Wouldn't it be the first idea for democracy to break this stranglehold, to allow real alternatives to emerge?
Even more disturbingly, thanks to its stranglehold over the network, BT has been able to win 50% of the retail broadband market.
That Ward-Prowse's dipping free-kick - which clipped the outside of a post - was the closest the hosts came to scoring after the break is a testimony to the stranglehold the visitors had on the home attack.
Even good writers fall prey to the stranglehold of scientific jargon.
That is a tribute to the stranglehold the Educational Workers Unionn, Latin America's largest trade union, has on Mexican education.
Thanks partly to the stranglehold exercised by the teachers' union, Mexico's educational performance is poorer than it should be given its income level.
Laura Hill, for campaign group Fuel Poverty Action, said: "Today's announcement is a testimony to the stranglehold of the 'big six' over this investigation.
Following the delay, Morgan went out and finished off a double-bogey that presented the first threat to his stranglehold on the tournament.
And Mr. Schreiber is never so creepy as when pulling Mr. Welch into a comradely embrace that seems mighty close to a stranglehold.
The participation of hundreds of companies in the event testifies to the stranglehold that Microsoft holds over the industry despite its protests that it isn't a monopoly.
