The United States invaded Iraq to gain control of one of the major sources of the world's energy.

A democracy barely functions under the neoliberal system.

We don't live in tyrannies, you know, the king doesn't decide what's legitimate, and there's much more freedom than there was in the past.

As to whether those who fit the common meaning of the term "intellectual" should act in the manner that [ Edward] Said prescribes, that's another question. Needless to say, I agree with him that they should, and that they commonly do not.

In fact, for the majority of the population, wages and incomes have stagnated and conditions have gotten worse. So they are asking, "what did I do wrong?" And the answer that the talk show host is giving them is convincing, in it's internal logic. It's saying, "what's wrong is the rich liberals own everything, run everything, they don't care about you; therefore, distrust them" and so on.

If the United States is accommodating, the North Koreans become accommodating. If the United States is hostile, they become hostile.

It's true that language is in a sense linear but that is as obvious as perceptual space is three-dimensional.