Well the title may be a bit bold, seeing as how I'm nothing more than an ant compared to the power of Corporate America, so consider the title a long term goal. First, an introduction. My name is Michael Alexander. I'm 24, live in San Francisco and am currently going to law school while working full time. So why have I started this blog? Well, much like the hippie with 50 bumper stickers on the back of his 1980s hatchback, I decided that I had to put my opinion out there to try and change the world no matter how futile my efforts may prove to be. At least a blog allows for a wee bit more depth than your average bumper sticker accomodates. My beliefs are pretty simple and, in a way, utterly mainstream. I am a patriot in awe of the beauty of the American judicial system. I believe our government has been a mostly positive force in the lives of ordinary Americans over the past 200 years. I want a country where poverty is eliminated and every person has equal rights regardless of race, sex, creed or sexual orientation. Although my ideas seem mainstream, the reality is that in 2005 those ideas are radical. Without many people noticing, this country's wonderful government has been abandoned in favor of a de-facto Corporate Tyranny. Poverty has been accepted as a neccessary part of corporate capitalism. Equality in America is no different from equality in Orwell's Animal Farm -- "although we are all equal, some people are more equal." Over the next several posts, which may span days, weeks, months or years, I will go into detail regarding my beliefs and issues I see relevant to them. Ultimately I intend to show that unless the laws regarding corporate power and influence change, corporations will destroy America. Corporations are not only treated as legal individuals, but they now have their own political party that is willing to do whatever it takes to help the bottom lines of mega-rich corporations -- the Republicans. Indeed, the malgovernance of the Republican Party is the unifying issue I will confront in this blog. Today's GOP has only one goal -- to help the increasingly small number of mega-rich corporations rule the country while making their executives filthy rich. Everyone and everything else in America is irrelevant except for electoral purposes. For this reason and others, I will always refer to the Republican Party as the Corporate Republican Party. If Democrats were able to be more honest about the true nature of the Corporate Republicans, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. The people are on our side. The people are poor, not rich. They care about the environment, not drilling in Alaska. They want peace, not war. We cannot continue to engage the Republicans in their framed debates about phony issues like "the war on terror" or religion in schools. Not to say that those aren't real issues, it's just that they aren't as important as eradicating poverty. Or ending the rampant homosexual hatred that provided the fuel for Bush's last "victory". Or realizing that not only is racism still alive, but that we stopped trying to end it. A war on a psychotic tactic, which is really what a "war on terror" is all about, is an unwinnable waste of time that distracts us from what is really going on. Of course, when your entire governance is focused on diverting people from the real issues so that you can fool them into voting for you, all of this is to be expected. The Corporate Republicans are modern day 3 card monte dealers looking to score a quick buck at your expense. Finally, I hope not to just preach to the masses. I would love to have conservatives post and contribute to this blog providing that they actually contribute to an academic discussion. The reason for this hope is that I believe any true conservative should join the Democratic Party. Conservative beliefs are only used to get Corporate Republicans elected; the party itself certainly doesn't rule like a conservative would. So I'd like to change some minds and some votes along the way. The reality is that the left/right dichotomy is mostly irrelevant now that we have a Corporate Republican party who, left intact, will destroy America. I'm not saying the Democrats have it all right -- they obviously don't. But they are mankind's last, best chance for winning the war that Corporate Republicans have launched against America's middle class. I intend to be a solider in that war. My next post will focus on why Corporations will destroy America if we don't stop them.