Mr. Nader's Parting Words

I have always enjoyed Mr. Nader's words. They are to the point, and illuminate issues and their solutions. This is an excerpt.

To staff, volunteers, supporters, donors, and voters

Authoritative public sentiments have always been there, have they not? From the Declaration of Independence’s majestic prose to the preamble of our Constitution which begins with "We the People of the United States …" to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address "toward a new birth of freedom … for a government of the people, by the people and for the people" to the last words of the pledge of allegiance — "with liberty and justice for all."

Sentiments remain mere words; heralding hopes, wishes and poignant nods. Unless they are grounded in reality, behavior, respect, attitude, and renewal, they become the words of controlling processes, pacifying the resigned, fortifying the concentrators of abusive power, and ever manipulating the trusting populace by the latest politicians climbing up the electoral hills.

The Nader/Gonzalez independent ticket set standards for presidential campaigns that were authentic, honest, factual, far-seeing, and committed to a deliberate, deep democracy that creates high expectations and dedicated actions from the people themselves. Democracy is revered all over the world because it brings the best out of people. But the people have to want it, to work for it, and to use it daily in its many splendid varieties.

Elections are a temptation for abstraction, soaring rhetoric without roots in the daily experience of those who are impoverished, ailing, defrauded, and indebted. The vast majority of citizens are marginalized and excluded from the freedom to participate in power — to paraphrase Marcus Cicero.

Our campaign started with the realities of our country on the ground where the people live, work, and raise their families. Politics must never be an abstraction. For if allowed to be such, it will be a mirage that stokes the hopeful emotions while detaching people from a critical recognition that they and only they — individually and organized — can make their representatives truly their representatives, dutifully producing more leaders. Leaders who cannot betray the trust of the people, and that of their children and grandchildren, know from whence they came.

It is with these thoughts that all of us at the Nader/Gonzalez campaign headquarters tender our gratitude to all who stood with us. We thank your enlightened self-interest, your awareness of the necessity for enlightened communities from the neighborhoods and workplaces all the way to our national government. We must make this government a tribune of peace, justice and freedom throughout this tormented world of ours.

While I was campaigning in Syracuse, New York this October in a city beset with hard times, a middle-aged blue-collar worker with calloused hands approached me after our discussion and said, "I’m voting for myself, which is why I’m voting for you." I took that declaration as a serious trusteeship and later on the campaign trail turned it into a basic question: "Isn’t it about time that we all voted for ourselves?" Isn’t it about time that we planned our futures rather than ceding that essential function of citizenship to giant rootless corporations?

What follows is a summary of what we achieved together through the Presidential campaign of 2008, despite being obstructed by the Democrats’ and Republicans’ ballot access hurdles and traps, despite being excluded from speaking to tens of millions of Americans through the Presidential debates (polls repeatedly showed the people wanted us — by name — included), and despite being willfully ignored by the national television and national newspaper/magazine media. These achievements represent persistence, stamina, and the willpower to penetrate this political bigotry so as to give choice to those voters who knew we were running.

Read the whole article at: http://www.votenader.org/blog/2008/11/11/what-we-accomplished-together/

ELECTION OVER, but is it over?

Have to admit that the better outcome for this election (realistically speaking) would have been with Obama winning, but with 10-20% of the vote going to third party candidates like Nader or the Green Party. But people voted out of fear again, and we'll have to see if there will be fundamental change in the balance that the corporate elite hold over public interests.

While no one ever said that Obama is as bad as McCain, what some of us felt is that Obama didn't meet the minimum requirements of a just and fair candidate that would put the public's concerns first and foremost, over the interests of the corporate elite.

One hope is that the 'progressives' who supported Obama without demanding critical changes in his policies (universal health care, expanding militarism, corporate bailouts etc) will somehow manage to have influence over him in the coming weeks and years. It is doubtful, but we will leave that up to the democratic party. However, that is unlikely. Historically, change has never come without demanding it.

Maybe the answer is in the Green Party though they would have to make significant changes in their organization and structure to become a consideration in the next election.

This election was not going to provide all the answers to the problems that we face. Unfortunately it may be a step back as the democratic supporters have now been put into a position that they can't really complain when Obama carries out many of the same policies that Bush did in terms of the war and protecting the corporate elite's interests.

As Vonnegut stated, be careful of what you wish for, it may come true. With the election of Obama, many voters have hope that he will change from his previous voting record, and move the country forward. But most will think that their civic duty ended when they pulled the lever to vote. That is not how it works. Now the real work begins, but most won't be there until the next election comes around and they are again forced to vote for the lesser of two evils.

Please read Mr. Nader's post election statement - http://www.votenader.org/blog/2008/11/11/what-we-accomplished-together/

There is no peace without justice, and no justice if it is based on lies.