blackbeard - Apr 01, 2008 02:41pm

I’m pleased to see that he has thrown his hat into the ring. While I do realize that there is a big push for change and resolutions to the problems that we have, you should consider Nader.  His stance on the environment is absolutely the best of all the candidates, not to mention that he would use these billions of dollars (that our government seems to have an endless supply of) to fix some of our own problems here in America. PLEASE DON’T TAKE OFFENSE TO THIS if you’re not from America, but the way we are portrayed around the world is not what life is actually like in the States. If you are from the states, then you would have to agree that there are some serious glitches in the way things are done here.

These days there really is no difference between the Republicans and Democrats:  They are all politicians that would sell there soul to the highest bidder in a heartbeat.  I like that Nader still has the balls to be the little guy in a big man’s race.  If you would take the time to listen to his proposals and stances, you may find...as I have...that he represents the change we need.  We should not try to police the world.  Help our global neighbors: yes; but trying to make the world like us is wrong. Hell, it’s not even working for us. It’s time that we elect a president that would take care of our citizens and let the other leaders of the world decide what’s best for thier own people. Just food for thought................Peace.............RobthePirate

I just finished reading two interesting books:

the first was the autobiography of Joschka Fischer, the first (and so far only) green vice Chancellor and Secretary of State of Germany (where I am from).
Among many other things he also describes his own transformation from a radical left streetfighter to the Secretary of State and how some of his Green ideals vanished in the the light of political reality (for example from absolute pacifism to sending the first German troops into a foreign country after world war two).
I don’t know much about Ralph Nader. I’d like to know how realistic his concepts are. Green ideology always sounds good but tends to collapse when it comes to the realization.
Another interesting thing was how Fischer described the differences between Clinton’s and Bush Jr.’s foreign policies… I’m just glad Bush’s time is over!

The second book I just read is “Het huis van de moskee” from an exile Irani named Kader Abdolah. It’s a novel about a muslim family in the Iran of the time around the islamic revolution of 1978/79. The book is neither siding with America nor with the Ayatollahs. It’s telling the story of a family that is totally caught between the stools: religious, conservative and proud, dismissing the culture of the West and yet tolerant, benign and wise, dismissing all the hatred and other wrongs going along with any kind of fanatism.
It’s a nice read and particulary interesting for those who want to look inside the heads of the people in Iran. There are so many scales of grey, it’s hilarious our governments keep trying to tell us the world can be divided into black and white, friend or foe. As you said Rob, “trying to make the world like us is wrong”.

This is what came to my mind after reading your post.

Ohh, another excellent book on change in politics is this book called “vote for larry”. It’s a novel written for teens and portrays this kid named josh who has the balls to run for president, totally revitalizing the power of youth in politics. Very inspiring, I thought.

i know a lot of people like to talk bad about ralph nader but he was one of the most important influences in getting me interested in politics when i was younger.  thanks ralph nader

Now that Mike Gravel is no longer running, Nader is by far the best candidate left.  It is just unfortunate that he is basically being censored by the mainstream media.  He is by FAR the best candidate when it comes to the enviroment.  Obama is just another politician paid for by big business and the military industrial complex.  The US now spends more $$$ on defense than the rest of the world combined.  When you add the cost of the illegal war/occupation of Iraq, which for some reason is not part of our defense budget, the US will be pushing the $1 trillion mark in 2008.  We cannot afford another corporate candidate that cares more about profits in the private sector than the current enviromental problems of our planet and the overall well being of the people.  Unfortunately our media has painted Obama into this “savior” candidate but if you look at his voting record and look at where the majority of his money is coming from, it is easy to see that this is just another lie being sold to the American people. 

Obama is on record saying he wants to increase our bloated military budget. He is against immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq as he has no problem continuing American Imperialism throughout the world.  He is opposed to single-payer health care for all even though the vast majority of Americans support it as do 60% of American doctors.  He does not stand for the end of our uesless War on Drugs that is ravaging our inner cities.  The US makes up 5% of the world population but we also have 25% of the world’s prisoners and about half of them are behind bars for non-violent drug offenses.  We need to end our current police-state and start treating drug addictions as heath problems, not criminal ones.  Obama has been “absent” or obstained from almost 40% of all votes since he has been in the Senate.  So when Obama talks about change, I have to question what exactly he plans on changing.

Regardless of who you plan on voting for this upcoming November, we should all be seriously looking into the NI4D or National Innitiative for Democracy which was put together by former US Senator Mike Gravel.  This calls for an federal innititive process which will allow Americans to vote directly on the major issues that we face everyday.  We need to realize that our current corrupt political system has had plenty of time to address the big issues like global warming and those listed above but have failed us by catering to big business and ignoring the common mans’s needs.  This innitiative will give the people the power to make laws and overide Congress if they continue for ignore our cries.  We need to start holding our politicians, at all levels, much more accountable for their actions.  Please visit http://www.ni4d.us and inform yourself of your real options.

I like Ralph Nader and I think Mike Gravel has his heart in the right place.  And to add.. Dennis Kucinich is a great guy too.... But Barack is my first choice.  He’s intelligent, educated, and he has an amazing ability to communicate and connect with people.  And he’s the best electable candidate I have seen in my lifetime.