Just Say No!

...to Nader

by Dan Matthews

Please tell me that this isn’t happening. Tell me that this is a bad Saturday Night Live Skit, and Dana Carvey as Ross Perot will leap onto the scene screaming, “I’m Back!” Unfortunately, this is no joke, no joke indeed.
Four years ago, we as a nation faced a tremendous decision: clown #1 or clown #2, until of course Mr. Ralph Nader entered the race and gave all of us little guys hope! He would fight for us from the inside! The outside insider! He knew he couldn’t win. Hell, we knew he couldn’t win, but he was on our side, outside? Four years ago the liberal fringe fought internally over who was in and who was out, and subsequently got shut out of control.
Four years ago the people of this Great Nation came to realize the truth about our pioneering democracy: it’s bullshit! We live in a representative Republic because we’re not smart enough to govern ourselves. We can’t even correctly fill out a ballot, for fuck sake, let alone appoint the “Leader of the Free World”. We need “Leader of the Free World” appointed judges to do that for us. Idealism, along with freedom, was given the back seat to nepotism and captivity. The GOP flexed its Viagra fueled visage and reminded us that these are big stakes in a big game.
I know that big party politics are corrupted by the greasy tendrils of corporate Amerika. I realize that the lies that are told on both sides are interchangeable. Party politics have been decried since the beginning of this experiment, and a certain founding father called for a revolution every twenty years to keep the government honest. I know that clown #1 would not have done things exactly like clown #2. We are no longer in an era of ideals, as somber as that may sound. There is no room for error, no leniency to vote our heart. This article is a cry to Vote with Your Head. I realize the contradiction. Why vote? It doesn’t matter. However, if it is left up to the “justice” system, the good ol’ boys are going to do whatever it takes to win the election.
This “win at all costs” mantra is the conservative’s best asset. While liberals sit around arguing over who is more liberal or who is an insider, the conservatives unite around a single goal: winning the fucking election. The liberal element in this country needs to recognize that. We know it’s all rhetoric; they’re politicians and it’s their job. Gardeners garden, plumbers plumb, and politicians lie. They have to; it’s in their DNA. Nobody, and let me stress this, nobody who has the capability to run for president is running without an agenda. Now we’re back to clown #1 or clown #2, but wait, this whole diatribe is about clown #3.
Ralph Nader is a hero to me and many people I know. He shows us all that one person can make a difference. He has championed for us as individuals over corporate conglomerates and established watch dog organizations that police the police. All of this has come from his outside standpoint, and makes me question why does he want in? I comprehend the argument that from the proverbial throne, he could rule like a modern David: fair, unbiased and just. He could fight from the inside out, changing policies and placing the power of government back into the hands of the people. I also am aware that those in power do not like to abdicate said power without a fight. It is a preschooler’s pipe dream to believe that even if his snowball’s chance in hell hit, Nader would be able to internally change anything more than his own underwear.
The current political system is so shrouded in secrecy that we as citizens must clamor for any news that isn’t spoon fed to us by the powers themselves. There isn’t a bill before the house or senate (the real powers of our government- make a difference and examine your local elections as closely as or more so than the National façade) that isn’t packed with PAC soft dollars. Political action committees slice open these bills and stuff them with agendas like heroin filled babies. Who’s going to put an end to that? A president can’t adopt a plan like that without it going through both the house and the senate, asking the thieves to turn themselves in.
Four years ago Ralph Nader called upon the American people to put an end to two party politics and made great strides in cementing a third party. Four years ago Bush stole the White House. Initially I was bitter, not towards the Democratic Party for not giving us a better candidate and uniting the factions that the party had become, but at Ralph Nader. This guy walks in and steals a vital contingent of liberal voters, with the excuse that either they wouldn’t have voted anyway or they weren’t being represented. How dare Ralph Nader give the election to the Republicans. Was he really Ralph Nader or a CIA operative? After a few years of anguishing over my apparent paranoia, I realized that maybe, just maybe the reason the Republicans won had more to do with Al Gore inventing the internet and less to do with Ralph Nader.
The Democrats dropped the ball; Nader didn’t wrestle it out of their hands. They didn’t do a better job at pulling their polling factions together than the Republicans (okay maybe they did, but it was close and close always goes to the cheaters). Ralph Nader wasn’t to blame, nor were all the people out there who knowingly voted for someone who couldn’t win to prove a point. There were no major implications. Nader was right: republicans and democrats are two heads of the same monster. Here we are four years later and nothing is different with a republican in the office than if there was a democrat in there, right?
Mr. Nader, I applaud your actions in the private sector. It seems to me that is where you are needed the most. From the outside you are not bound by their backroom biddings, no one needs you to tow the line. You can continue throwing rocks at the battleship; but please concede your ego driven run at the White House. My fellow voters, (if you don’t vote they win) vote with your head and not your heart! If it is close, they will cheat. Kerry sucks ass but he is not George Bush.

A casual complacency caused by callous causes
We’re trying to treat serious wounds with Band Aides and gauzes
But clauses in their codes are making the gap wider
While they run a race to see whose whiter
And backed by more cash, how much does it cost
To make this country realize the dream has been lost
People cloud their vision in an intimate mind-prison
Wishing they had the answers from TV. or religion
Division of the people makes us easier to conquer
With all of us sheep in a row it’s hard for one to wander
Ponder this question next time you pledge allegiance
To which corporation are you pledging obedience?