Reply #69: Help him? No, Mr Magistrate [View All]

[charlie]

I've never voted for Nader, never will. But I don't hold him culpable for the 2000 debacle and I won't join your mob howling for a pound of his hide. Low impulses, like physically threatening the man, are unwarranted and vile (and should be reserved for real criminals, like Bushco). In any case, as far as I'm concerned, Nader is a symptom, not the disease.

To be clear, I think 20+ years of the party's timorousness, validating the worst of Republican rhetoric through capitulation (Liberals!? Eek! We're Democrats, but not THOSE kind of Democrats), chasing the upscale vote while neglecting our rightful lunchbucket constituency (in the tumult of today's economics we're all one-paycheck-away-from-disaster ramen eaters at one time or another), and most importantly, flat-out refusing to recognize the hard fact that Republican ruthlessness cannot be countered without equal ruthlessness is what got us here.

AND... I'll crawl over crushed glass, if need be, to pull the lever for the Dem nominee this November. I clearly recognize that they hold my fate, the fate of the country and the world, in their hands. So no, I won't be helping Nader. But I do find your rage for vengeance misdirected and appalling.