[xsl] Ignore html during javascript xml parse

["Ted G." <cowscanfly@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

if the usual javascript code

	...
	req = new XMLHttpRequest();
	...
	response  = req.responseXML.documentElement;
	method    = response.getElementsByTagName('method')[0].firstChild.data;
	result    = response.getElementsByTagName('result')[0].firstChild.data;

reads from

	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
	<response>
  		<method>mymethod</method>
  		<result>I want <b>this</b> and this and <i>this<i></result>
	</response>

How can I make it provide:

	method = mymethod
	result = I want <b>this</b> and this and <i>this<i>

ie how do I ignore html tags? I would prefer not to change "<", ">" etc 
into their codes.

I have tried some xsl templates but they break the script; 
responseXML.documentElement seems to choke on them.

cheers.