Our new overlords

Much is being made of the President's efforts to keep the Russians out of Ukraine.   Aside from the fact the Russkies have a better case for invading than we ever did with Iraq, there is another development which bodes ill for the future of western democracies.   With armed intervention off the table, economic sanctions are the only weapons available to the West.   Unfortunately, corporations with ties to Russia have an effective veto over how onerous these sanctions can be.   Exxon-Mobil, Mercedes, and a bevy of other transnational corporations are now the arbiters of nation state foreign policy.   They can ignore or re-direct the actors in this drama, including the President if their interests are at stake.   In the case of Exxon, its internal economy exceeds the GDP of all but a handful of nations.  It cannot be ignored or effectively disciplined by the US if it goes off the foreign policy reservation.  The Congress has been bought by corporations and billionaires, and will offer little resistance to the coup which is now taking place.  In the near future, America will be held hostage by these corporate interests unless our representatives rebel and reassert their authority.  Nationalizing a few of the largest offenders would be one way to regain the initiative.  However, with the Americans for Prosperity party holding the balance of power in Congress, it would seem the game is up for representative democracy.  I for one intend to keep voting and participating in the process, but with little hope for our democratic future.