Can you believe that "in Hosni Mubarak's Egypt," private wealth translates into great political power and vice-versa? What is it like, wonders the curious and concerned Times reader, to live in a country like that? No wonder there's an uprising.
How many American politicians with a national platform over the last thirty years have failed to convert their political standing into great personal wealth? (source)
How many indeed?
It's really pretty amazing how difficult it is for Americans, particularly those in the media, to look in the mirror. I guess it's just because we're so "special." We're just not like those other creepy oligarchies--nothing like them at all. We're the world's oldest democracy where the will of the people is sovereign.