The Furious Spinner

Dear Mr. Nader:

I voted for you in 2000. Of course, I knew Al Gore already was going to get all the electoral votes in my state, so my vote was a protest vote. I believed there was no appreciable difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. I was disgusted with Clinton for his stance on gays in the military and for bombing Sudan, among other things. I was disenchanted with the Democratic party for handing us centrists who sounded like Republicans. So I voted for you.

I also assumed this country could stand four years of George W. Bush. I mean, come on; he wasn’t known as a go-getter. I didn’t think he could cause that much harm.

I was wrong.

But I did not blame you for Gore’s loss. I blamed Gore. I blamed the Democrats. I blamed everyone who had sat on their duffs for decades letting the right-wing whackos take over this country.

Now you say you are going to run again. You say you are running because there is no difference between the parties.

Come on, Ralph, look around. There is a huge difference. Like you, I thought the Dems and Republicans were all the same. But Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich have reenergized the Democratic party. The progressives are standing up and being heard! Granted, Kerry has some huge problems. As far as I’m concerned his votes on NAFTA, the war, and the Patriot Act were wrong. I thought most of the Democrats were cowardly in their votes on the war and the Patriot Act. I swore I would never vote for anyone who voted for the war or the Patriot Act. But I’ve been watching Bush. Have you, Mr. Nader? Have you seen what Ashcroft is doing to our civil liberties? Have you listened to Bush’s administration lie and lie and lie?

Think about this: if a Democrat had been in office instead of Bush, we never would have gone to war in Iraq. Ashcroft would not have been Attorney General, so no Patriot Act would exist. Isn’t that a difference between the parties?

Have you seen what has been happening with women’s rights? Ashcroft’s Justice Department recently subpoenaed medical records of women across the country who have had abortion care. The Justice Department says that federal law doesn't honor confidentiality of the doctor-patient relationship. What the hell is Ashcroft doing snooping around in women’s medical records? Bush just appointed Bill Pryor, a rabid anti-women’s rights activist to the Eleventh Circuit federal bench. How can you say there is no difference between the two parties?

Do I need to get into what the Bush administration has done to the environmental protection laws of this country? These law now essentially don’t exist because Bush won’t enforce any of them. Do you think a Democrat would have done that?

You say it is your right to run. Of course it is. As my mother used to say, it’s my right to jump off a cliff but that doesn’t mean I have to! You want certain issues talked about. Well, can’t you talk about them without running for president? Why don’t you help out Dennis Kucinich’s campaign? Don’t the two of you have very similar platforms? Better yet, hire yourself out as an advisor to the Kerry campaign. Make him into a real progressive.

How can you run for president knowing that your act could be responsible for George W. Bush becoming president for another four years? Bush and his administration have launched a culture war in this country. They are determined to take away women’s rights to choose. They are determined to take the oil fields away from the Arabs. They are determined to do anything and everything to help big business thrive, to the detriment of the health, wealth, and welfare of the citizens of this United States. I believe they want us all to become compliant evangelical Christians, but maybe the last three years have made me paranoid.

I never thought I would see anything like the Patriot Act become law in our country. Do you know there are still people being held—detainees—without benefit of legal representation? People who have done nothing wrong except be immigrants belonging to a religion that is different from the religion of Ashcroft and Bush.

By stepping into the race, aren’t you essentially becoming George Bush’s running mate? His help mate?

Do you want that to be your legacy?
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