Ralph Nader has some choice (and highfalutin) words for Barack Obama

Let's say this for Ralph Nader -- he cannot be accused of engaging in sound-bite politics.

This generation's version of Harold Stassen (an erstwhile Republican who ran for president -- with varying degrees of intensity -- nine times) today issued an "open letter" to Barack Obama. Here's how it opens:

In your nearly two-year presidential campaign, the words "hope and change," "change and hope" have been your trademark declarations. Yet there is an asymmetry between those objectives and your political character that succumbs to contrary centers of power that want not "hope and change" but the continuation of the power-entrenched status quo.

We think that means Nader views Obama as a charlatan.

Nader has pressed this case on any number of fronts as he has struggled to gain attention or traction in his latest campaign. In his new missive, he spotlights the Palestinian/Israeli issue:

To advance change and hope, the presidential persona requires character, courage, integrity -- not expediency, accommodation and short-range opportunism. Take, for example, your transformation from an articulate defender of Palestinian rights in Chicago before your run for the U.S. Senate to an acolyte, a dittoman for the hard-line AIPAC lobby, which bolsters the militaristic oppression, occupation, blockage, colonization and land-water seizures over the years of the Palestinian peoples and their shrunken territories in the West Bank and Gaza.

We think that means Nader (an Arab American) views Obama as a sellout.

The entire letter can be viewed here.

Intriguingly, Nader did not feel compelled to send off a simlar dispatch to John McCain (he can read polls as well as the next guy).

A Nader aide, Toby Heaps, told us the candidate believed "the most lucid writeup of McCain's character" was provided by Phillip Butler, who like the Republican endured years of imprisonment in North Vietnam during the Vietnam war. So Nader last week passed along to the national media the link to Butler's piece on why he isn't supporting McCain.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[BO 2008]

Mr. Nader is off base in this respect. Barack Obama has already brought hope to his supporters. The change he brings is to be measured.

[Tom]

MOB McCain Obama Bush bailout boys on one side
on the other true patriots Ralph Nader and Ron Paul who stood tall for the American tax payers.
Nader 08

[steve conn]

Last minute attacks on Nader by the LA Times Blogger who wants readers to Ignore Ralph Nader. I'm shocked!
You hate Obama's sell out policies on every issue you care about, but feel forced to vote for him. You know that Obama will win in your state unless Martians land to vote for Sarah. So the LA Times tells you not to vote for Nader. Why?

Have you given up hope on single payer health care or an end to the wars or prosecution of the Wall Street crooks or corporate control of the political process?If not,Fight back.

Vote for Nader now and join the millions across the country after the election to press Obama to join us. Without Nader votes to confirm our vision of the future, we can't make this happen.

[diane lind]

Obama was sold to America just like any other feel good medication.

[Sean K]

I'll be voting for Obama, but I agree 100% with what Nader says. I'm voting for Obama for the same reason I voted for Gore and Kerry... not because I think he's a messiah or saviour or even has the best possible views (I voted for Kucinich in the last two primaries). I'm voting for him BECAUSE HE'S NOT THE REPUBLICAN. Better to vote for a middle-of-the-road sellout than to vote for evil and selfishness incarnate.

[Sean K]

And to "Nobody in Hollywood": I guess you didn't notice that EVERYONE with half a clue, from every side of the spectrum agrees that the "'Hilary supporters for McCain" are either developmentally disabled or completely insane. To switch from a somewhat liberal candidate to a fiercely conservative one whose views and voting record aren't even remotely similar out of resentment and spite not only make you a sore loser, they make you a raving political schizophrenic.

[peabody3000]

nader never seems to be a constructive force in the electoral process. he helped bu$h steal the last election, and now he wants to guess as to what kind of balance, or lack thereof, obama will strike between that israelis and the palestinians. as far as ive seen, the overtures obama has made to either side arent contradictory or out of line. american politicians have to deal closely with AIPAC, and thats but one of a great many political realities nader needs to accept

[John Boom]

Nader is again the only one who is right on what matters for this country. I wish more people paid attention to what he really stands for and what he is saying.

[Franky]

Nader is unsafe at any speed.

[Carl Turner]

I'm voting against 8 years of Bush and Cheney. To do that, unfortunately, I have to vote for Obama. I agree with Nader that Obama is a sellout. I've voted for Nader for twice in the past, and I admire him a lot, but he didn't run much of campaign this year. Sorry, it's Obama, without much enthusiasm.

[asdf]

Doesn't anyone remember we have other candidates? Don't vote because he's not a repub or democ. This is why things never change!!! Vote how you feel, find another candidate!

[Stan]

I'm voting for Ralph Nader. Nader called for impeaching Bush, while Obama dismissed that idea. Nader was against the $700 billion dollar bailout to Wall Street, but Obama voted for it. Nader was against the bill that amended the FISA law and gave retroactive immunity to the telecommunication companies, but Obama voted for that bill. And what about the Patriot Act? Hmmmm. I could go on and on. To those Democrats who vote for Obama, just remember, you are directly responsible for every act that he does as President over the next four years, whether you like it or not!

[Sundaygang]

Silly, your I.Q. is showing. Stop blaming Ralph Nader for Bush's "victory". The rest of the world knows Bush was the only one getting in no matter what happened. You do not live in a democracy. All the proof that you are living in a fascist dictatorship is available- Just look for it. Bush is a sick man and a whole lot of you actually did vote for him and a whole lot of you followed his bloody fear campaign and a whole lot of you followed orders that were to commit crimes against humanity. Ralph Nader had nothing to do with it. Do you really believe this after weighing the facts or does someone else teach you who to hate?

[jb]

I voted for Nader and glad I did. There will be NO CHANGE with either of the other parties. The rich and powerful will always find ways to exploit the weak and the poor. I doubt if Obama can change the nature of the game, no matter good intentions. Who can fight them? But the rider on the white horse.

[jb]

I voted for Nader and glad I did. There will be NO CHANGE with either of the other parties. The rich and powerful will always find ways to exploit the weak and the poor. I doubt if Obama can change the nature of the game, no matter good intentions. Who can fight them? But the rider on the white horse.

[John Caruso]

Nader doesn't waste much time attacking people like McCain because they're beyond the pale, and the audience he's speaking to is well aware of that, so it would be pointless. But when it comes to Democrats generally and Obama most particularly, there are some deep and persistent illusions that need to be identified, addressed, and dispelled.

I find it interesting that the best an LA Times political editor can manage in response to Nader's trenchant and well-argued critique is some shallow observations about his "highfalutin'" language and Arab-American background. I especially like that last bit, and the underlying racist assumption it implies (viz., that Nader's well-informed and ringing denunciation of what Israel is doing to the Palestinians is motivated solely by his ethnic background).

[Danny]

Man, it sucks there are so many emotional people on this planet who can be manipulated by cleverly coercive personalities such as Obama (with a LOT of help from the MSM). All they have to do is pull on their emotional strings and suddenly guys like Nader who are honest "to a fault" become "irrelevant". Guys like Nader, Ron Paul, Kucinik, are outside of the emotional Matrix and don't seem as "real" to those within that Matrix.

Let's face it folks, those of you who are not stuck in that Matrix anyway, emotion is the political currency in this day and age. Truth and justice have been booted out of the picture.

To hell with voting. It's just your consent for the biggest bunch of emotional fools to choose who will dictate your life.

[John Russell]

I like Carl Turner's comment:
"Doesn't anyone remember we have other candidates? Don't vote because he's not a repub or democ. This is why things never change!!! Vote how you feel, find another candidate!"
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Exactly !
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What especially drives me nutty is when I hear someone say, "I'm not going to vote because I don't like either the Democratic candidate or the Republican candidate." Then, when I respond with, "Why not vote for one of the other third party candidates. Certainly there is something about one of them that you like." They will usually answer, " Oh no, no, I would never vote for any of them because they stand no chance of winning."
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I end up standing there with a befuddled look on my face.