Burkeman and Julian Borger, October 31, 2001, The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,583869,00.html