Tuesday, September 28, 4 p.m., Bill Cosford Cinema
A Personal Conversation with Ralph Nader. Council for Democracy and the School of Communication are proud to be hosting a campus visit by independent U.S. presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Nader will first discuss the major points of his campaign platform and then answer audience questions. Refreshments will be served. For more information, visit www.CouncilforDemocracy.org. Open to the UM community only.
Should I go? Is there any point in asking him why he wants to destroy the country?
All you’ll get is a bunch of stuff about how he’s offering the voters more choice, and isn’t that the point of a democracy! And on and on. Never mind the fact that anyone who really wanted to vote for him could write in his name on the ballot anywhere, or that Nader is once again focusing on the swing states.
The man is simply a liar. He believes he has to build his own party, and he thinks that the best way to do that is to destroy the Democratic one. If he gets a lot of people hurt along the way by assuring another Bush win, well, you can’t make an omlette without breaking a few eggs, and all that. Who can be bothered with trivia, when one has such lofty, pure goals?
As you can probably tell, I’m a tad jaded about the man. I used to admire him, but I think he’s lost his way. He has no clue about electoral politics or about how to make the nation a better place.
I would be very interested in reading about any exchange you might have with him, since he’d probably try to pull stuff about how he’s the fulfillment of the Democratic Dream, the Constitution’s Mandate and all that…
No, there’s no point to it. Nader’s utterly lost touch with all reality, and only self concerned at this point. He’s been begged by better men than us to stop screwing up the Democrats chance at change, I remember one funny moment on the Daily Show when Michael Moore and John Stewart both took to their knees and literally begged him…the man just doesn’t get it. Only by making him realize he’s become an utter pariah even to those who used to consider him a novelty, and by leaving every seat empty will the message ever get through.
i agree with christopher chopin. he’s gone off the deep end. he’s completely destroying hig pro-consumer legacy, which no one doubts made this country a better place. there may not be any clinical evidence of mental illness but he is clearly delusion and interested in nothing other than self-gratification. we’d probably be better off if instead of running for president he’d started a campaign to roll back some of the consumer protections he fought for back in the day.
Maybe not you Prof. Froomkin, maybe we ought to send some Teamsters instead. I hear they can be mighty persuasive.
-Barry Freed
It’s a joke. m’kay?
Jonathan:
He believes he has to build his own party, and he thinks that the best way to do that is to destroy the Democratic one.
No, it’s far worse than that. You give Nader far too much credit here. See, he does’t a rat’s ass about building up the Green Party as a viable third party. If he really did then, while I still wouldn’t vote for him, I would defend him. But after the 2000 elections he actually refused to turn over his mailing lists to the Greens. He did jack to help build up the Green Party. Which is why it was so easy for the Greens to forgo nominatiting him this election.
This is nothing but a pure ego trip. Too bad Nader resembles those Revolutionary Ascetic types a little too strongly or we’d be able to corrupt and divert him with women, boys, drugs, whatever.
(note: I am not a Green)
You have so much time on your hands that you’d even consider this? Spend the time putting Kerry bumpers on cars in Crystal City instead.
Do you like pies? I hear Nader does . . .