Lesser of Two Evils

Ralph Nader Interviewed by Gregg LaGambina in A.V. Club (AVC) September 25th, 2008

AVC: By your own admission, the Bush administration is one of the worst in recent memory. Going by what you've said in the past about how the lesser of two evils is still evil, do you see McCain and Obama as indistinguishable? If you agree that McCain would be an extension of Bush's policy, wouldn't Obama be at least a smidgen less evil? And isn't that reason enough to vote for him?

 

Ralph Nader: Let's accept your premise. Here's my response. The lesser of two evils, or the least of the worst, is not good enough for the American people anymore. They've both gone down below the flunk bar. When you consider Democrats today compared to Democrats in the '60s—ha! Democrats today are overwhelmed with what might be called, indelicately, anal flutter.

AVC: Anal flutter? That's a new one.

Ralph Nader: In other words, they have no political fortitude. They're always trying to engage in protective imitation of the Republicans—"More soldiers in Iraq" or "I'm John Kerry and I'm ready for duty." [Adopts tough-guy voice.] "We wouldn't have pulled out of Fallujah!" he says to Bush in the first debate. So, after the election, Bush blew Fallujah apart. Obama swings back and forth—hope, change, hope, change—like a metronome, inducing hypnosis. And McCain is the candidate of perpetual war and omnipresent military bases.
[for rest of article, go to http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/ralph_nader/1]

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There are lots of reasons to support third parties, especially as we've seen in the last few presidential elections that the democrats are not really offering a viable choice for progressives and pro-peace voters.

The question of 'lesser of two evils' often comes up. For some, it is justification to vote for Obama while holding their noses as they pull the lever. After all, we don't want to get that evil McCain. 

But for others, Obama does not meet the minimum standards of acceptable leadership values. Obama doesn't support total withdrawal from Iraq. universal health care, reduced military; yet will support 'clean' coal, the FISA bill, and the list goes on. Voting for the lesser of two evils still leaves you with evil. It would be like saying if you would vote for Hitler if he killed half as many people as he did because then is would be lesser of two evils.

The people who allow themselves to support the 'lesser of two evils' should review how social change has occurred historically. Change has never occurred without pressure to the status quo.
 

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress,” declared Frederick Douglass in 1857, in response to those who suggested that the great abolitionist was pushing too hard for an end to human bondage. “Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

www.NotOneMore.US

Ron Paul say Vote Third Party

Ron Paul urges third-party vote

Texas Congressman Ron Paul has urged voters to reject Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain and vote for a third-party US candidate instead.

Dr Paul said a former senior McCain adviser had asked him this week to endorse Mr McCain - but he had refused.

He is backing independent Ralph Nader, Libertarian Bob Barr and Green Party and Constitution Party candidates.

Dr Paul, who dropped his own bid for the Republican nomination earlier this year, has a strong internet following.

He told a news conference in Washington he had been contacted by ex-McCain adviser Phil Gramm, who was dropped from the campaign after he said the US was a "nation of whiners" over the economy.

Dr Paul said Mr Gramm told him: "You need to endorse McCain." He refused.

"The idea was that he would do less harm than the other candidate," Dr Paul added, quoted by the Associated Press news agency.

'Realignment'

Dr Paul said the majority of Americans were unhappy with the choice on offer from the mainstream parties and urged the third-party candidates to bring their supporters together to vote against the "establishment candidates".

Mr Nader, Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney, a former Democratic congresswoman for Georgia, and Constitution Party hopeful Chuck Baldwin were among those to attend the news conference.

However, Mr Barr turned down the invitation, saying at his own news conference later that he had done so because Dr Paul failed to endorse one specific candidate.

Ahead of Dr Paul's event, Mr Nader was quoted by AP as saying it would "raise the eyebrows" of commentators sceptical about their chances in November's presidential election.

"This is the beginning of the realignment of American politics," he said.

Mr Nader won 0.3% of the vote in 2004, when he ran as an independent. In 2000, when he stood as a Green Party candidate, he was blamed by Democrats for taking votes from Al Gore that might have prevented George W Bush's narrow election win.

Thousands of people attended a protest rally held by the libertarian-leaning Dr Paul - who opposes the Iraq war - near the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, last week.

He won no contests in his party's primary election season but raised large amounts of money and support online.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7608500.stm

Published: 2008/09/10 18:45:10 GMT

Well, at least there is one voice (and this is from the conservative side) saying vote third party. Republican Ron Paul, known for his anti-war stance, conservative views, and a presidential candidate for the republican party before he withdrew, refused to endorse McCain. Instead he urged his supporters to vote third party.

Cynthia McKinney, Green Party

Wednesday, 10 September 2008

by Cynthia McKinney At what point do the American people say, "No"? When the Pentagon admits it "lost" $2.3 trillion? "Yet both the Democratic and Republican nominees plan to increase the Pentagon's budget, continue to add countries to Dick Cheney's list of 60 against which the United States must be prepared to go to war," says Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney. Executive impunity is the order of the day. "Torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity, lying to and spying on the American people, and crimes against the peace are all hallmarks of our country today, and yet impeachment has been taken off the table!" Read rest of article at: Say No to Lying, Spying and Torture

The Green Party offers what many progressives are looking for. They have a pro-peace platform, promote justice for all, and an intention of creating a sustainable society. What it offers is a viable alternative to the two corporate candidates.

Check them out: http://www.gp.org/index.php

Ralph Nader Answers Questions

Karen Kilroy of the Nader/Gonzalez web team is posting video of recent Question & Answer sessions at the "Open the Debates" rallies in Minneapolis and Columbus, Ohio.

You'll find this all new and thought-provoking footage in our Issues Playlist at YouTube.

Bookmark the page and keep checking back, because there's more video on the way.

Also available online is a transcript of Ralph's remarks at the August 27 Denver Super Rally. Our sincere thanks to Swan's Commentary and Jan Baughman, co-editor, who prepared the transcript.

For more Nader information, go to: http://www.votenader.org/

Ralph Nader is offering viable solutions to age old concerns. You will either buy in to the argument that we are a two party systems, and vote for the candidate while holding your nose.

Or you can try to move the discussion to issues that are of concern to the general public, yet aren't being discussed by the two mainstream candidates, or the mainstream press.

You cannot have a corrupted government without having a corrupted press.

The Good Old USA

Tyranny on Display at the Republican Convention

Posted on Sep 8, 2008

By Chris Hedges

St. Paul is a window into our future. It is a future where, as one protester told me by phone, “people have been pepper-gassed, thrown on the ground by police who had drawn their weapons, had their documents seized and their tattoos photographed before being taken away to jail.” It is a future where illegal house raids are carried out. It is a future where vans containing heavily armed paramilitary units circle and film protesters. It is a future where, as the protester said, “people have been pulled from cars because their license plates were on a database and handcuffed, thrown in the back of a squad car and then watched as their vehicles were ransacked and their personal possessions from computers to literature seized.” It is a future where constitutional rights mean nothing and where lawful dissent is branded a form of terrorism.

Read the rest of the article: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080908_tyranny_on_display_at_the_republican_convention/

Good article by Chris Hedges. Amy Goodman, and two of her producers were arrested in St. Paul, along with some 300 protesters.

Of course, there were similar police actions meant to intimidate and quell any public protests at the the Democratic Convention at Denver, and I don't recall any major democratic party leader speaking against that either. It is only our rights and free speech that are under attack.

This is another example of how closed off the general public is to the political process. The political leadership doesn't want to hear from us, and certainly don't want to act on our behalf. And yet, loyal 'democrats' will continue to support Obama in spite of the fact that he hasn't suggested one policy change that would benefit them, especially in terms of war.

Oh yeah, now Obama has two reasons for you to vote for him, McCain and Palin. Sorry, no sale. As bad as McCain and Palin are, that is not enough reason to vote for someone who is a lesser of two evils.

Last note, while Obama's choice for VP (Biden) was a better choice than Gore's (Lieberman who spoke at the Republican Convention knocking the democrats), the democrats still don't meet the minimum criteria for a candidate that will put peace and justice ahead of corporate profits.