Show Mayor l t w Anderson i 4 4 1 lays ii Jt it on j t J Jh thick h hosting sti IC s 's Midday Metro 4 Jeff Dixon Opinion Editor What do you think about what Ralph Nader did to this country He was one of my heroes and Im I'm completely disgusted disgusted disgusted dis dis- gusted that thata a man would have given us George Bush for 8 years rather than somebody like Al AI Gore This question was posed bythe bythe by bythe the indignant ever-indignant Salt Lake City Mayor Ross C. C Anderson when he hosted Midday Metro radio program on June 8 Rocky went on to describe some of the consequences of Ralph Naders Nader's dastardly treasonous treasonous treasonous trea trea- candidacy and refusal to withdraw when things got close such as increasing pollution pollution pollution tion and the War in Iraq Here according to Rocky and many other Democrats is the pretzel logic which leads them to conclude that Ralph Nader and only Ralph Nader Nader- is to blame for the Bush presidency presidency presidency dency Bush beat Gore Nader also ran Ergo Bush won because Nader ran Duh Huh Oh but a close race If Ralph had just pulled out at the thelast thelast thelast last second rather than staying in to finish what he started the monster that is the Bush White WhiteHouse WhiteHouse WhiteHouse House would never have been born You see a vote for Nader was a vote for Bush not for Ralph Nader And Al Gore lost not a single one Im I'm curious Rocky Did Ralph Nader become your hero because of his acquiescence acquiescence acquiescence acqui acqui- to the status quo Or was it his timid cowardly coward coward- ly acceptance of moneyed interests' interests influence in Washington air and water pollution pollution pollution pol pol- lution corporate welfare unsafe products government waste corruption and secrecy and civic inaction among other problems It would have been uncharacteristic uncharacteristic uncharacteristic of Ralph Nader to withdraw from the race when his campaign was a direct challenge challenge challenge chal chal- lenge to the two-party two corporate corporate corporate corpo corpo- rate That was the same Ralph Nader who became your hero Rocky If a hero isone is isone isone one whom the admirer wishes to emulate then you Rocky have deviated from these ideals not Ralph You ignore the swing vote Gore lost more votes to Bush than he did to Nader Some like me would not have voted for Gore just because Nader was off the ballot Its It's not a stretch to say that some would have selected Gore as their second second second sec sec- ond option had Ralph not been an option Of course this assumes quite arrogantly that one is entitled to a particular ideology's vote as the Democrats feel they are of any stance left of center Pro choice or Thought Police To cordon the political arena off to anyone other than the two parties is to TAKE choices from people What this implies in the case of the 2000 election is that people cannot be trusted with the option to choose for themselves lest their choice be inconsistent with your agenda which when you have one beyond that of hollow opposition tion really isn't all that dissimilar dissimilar dissimilar dis dis- similar from the GOP To you Rocky a member of the Democratic Party there are two and ONLY TWO ballet- ballet worthy political ideologies in inthis inthis inthis this diverse country of mil mil- lion Your party proved as much in 2004 when they went to great lengths and succeeded in some cases to keep Nader off the ballot Where were they In 9 11 Michael Moore showed coverage of members of the Congressional Black Caucus stating the basis for their claim of widespread voter fraud in Florida All that was was needed to further this investigation was the support of one US U.S. Senator Many about half of your fellow Democrats were serving in the Senate at that time Rocky Where were the Liberal socially inclusive Senators Kerry Kennedy and Edwards to stand up to this injustice If Florida was the focal point of this controversy and the decisive state in the election why did your yom party the party which looks looks' out for minorities' minorities interests look the other way They seemed not to care For ignoring this point and making a scapegoat of Nader for Gores Gore's loss you Rocky seem not to care either Misconceptions held on a topic can usually be attributed to ignorance But when a trial lawyer- lawyer politician come-politician states an untruth it is usually made in a calculated effort to persuade another by demonizing the opposition Such is the norm We Americans love stark contrast even if we must supplant supplant supplant sup sup- plant a story at the expense of the truth Liberal Elite Rocky Anderson you high minds in high places are no exception |