Saturday, October 09, 2004
Nader Watch: In the Paper
Nader has an op-ed in today's Washington Post.
I loathe this man. To me represents all that is wrong with American politicians. He is totally self-absorbed, and though he speaks with a populist message - which does have value - he has lost all legitimacy by making his candidacy all about him. See, Nader used to be cool. He did all that consumer advocacy stuff about tires that really did make a difference, but all that attention went to his head and now he can't STFU.
See, the populist thing worked during the consumer advocacy phase. He had an agenda that involved making life better for people who couldn't fight for themselves. It was truly admirable. But he no longer has any such agenda. Every word out of his mouth can basically be summed up: "POLITICAL PARTIES ARE EVIL BECAUSE THEY WON'T LISTEN TO ME!" It sounds like a personal vendetta, mostly against the Democrats, because they wouldn't help him in his crusade against the Evil Corporations like he wanted. He says it's because the Democrats are too much in the pocket of the Corporations, but I say it's because the Democrats have more to do as a national party that to focus on any one single issue. Nader doesn't like being told that he's not important, so he's now devoted his life to taking the Democrats down. Because that is really going to make things better. (Such. A. Dumbass.)
Not to mention that not all "corporations" are evil, just like not all "trial lawyers" are evil. Example: I worked for Southern California Edison, you know, an "evil" Energy Company. However, Edison gets over 30% of its energy from renewable resources, which is about double the amount that the liberal, tree-hugging State of California proposed to make mandatory. The measure didn't happen because come municipalites, like the City of Pasadena, supply their own energy, and they can't meet those standards. Edison also promotes energy conservation. Not only will they give you a free in-home consultation on how you can make your home save energy, if you use less energy this month than last month, they'll reduce your bill by 15%. AND they put a certain amount of money in every year's budget towards R&D for more renewable energy. How is that "evil"?
Okay, I feel better now. I feel about Nader like I feel about the Reverand Falwell.
I loathe this man. To me represents all that is wrong with American politicians. He is totally self-absorbed, and though he speaks with a populist message - which does have value - he has lost all legitimacy by making his candidacy all about him. See, Nader used to be cool. He did all that consumer advocacy stuff about tires that really did make a difference, but all that attention went to his head and now he can't STFU.
See, the populist thing worked during the consumer advocacy phase. He had an agenda that involved making life better for people who couldn't fight for themselves. It was truly admirable. But he no longer has any such agenda. Every word out of his mouth can basically be summed up: "POLITICAL PARTIES ARE EVIL BECAUSE THEY WON'T LISTEN TO ME!" It sounds like a personal vendetta, mostly against the Democrats, because they wouldn't help him in his crusade against the Evil Corporations like he wanted. He says it's because the Democrats are too much in the pocket of the Corporations, but I say it's because the Democrats have more to do as a national party that to focus on any one single issue. Nader doesn't like being told that he's not important, so he's now devoted his life to taking the Democrats down. Because that is really going to make things better. (Such. A. Dumbass.)
Not to mention that not all "corporations" are evil, just like not all "trial lawyers" are evil. Example: I worked for Southern California Edison, you know, an "evil" Energy Company. However, Edison gets over 30% of its energy from renewable resources, which is about double the amount that the liberal, tree-hugging State of California proposed to make mandatory. The measure didn't happen because come municipalites, like the City of Pasadena, supply their own energy, and they can't meet those standards. Edison also promotes energy conservation. Not only will they give you a free in-home consultation on how you can make your home save energy, if you use less energy this month than last month, they'll reduce your bill by 15%. AND they put a certain amount of money in every year's budget towards R&D for more renewable energy. How is that "evil"?
Okay, I feel better now. I feel about Nader like I feel about the Reverand Falwell.
