[Am-info] Re: questions of 'integrity' II

[Mitch Stone]

--- From a message sent by Glenn T. Livezey, Ph.D. on 11/7/01 7:38 AM ---

[snip]

>No, we don't disagree there. Where we seem to disagree is whether the
>whole question of campaigns should take precedence over the fate of
>the nation. Nader is a bright man. Nader knew ALL the implications
>and costs associated with his actions and words at that time. Nader
>made decisions that contributed to the undoing of much of his life's
>work by contributing to the selection of George Bush.

How the "fate of the nation" is judged is based in part on whether one 
takes the short or long view of events. Nader, I believe, was attempting 
to take the long view by looking beyond this one election to the issues 
that neither major party is addressing.

>>I believe the operating assumption here is that Nader, or any other 
>>third party candidate, ought to engage in the same sort of "lesser of
>>two evils" reasoning that we as voters often use; ..... Of course this 
>>sort of reasoning condemns third party candidates to permanent ignominy.
>
>I assert it is every thinking person's responsibility to avert 
>disaster when the warning sirens are sounding. This isn't about 
>propping up Gore, its about fighting the real and palpable threat to
>every ideal Nader professed, as personified by George Bush. You may not
>think that anyone should have seen the real George while listening to
>his campaign speeches. But I for one am astonished at the number of 
>intelligent people who looked at that man, his handlers, his family
>and his past, and thought for one minute that he wasn't going to do
>exactly what he has done throughout "the selection" and since occupying
>the office.

Much as I've said earlier, nobody should be surprised by this outcome.

>>As a minority president, Clinton recognized that he had to run the
>>country from the political center, and ..., he did. This is one aspect 
>>of being a minority president I believe George W. Bush as not yet 
>>reckoned with, and it may well come back to haunt him.
>
>I think we are floating even farther away from shore here, but.....
>Clinton WAS from the center, the REAL center, not that position just
>to the left of Pat Buchanan that the right wingnuts call nonpartisan.
>Clinton fought for and won every concession he could get from a VERY
>right wingnut congress. The same congress that not only fought Clinton's
>every policy, but conducted a very personal vendetta to erase Clinton
>the man from history. And the same congress, with few changes, is still
>there, but now is drunk on the power of their man's assention and the
>great opportunity to further centralize their power in the wake of 9/11.
>George Bush is that same right wingnuts point man. He has and will
>continue to flush this nation down the drain in an effort to return
>to the war-mongering, profit-mongering dark ages of his Daddy's day
>and do his Dad one better. There is not one brain cell, not one 
>synapse in George Bush's head that is devoted to contemplating the
>meaning of having more than half the nation vote against him. The
>people are irrelavent, and as time progresses, so are our laws, our
>history and the truth. 
>Why are the democrats so timid now? REAL GOOD QUESTION. But it does
>not excuse either the Bush administration's actions or Nader's silence
>on this particular issue. To cut my rant short, I would simply ask,
>what would you have the democrats do under the circumstances?
>When the public can accept ludicrous statements like "settling the
>MS case is in the best interests of the nation" and "circumstances
>since 9/11 would suggest a quick resolution is best", and give Bush
>an 85% approval rating, what would you have the dems do?

You're right, we are floating far away from shore. I'm not going to 
speculate on what the "real center" of American politics is, or pretent 
to strategize for the Democratic party. When I say Clinton governed from 
the center, I am referring primarily to the "triangulation" policy which 
seemed to work so well for him.

 Mitch Stone  
 mitch@accidentalexpert.com