Mr. G.B. Shaw sez, �I often quote myself; it adds spice to my conversation.� With that concept in mind, I�ll remind you of something I said in a recent interview, re: St. Barack. Obama�s ascendancy, I posited, �is an excellent illustration of how the system handles dissent. A black face, a soothing voice and a vague message of change - all designed to keep the rabble pacified without changing anything at all.�

This, I submit, could be deemed the ultimate conspiracy theory.

The power elite, especially in the United States, share remarkably common interests and background. Corporate America is concerned solely with profits . . . period. Therefore, America�s foreign and domestic policy is logically geared towards that financial end -- without any real accountability.

The no-accountability part is made possible by the �other wing� of the power elite -- the corporate media. Through subtle, but incredibly effective thought control, the press can effectively �manufacture consent� for the policies of the CEOs and the ruling class.

Whether this is done through scare tactics or lies of omission, the public can be made to accept and adopt the needs of the rich as their own. The media turn the opinions that have been created in corporate boardrooms and Pentagon meetings into vital �national interests� that you and I must protect with our very lives. And protect we do.

Bearing this monolithic system in mind, it�s easy to see how some, uh, unusual theories can be provoked in the name of explaining why things aren�t as promised in the land of opportunity. However, reality is not so difficult to discern. For example, when the United States recruited Nazi war criminals to help form the Central Intelligence Agency after World War II, it wasn�t a issue of �hiring the enemy� to those who perpetrated this atrocity. Rather, the ruling class -- rich men like the Dulles brothers -- simply saw Soviet communism as a clear and present threat to their indoctrination and thus acted accordingly. Using genocidal criminals towards that end could be rationalized in their warped minds and thereby explains the sheer incomprehension on their part when the Nazi-CIA connection is even mentioned. Those in control simply do not have another point of view on the subject.

Among the power elite -- the top 1 percent that truly sets policy in the United States -- there is one universal conspiracy theory: they all think alike.

And that includes the exalted Pope of Hope himself . . .