Nader

[Laura]

If only Ralph Nader had not helped make G. W. Bush the President, it would be so much easier to listen to anything he has to say.
If only he would apologize for his role, it might be possible to forgive him, and maybe even read his books.
Still waiting.

[Asa]

Apologize? That's a fascinating idea.

You're saying that if Mr. Nader went back on everything he's been saying all his life, that if he said, "You're right, Democrats, you should be the only liberal-like people who run for office", that if he became just another whore like almost every other politician, then you'd respect him?

That's very interesting.

[Laura]

Asa wrote: "Apologize? That's a fascinating idea.

You're saying that if Mr. Nader went back on everything he's been saying all his life, that if he said, "You're right, Democrats, you should be the only lib..."

I wasn't aware that Ralph Nader would be 'going back on everything he's been saying all his life' by not choosing to run for President as a symbolic gesture in a very tight election year. He liked to say at the time that there was no difference between voting for Al Gore or George W. Bush. Here on Planet Earth, most people would disagree, humility is still considered a virtue, and making compromises doesn't make all politicians whores.

You may think Nader is pure as the driven snow, but hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, among others, would still be alive if he had not run in 2000, and there would be many fewer enraged and desperate people dedicated to the destruction of the US.

Nader certainly didn't foresee all aspects of the nightmare to come, but if he were able to acknowledge and apologize for his role in electing Bush, yes, I would respect him.

[Sean]

Gore himself six months into the War On Terror said GW is doing "everything I would have done."
So with Gore you'd have had the war on terror w/o tax cuts.
GW war on terror with tax cuts. Meh, I think it's a wash.

[Andy]

The level of vitriolic hatred directed at GW Bush is amazing to me, especially when most of the policies people hated (when it wasn't just personal) have been continued and even strengthened / made worse under President Obama.
I think what we're seeing now with the current scandals is the dark underbelly of the federal leviathan, which makes it very difficult for any President to effect the kind of major change their supporters hope for and their opponents fear. Until we weaken the administrative/bureaucratic state, this won't change.