Will Ralph Nader give an encore performance? I sure hope so. I need to remember to send this guy a Christmas card in rememberance of his helping elect George W. Bush in 2000.
Posted by Tim at December 2, 2003 10:58 PMApologies to the lyricist from Bye Bye Birdie
We love you Nader
Oh yes we do
We love you Nader
Red White and Blue
If you did not run
it's true
Dubya would have lost
boo hoo hoo.
Actually, those Christmas Cards should be sent to Messieurs Kennedy, Scalia, Rehnquist, Thomas and Madame O'Connor.
Posted by: Brian at December 26, 2003 08:34 PMI truly hope the Democrats still want to say the Supreme Court decided the 2000 election. Keep it up. It's a real winner.
Posted by: trogers at December 29, 2003 09:43 PMRun Nader Run,
The louder the Democratic and so-called progressives complain about Mr. Nader’s bid for presidency, the slimmer the chances are for the democrats to win the election this second time around. Why is that? Because it means they are again ignoring the ‘issues,’ the very thing that they ignored four years ago. There are people who want to see critical issues being addressed in the presidential forum. Instead, all we get is election rhetoric and empty promises that they try to pass off as leadership.
There are important issues other then ‘beating Bush’ that need to be in the public forum. These issues are the very thing that Mr. Nader will bring into the public debate. He will discuss corporate fraud, national health care, NAFTA, and a whole host of other issues in a thoughtful and intelligent manner. These issues haven’t been addressed in a fair and open manner in the last four years. In fact, they haven’t been addressed even during the Clinton presidency. And if Mr. Nader is not successful in bringing the discussion of issues to the table, I’m afraid that the democrats may see a replay of four years ago.
And let’s be clear about this, Mr. Nader didn’t make Al Gore lose four years ago. Al Gore simply didn’t win. He didn’t win his home state of Tennessee; he didn’t have the leadership or conviction to demand a proper recount in Florida; and while he did get the majority of the votes, he certainly didn’t win the mandate of the people that he professed to represent.
The Democratic Party asks us to unconditionally support their frontrunner while being contemptuous of anyone suggesting that there needs to be more on the table. They inform us that the ‘fear’ of another Bush term is all that we need to be concerned about. They play this ‘fear’ card by suggesting that anyone who questions their political approach will be responsible for another Bush term.
Why does this ‘fear’ card sound familiar? Oh yes, we see Mr. Bush using the very same ‘fear’ card when he calls into question the patriotism of anyone who dare question his fight against terrorism (remember 9/11). Democrats and progressives looked down on Mr. Bush for that simplistic knee-jerk argument that conveniently disregards the issue of the correctness of the Iraqi war. And we should look down on the Democratic Party when they ask us not to undermine their candidate because we (or Mr. Nader) would then be responsible for another Bush term.
When we act out of fear, we get fearful results. Fear is useful for identifying danger. It is not useful if the response is a fear-driven reaction without cognitive thought (jumping without thinking).
We need to welcome all that Mr. Nader will bring to the table. We don’t need to fear what he will take away. This is a person who dedicated a lifetime for the benefit of society, and who approaches issues with a thoughtful and insightful manner that has resulted in profound change. We don’t need to silence his voice. We need to encourage it.
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Author’s note: I am an unrepentant Nader supporter, who currently supports Dennis Kucinich. Anything positive said about Mr. Nader can certainly apply to Mr. Kucinich. We can thank the media and the Democratic party for marginalizing Mr. Kucinich and his issues. And just as Heinz has 57 varieties, I rebuff efforts of the Democratic Party Leadership to just offer us one voice, and one issue.
And a last note, a sign of the failure of the mainstream democratic platform is the expectation that the Democratic Party will have a hard time beating Mr. Bush. It seems like it should be a breeze to win, except if our frontrunner candidate voted to give Bush authority to go to war and still can't take responsibility for making that mistake. There are more than just a few people out there who realized prior to that vote that there wasn't probable cause to go to war in Iraq based on weapons of mass destruction.
We should expect leadership that demands truth and justice, and doesn't just pass off that responsibility. Who will be the last American soldier who dies for the illegal and immoral war in Iraq? (and I say immoral because the purpose was not to get rid of a tyrant, but to take control of the oil resources) So it goes.
peace.
Attila Gyenis
Posted by: A Gyenis at March 4, 2004 09:52 PM
