Not all in the open. Cheney may not have held Halliburton stock, but I'd be willing to bet family members did back when public records/filings were less scrutinized. Pallets of money disappeared. Torture was kept secret while propaganda like "24" conditioned the masses to accept it.

Respect for authority has been eroding for decades. It's just at its peak, or close to it, but these types of realignments occur periodically. Back in 1924, Fightin' Bob La Follette ran as a Progressive and got over 16% of the vote and carried Wisconsin in the presidential election. That's what it takes for the powerful to grant just the respect due.

We're a violent people to begin with, in an ultra-competitive society filled with greed and envy. I guess we accept those as positive motivators and the fittest survive.

I'm hopeful the concept of the most good, for the most people, will win out over the deification of one definition of success, but it'll take years.