Ralph Nader. Demonized by the left.
Ralph Nader. Demonized by the right.
Ralph Nader. Misunderstood by many.
Ralph Nader. Isn't concerned about being misunderstood.
Ralph Nader. Loyal to the interests of the very people who attack him.
Ralph Nader. A greater, more courageous man than any politician in Washington will ever be.

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Democrats lost because they let their party get taken over by the CFR, which turned the political process into a dog and pony freakshow. How is it Nader's fault when not a single senator would sign the petition back in 2000? Not a single democrat had the guts. Bunch of spineless wusses. Couldnt even stop the troop surge. Wont speak out about any issue of substance. Part and parcel to the destruction of this country. DEMOCRATS = REPUBLICANS in every way that matters. The fact that democrats blame Nader for their own failures shows exactly why they lose. They lose even when they win, as the past year has indicated. Want to stop the republicans? Take Mike Gravel's advice.

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Congressman Ron Paul is far more courageous than Nader. Nader is an establishment shill compared to Ron Paul.

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Al Gore cost Ralph Nader the election. Clinton#2 is an aristocrat. Obama... say what does his wife look like and why don't we see her more often? McCain gaurantees that more americans will die in the sand. Vote for these political thugs and be a good citizen; vote for Ralph Nader and America's woes will be pinned squarely on your back!

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Barack Hussein Obama IS a centrist! It doesn't take Nader to make him look like one.

And I am an Obama supporter. I just don't have any illusions about his being a liberal or leftist.

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I am sick of hearing this litany of anti-Nader talking points from seemingly intelligent but evidently moronic Dems like Durst. Maybe it's because he's really not a Progressive, but a Militarist and an Imperialist, because that's what the mainstream Dems he appears to favor are.

I don't have time to shred his points one by one, but the idea that Obama is not a centrist is ridiculous to put it politely.

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People continue to make the assumption that Al Gore would have acted in 2000 like he does now. I don't think so. Gore in 2000 was pretty much Clinton-lite, a DLC centrist. He did not stand out from the Republicans in any meaningful way. At least not in terms of displaying progressive values. Only after the election was stolen did he grow a spine.

The Democrats still have the same problem. They are truly pathetic. Look at what happened after they were swept into power in 2006 after campaigning against the Iraq war. They totally caved! Majorities in both houses, and the will of the American people behind them. The sad thing is, they didn't even have to get a bill passed to bring the troops home. The Republican Veto posed no threat to ending the war. All the Dems had to do was not vote to fund the war. The default position is no money--troops come home. But the Dems caved to the war machine.

It's a goddamn travesty.

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Privately I have more and more began thinking that America doesn't deserve to get any better because Americans are a bunch of assholes.

I mean I've sorta felt anger towards the public. There are just like these moments I experience dark thoughts like that and then they pass. lol. But they've become more frequent. I know when I read and hear liberals mocking Ralph Nader I pretty much think...well, the words are along the lines of "F*ck You" basically. You don't deserve a real person of integrity and a true progressive. Your laughing at yourselves really.

We can't do any better than a corporate owned centrist Democrat. Haahaaa! We are the richest country in the history of the planet and rank low in just about every category from education to health etc. Haaahaa. Nader is a loser!! LOL. Three strikes, your out loser!!

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You can be quite funny at times, but at other times you can be quite the thoughtless DP bore.

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which is to use the system to revise the system.

A winner take all, tyranny of the majority democracy isn't going to allow the Nader's access to anything. What the 3rd partiers need is their own version of PNAC.

Translation: The shock doctrine can work both ways--look at Social Security and other government programs like Welfare/TANF.

A plan for an American style parlimentary system whereby people vote for the party/person to represent them and that party/person gets that percentage of vote share in the 'congress.' I think that it should differ a bit from the British style with particular attention paid to American constructs that subvert the system.

I'd love for Ralph to come up with a construct for that. His 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice idea was great for replacing the electoral college. Have the construct ready and wait for the right time to implement it.

I know people who worked for him. They say he's as straight an arrow as it gets and completely incorruptible.

Go Ralph--I'm glad you're in our world. And that's coming from a former Corvair owner!

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It's sadly fitting that yet another mainstream "liberal" opinion professor is bashing Ralph. Nader, who has done more than anyone Mr Durst or any other self-styled "authority" knows for progressive causes - and still does (check out the various groups he has started or is associated with).
In their cowardness, mainstream liberals let the Republicans steal the 2000 and 2004 elections. Instead of standing up to malignant power they ate their own.
The truest progressive is now bashed and trashed and scapegoated by the Democratic leadership and ambitious columnists alike. Prostitution for big business is so much more comfortable for those without much conscience.
I would like to see the Progressive Caucus wing of the Democratic Party form a new Progressive Party.

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Ralph Nader. When Bad Things Happen to Good People in Sears and Roebuck Suits.

giggle!

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I am not alone, if it's Clinton on the ballet this Nov. Nader will get my vote.

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Look, I love Ralph for all the good work he's done, but let's be pragmatic, that is, if we don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot again: Whatever else Nader was doing IN-BETWEEN elections, he SHOULD have been working on changing the System, like getting IRV (Instant Runoff Voting) so he could also be ELECTABLE! There's just no other way a third-party candidate can win in this lousy two-party system. (And we HAD a great progressive candidate in Kucinich..why wasn't Ralph out supporting HIM?)
Yes, sure, it's a drag to have to choose between the lesser of two evils, but that's the best we can REALISTICALLY do right now. ....and YES! there IS still a difference between the two parties, and who wants another 4 or 8 years of REPUG RULE!?

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I put a Nader bumper sticker on my vehicle as soon as he declared that he would run. The message to Dems: shape up, or else. The message to Repugs: go ahead, get cocky.

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Nader is the only left candidate in this election. Why must you point your finger at someone who poses no threat to the mainstream system - at all. Unless you are so conservative that he actually threatens you... I mean, as Ralph put it, "Dissent is the mother of assent. And in that context, I have decided to run for president. If the Democrats can't landslide the Republicans this year, they ought to just wrap up, close down, emerge in a different form."
http://therealnews.com/web/index.php? thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1023&thisview=item

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Especially "like Kucinich, only minus the hot wife and groundswell of public support."

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Obama is a centrist in a party system -- the American -- that has a right-of-center pivot point. But Durst believes he's a lefty! What does that say about Durst?

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Many middle-class people don't understand 'worse' even on relative terms. Yes, it's true that things are bad now, will never be the same as before, and some folks are experiencing big setbacks in fortune. But relative to billions of people in other portions of the globe, we are not near a critical 'worse' point yet... I mean, the kind that would galvanize ordinary people into taking collective action and doing something for themselves. THAT is what Ralph is talking about, I believe.

This attitude has been misrepresented as a Leninist stance ('Things must get worse before they get better'), but in actuality there is no politic in a severe crisis... the pendulum swings, and, depending on what has been endured, it's just possible that the process of change can be initiated by 'the great unwashed'.

Concerning Americans and what is 'worse', this will likely only be precipitated after a crisis of calamitous proportions. Generations of learned helplessness and smug satisfaction with technical gadgetry have kept the population entirely too distracted for so many people to notice the real depth of the situation...

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Ralph Nader did his thing in the 70's and 80's--a very long time ago. In the 70's I was in high school, in the 80's I taught it...then what? He's an egomanaical loser with a leftie cult following. A birthday angst month every four years to "run" for president on quote leftist talking points? Pleeeaaase. And, trust me, I'm a liberal UU and practice as much activism as I can work into my over booked not-quite-making it 50 hour workweek...but Nader is not the answer. To vote for Nader is not the answer. Vote for the Dems and steer the party yourselves if you're so smart.

As for all of you who think Obama won't get the change he speaks of done--stand by and watch. Like he says--it will take all of us. And all of you who dismiss the Democrats and even the two party system--move somewhere else. Realism is a virtue.

You are not the only ones sick of the crap.

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All of the posts here supporting Ralph Nader prove at least one thing: His supporters have as much of a sense of humor as he has. Suggestion: Lighten up. If a joke is irritating that's usually because there's an element of truth in it that hits a little too close to home.

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Will Durst for having the intelligence, humor, and grace to write what many of us are thinking, but few have the courage to say (and so well!)

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Howzit goin?? Is America the just, peaceful, caring country you would like under the two party system? Are the politicians who are running under this system honest, anti-war people who support equality and fairness? Is the two party system moving to change the American militarism that is wrecking so much of the planet? If you continue to support the same system will you get different results? Or do you want different results?

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I don't mind the Sears Roebuck suit, but I wish he would press it.

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What are you all saying? Do you even know?

This isn't a boxing arena, nor is it a horse race. The American people are voting for the person they feel would be a good president. At least, they should be. Not whom is the most popular candidate. Just because a large crowd of people are going in one direction. Does not mean that it is the right direction. It always should come back to individual thought. Do "YOU" feel it is the right direction. This is the most healthiest approach! The only approach!

For myself I feel Nader would be a good president. I feel he has a rich history of being for the people. I feel this is what America is suppose to be about.

Rather, there are those that wish to manipulate my way of thinking. To force a vote and/or their wishes upon me. You may stop me, to ask about my belief system. We may differ in opinion. But, you have absolutely no right to force me to vote in your direction! Nor, do I have the right to force you to vote as an independent.

Stop telling me and others that we are throwing votes away! If we took your candidates out of the picture, and used your own strange thought patterns against you, we also could isolate the results in our favor.

Please attempt to acknowledge what you are saying to us! Is this how you wish us to translate your wordage/actions? As a person who deems it necessary to force people into (1) or (2) ways of thought. And, to sanction those whom fail to go towards the direction you draw out for us. If I were a horse, I’d turn my butt and kick Ya!

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This column proves once again why the dems are such losers. Don't think beyond a whine, and blame anything or anyone simple to blame. I agree with the former post that asserts that Nader has done more for progressive causes, the general citizenry, and the powerless than any of these blamers. He has courage - he has actually stood up to the corporate power mongers. Whom can you blame for the 2004 election?!!! That should have been a cakewalk for the dems. Whom can you blame for the lack of courage after the 2006 congressional elections?!! Who besides a few lonely ones in the pathetic democratic party today has the kind of courage to lead and STAND UP TO POWER?!!!

We DEFINITELY need a new progressive party. And, yes, Ralph meant that as long as we can still get our potato chips and TV things will have to get much worse for the people to feel they have nothing left to lose and and finally change what is inexorably destroying our democracy.

So all of the whiny blamers leave Ralph out of it, and YOU put yourself on the line to change the course of this country.

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Nader is a democracy advocate and the only candidate who will expose and confront the corporatist Empire that is hiding behind this facade of 'Vichy America' --- an Empire which is the source of all America's problems and sorrows, both foreign wars and domestic tyranny.

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Nader supporters can always just cut out the middleman and vote for McCain. That's like getting to vote for Nader twice! Of course, on the down side, a McCain vote doesn't come with all the extras a Nader vote does. You know, the hair shirt, the "did I just smell shit?" facial expression, and the holier than thou attitude. Since I think most Nader voters are really in it for these perks, most especially the holier than thou superiority they get to wear on their sleeves, I doubt the McCain vote carries the same cachet. And, let's face it, with this republic teetering on the edge and four members of the Supreme Court who would validate the Unitary Executive Theory just waiting for one more GOP judge to finally destroy the US Constitution, what really matters is that you are cooler than the other kids. VOTE NADER!

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you say:

AlterNet will not tolerate: personal attacks on our writers or readers.

I guess this excludes Ralph Nader. That seems fair, I guess... unless he happens to read your own Will Durst's uninformed and unfunny personal attack on him.

Aren't comics supposed to be funny, or at least mildly... tepidly... witty?

I guess not at AlterNet. Great going guys. I'll stick with my NY Times, thanks!

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Joking aside, what manual does our laughy-daffy columnist turn to for insight?

Meh.

Fail.

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Ever since failing to fight back against the election theft of 2000 and thereafter losing to a pampered, warmongering retard, the majority of Democrats went and voted for the Patriot Act, the war in Iraq, lost again to said warmongering retard, sanctioned illegal wiretapping, approved Bush's Supreme Court judges (except the ones Republicans stopped themselves), continued funding the war in Iraq, approved his Attorney Generals who are okay with torture, voted for the bankruptcy bill, failed to impeach, and haven't made much of a peep about Guantanomo. All in response to the most ruinous and most flagrantly dishonest and secretive Presidency in a long, long, long time.

Under no circumstances do the Democrats get to throw a whining hissy fit and blame Nader for their own failings. They need to look inward.

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"Ralph Nader. Makes Barack Hussein Obama look like a centrist."

Obama *is* a centrist. He wouldn't be a potential Democratic candidate if he wasn't. To modify Gore Vidal's phrase, we have one party in America; it has a far-right wing called "Republican" and a center-right wing called "Democrat".

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I don't know which way to turn. On the one hand, great authors and public intellectuals like Noam Chomsky and Ralph Nader write collumns for Alternet, then come election time the groundswell of support for corporate-owned, right leaning neo-liberal candidates manifests itself in a plethora of Obama and Hillary articles.

Is Alternet just a place for lefties to vent their frustrations, then settle for less than good candidates like Ralph Nader and Dennis Kucinich? The cynic is me says its all too contrived.

peace

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Otherwise the 2000 election would have turned out 65% Gore, 30% Nader, 5% Bush.

I fully beleive it was the people who voted for Bush, not the people who voted for Nader, who are more responsible for Bush being president. That includes 300,000 registerd Democrats in Florida in 2000 who voted for Bush. Nader only got 97,000 votes. 67% of those people said they would not have voted for either Bush or Gore.

But mostly, it was the US Supreme Court, who ruled that the votes in Florida should NOT be counted, that is responsible.

There is extensive evidence that the Republican party in Ohio committed election fraud in 2004. Who challenged the election results in Ohio? Not John Kerry, not the Democratic Party. No, the GREEN PARTY filed a lawsuit challenging the Ohio election results. If they had won, President Kerry would be campaigning for a second term.

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I don't understand why Americans are fixated with personalities. Campaigns are PR exercises. It's a candidates policies that we should look at. Which of Nader's platform positions do you not like? That is what we should be discussing.

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Ralph Nader is going to be continually bashed until he's no longer around. He's going to carry the stigma among democrats that he lost the election for Gore(nonsense). It's all very entertaining this Nader-bashing, but the fact is, he has been an advocate for people, human beings, all his public life. He never fell victim to the lure of cash. For that alone he gets my respect. Even if you don't agree with him it's interesting to get a new viewpoint now and then.

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What is it to you if Nader runs ?

Only a Democrat or a very
foolish person would still be
complaining or attacking what
is nothing less than his right
as a citizen. In fact, I think
the only people who ever felt the
need to moan or attack are Democrats
and fans of Corporate Crime.

If he doesn't turn you on, then
mind your own business. The truth
is that a lot of money and people
power is pouring into his campaign.
A lot of people are thrilled to see
this American hero raising his banner.

We who love his campaign never intended
to vote for anyone from the Duopoly.
It's obvious to us you people are never
going to get the message so how about you
go support your pick and let us do the same.

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I have tremendous respect for Ralph Nader, and I would happily have him as president, but clearly Americans aren't ready for a truly progressive candidate. Too many people have been brainwashed by the media machine and the bipartisan duopoly. So be it--we will continue to fight and if we are successful someday we will have a country where a candidate like Nader has a chance of winning.

But for now we have to deal with the exigencies of our time, and accept whatever small steps toward progress we can claim. I would like to see either Obama or Clinton select Nader as a cabinet member. Even if America isn't ready for a president with his eminent qualifications, we can still benefit from his tremendous talent and determination.

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I'm rather disappointed in this article, as I've come to expect more from AlterNet columnists. Who's to blame for my disappointment? Myself for expecting too much, or AlterNet for thinking this sort of thing passes muster?

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