rustbelter

Not quite Al Green. And yet. (via)

kohenari:

“Dans ses écrits, un sàge Italien
Dit que le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.”

—Voltaire.

Ralph Nader & Cornel West Unveil Proposal to Challenge Obama in Primaries

The proposal, which has been endorsed by over 45 distinguished leaders, seeks to have a slate of six candidates run against President Obama, each representing a field in which Obama has never clearly staked a progressive claim or where he has drifted toward the corporatist right.

“Without debates by challengers inside the Democratic Party’s presidential primaries, the liberal/majoritarian agenda will be muted and ignored,” said Ralph Nader. 

“The one-man Democratic primaries will be dull, repetitive, and draining of both voter enthusiasm and real bright lines between the two parties that excite voters,” Nader said.

A letter is being sent to a list of distinguished elected officials, civic leaders, prominent members of academia and the NGO community who represent the fields of labor, poverty, military and foreign policy, health insurance and care, the environment, financial regulation, consumer protection, and civil, political and human rights/empowerment.

“We need to put strong democratic pressure on President Obama in the name of poor and working people” said Cornel West, author and Professor at Princeton University. “His administration has tilted too much toward Wall Street, we need policies that empower Main Street.”

The thing I like best about the plan that’s apparently being hatched by Nader and West is that, as a result of this zealous bid to remind Obama to care more about “poor and working people,” they’re most likely working to elect someone — like Rick Perry, just as an example — who cares far, far less.

I know that the 2000 election took place a really, really long time ago so I’ll just presume most people don’t remember what happened …

Suffice it to say, when Ralph Nader challenged Al Gore he ensured that the good guys won and that all of the progressive ideas he cherishes were put into action.

Oh, wait, no. The exact opposite happened. No difference, though, right?

“This isn’t progressive. It’s personal. And it’s reactionary.”