Dear Ralph -- your 15 minutes are up
By Libby Spencer
Nader apparently doesn't know when to quit. Allowing his ego to overcome common sense, he's once again flirting with a third party run that he knows he can't win, but he proffers all sorts of high-minded reasons he's considering throwing his hat into the ring for his fourth try at failure anyway.
I believe John Edwards, at least, is on that already, so why isn't Ralph throwing his support to a declared candidate?
Apparently Nader's never heard of the blogosphere? We're on it Ralph and frankly, we don't think you're going to be much help in that.
There was a time when Nader was an inspiring activist who changed the face of politics. Now he's just looking like an sad old man still singing the same old tune but who can't bear to step out of the limelight to make way for fresh talent. It's time for Ralph to retire while he's still able to preserve some dignity. A fourth run will only succeed in rendering him a permanent political joke.
(Cross-posted at The Impolitic.)
Nader apparently doesn't know when to quit. Allowing his ego to overcome common sense, he's once again flirting with a third party run that he knows he can't win, but he proffers all sorts of high-minded reasons he's considering throwing his hat into the ring for his fourth try at failure anyway.
If Nader runs, he would emphasize the "ever-increasing corporate power in our society" and "the expanding disconnect between the growth of the economy and the distribution to people who work hard but don't get the fruits of it."
Nader also believes the United States should withdraw from Iraq over a six-month period, have the United Nations sponsor new elections and leave no U.S. forces behind.
I believe John Edwards, at least, is on that already, so why isn't Ralph throwing his support to a declared candidate?
"What third parties can do is bring young people in, set standards on how to run a presidential election and keep the progressive agenda in front of the people," he said. "And maybe tweak a candidate here and there in the major parties."
Apparently Nader's never heard of the blogosphere? We're on it Ralph and frankly, we don't think you're going to be much help in that.
There was a time when Nader was an inspiring activist who changed the face of politics. Now he's just looking like an sad old man still singing the same old tune but who can't bear to step out of the limelight to make way for fresh talent. It's time for Ralph to retire while he's still able to preserve some dignity. A fourth run will only succeed in rendering him a permanent political joke.
(Cross-posted at The Impolitic.)
Labels: 2008 election, third party candidates
posted by Libby Spencer at
3:59 PM
2 Comments:
I would not estimate Edwards's chances of being the next President as significantly greater than Nader's. His chances of even being a candidate come November are certainly far lower. Nor is the blogosphere nearly as effective at promoting these causes as an actual democratic (i.e. multiparty) system would be.
We all choose our vehicles. But the Democratic party is about as reliable a vehicle as the Corvair.
By
Anonymous, at 7:14 PM
It's interesting to note that Nader made the Corvair into a metaphor which is at odds with the actual vehicle. I mention it only because it's at the root of my dislike of the man. His complaint about the Corvair was based on a type of independent rear suspension which was also used by Volkswagen and Porsche. It's disadvantage was that under certain conditions it was somewhat more prone to understeer than more primitive live axle suspension. That in the hands of a competent driver, it was safer and handled better than most vehicles of the time and many vehicles of today, has been forgotten. Porsche maintained a reputation for excellent handling although it used an identical system for many years as did the VW beetle, one of the most popular cars in US history.
His thrust as concerns product safety was that cars should be idiot-proof rather than good or efficient or graceful or pleasurable to use and to a very large degree, he thwarted early efforts by the American automobile industry to develop the sort of cars the Japanese later introduced to the detriment of our industrial base. Nader did more than kill the Corvair, he killed Detroit and seriously wounded America.
But the kicker, is that by the time Nader launched his ill informed diatribes, the Corvair no longer used it, but the poor handling Porsche sports cars of the day still did.
Such passionately peremptory writings about engineering from a man who not only wasn't one but didn't know a deDion tube from a Panhard rod and in all his life never drove a car is simply beyond the limits of ordinary ego hypertrophy.
Nader is and always has been all about Nader and he will probably never learn that pontificating about the influence of corporations has little to do with knowing how or being able to do something about it.
The Corvair had no particular reliability problems, nor does Nader. He a reliable enemy of everyone who supports him.
By
Capt. Fogg, at 10:14 AM
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