I'm sorry to tell you that the Flying Spaghetti Monster really exists, and it is using thousands of its tentacles to convince legislators and voters to support its interests. Except, its abbreviation is not FSM but ALEC - American Legislative Exchange Council.
I've often wondered how Republicans seem to be following a script of issues rather than thinking independently in a "conservative" way. I've long known about ALEC, but through the wonders of Facebook and The Coffee Party, I found a site that has a laundry list of people who are involved in Alec: from profit-above-public-good CEOs to state representatives. It is Alec Exposed http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed.
In addition it has article after article about how corporate profits are more important than the public good, from worker safety to child safety. Like the maker of d-Con thinks that children ingesting rat poison pellets is an "acceptable risk" – "Kids Eating Rat Poison Is an 'Acceptable Risk' for ALEC", submitted by Brendan Fischer to PRWatch of The Center for Media and Democracy, 2011-12-06 http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/12/11171/kids-eating-rat-poison-acceptable-risk-alec
The Flying Spaghetti Monster analogy is so appropriate because ALEC members provide many of the goods and services that we depend on. If you want to starve the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you are going to have to avoid most big box stores, you will have to give up on some "socially responsible" products (like Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream), you will have to give up your home phone and cell phone, and you will have to ship packages only with the US Postal service. See the complete list at "Alec Corporations http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC_Corporations.
If you think we have a democracy or a republic, think again. We have a corporatocracy or a massive oligarchy. ALEC wants to reduce the number of people who vote by claiming voter fraud; when will it decide that we should again have a certain amount of property to have the right to vote?
