Updated 2 years ago
The power of the pen, or in this case the keyboard, should never be taken for granted. Words have power.
H. Ross Perot did it to Bush Sr. in 1992, famously heralding in 8 years of wild Clinton success, one of the most successful stretches of America in history. But it was only until 2000 that one third party candidate, through his actions, garnered the blood of one million murders on his hands. Not since the days of Mao Tse-Tung had Leftists had such a body count.
And liberal pride has had other casualties recently – Ruth Bader Ginsburg vainly tried to polish the throne of her legacy by refusing to retire under Obama, handing Trump a victory with Amy Coney Barrett in the middle of an epidemic that is going to kill half a million Americans through her enabling churchgoers to infect everyone around them.
Pride (Latin: superbia) is considered, on almost every list, the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins.
The text, from my email list, sent out by me (I am COMPLICIT I might add!)
Wednesday October 11, 2000
Full link to archive
Ralph Nader will appear at Madison Square Garden this Friday, October 13. Super Rally Special Guests include: Patti Smith Eddie Vedder Ani DiFranco Bill Murray Susan Sarandon Tim Robbins Ben Harper Phil Donahue Michael Moore and more. The Madison Square Garden rally is the sixth in a series of volunteer-coordinated rallies that have drawn huge crowds across the country, demonstrating a groundswell of grassroots support for Nader/LaDuke. Crowds of 10-12,000 have turned out to rallies in Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle, and Boston, demanding Nader’s participation in the presidential debates. Read more: votenader.org/press/001006MSGrally.html
We want Nader supporters to have the first opportunity to secure these tickets, as they are going rapidly for a $20 minimum donation. You can order now by going to: web votenader.org/superrallies.html Or you can visit the Madison Square Garden Box Office, or call the Nader 2000 Office in New York City at: (212) 353-3111 or (212) 254-4194. If you can’t attend and still want to help out, please donate: votenader.org/donate.html If you can come then bring your friends and forward this email to everyone you think would be interested. Don’t miss the chance to be part of this historic event. Doors Open at 5:30 PM. Event Starts at 8:00 PM. Madison Square Garden, NYC Tickets: $20. NY Volunteers needed, call (212) 353-3111, (212) 254- 4194. free103point9 microcasting in Williamsburg since 3.9.97 email: free103point9 at yahoo mail: 302 Bedford Ave., #261, Brooklyn NY 11211 web: web screwmusicforever/interaction
There has been some back and forth in the intervening decades by far letists to attempt to salvage Nader’s actions, but the sheer numbers and logic, never friends of theirs, do not lie:
“When asked if Green party candidate Ralph Nader spoiled the 2000 presidential election for then Vice-President Al Gore, prominent Democratic consultant James Carville proclaimed that the answer to this question was “obvious.”, In an election that turned on, among other things, 537 votes in the state of Florida, the conclusion that the 97, 488 Floridians who opted for liberal crusader Nader would have in his absence broken in sufficient numbers,for Gore so as to reverse the election in Florida, and thus in the nation, borders on logical deduction.”
– Did Ralph Nader Spoil Al Gore’s Presidential Bid? A Ballot-Level Study of Green and Reform Party Voters in the 2000 Presidential Election (researchgate.net)
“Worried liberals—including some friends and former Nader’s Raiders—begged him not to do it, but he was undaunted. In Nader’s mind, Democrats weren’t significantly different from Republicans.”
“His run for President was narcissistic and caused nothing but harm.”
These were obviously not the sort of regrets I had in mind. Eventually, after we’d talked a lot more about everything that had happened, he did share one unexpected thing. I asked if he thought it was a mistake not to have run as a Democrat.
“Retroactively, yes,” he said. “Oh, yeah.”
Surprised, I asked why. “It was a mistake because hindsight, that’s why. I was convinced that because I would not toe the line, [the Democrats] would keep me off the debates. So I said: If you can’t get on debates, you’re like a third-party candidate [anyway]. So that was the calculation.”
It wasn’t exactly the kind of remorse that would satisfy his detractors. But it was something.
Nader must know he’s never going to be the force in American culture he once was. But is there a point at which the anger toward him crosses over from understandable to irrational? His ideas about corporate greed, wealth inequality, universal health care, the minimum wage, and on and on are perfectly suited to the era of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Yet you don’t see him on CNN much or hear progressive presidential candidates invoke his name. Nader says Sanders hasn’t returned his calls since before the 2000 election.”
– Ralph Nader Is Opening Up About His Regrets – November 3, 2019
How Nader cost Gore an election – The Washington Post
