Surprise! Ralph Nader Is Running For President!

In a move that's bound to surprise somebody, somewhere, Ralph Nader has announced his candidacy for the presidency, as an independent.

All the mainstream media will be full of the standard swill -- and in fact it already is! -- a reminder of how Nader supposedly cost Al Gore the 2000 election, and a flurry of quotes from "the candidates" about how this affects the race from their point of view.

I think this is all bogus and without substance, transparently intended to discredit Nader in the same way as they -- "the candidates" and the media -- would try to discredit any alternative, credible or not.

Clearly, above all else, they wish to avoid talking about the issues.

So I went to Ralph Nader's site, clicked through to the main page and found a link to a page marked "Issues". There Nader lists "Twelve Issues That Matter For 2008", and as he explains, the list is a work in progress. Here's what he has so far:

• Adopt single payer national health insurance
• Cut the huge, bloated, wasteful military budget
• No to nuclear power, solar energy first
• Aggressive crackdown on corporate crime and corporate welfare
• Open up the Presidential debates
• Adopt a carbon pollution tax
• Reverse U.S. policy in the Middle East
• Impeach Bush/Cheney
• Repeal the Taft-Hartley anti-union law
• Adopt a Wall Street securities speculation tax
• Put an end to ballot obstructionism
• Work to end corporate personhood
  

And here's the offer he's making:

Remember, these twelve issues represent the tip of the political iceberg. But they are indicative of the corporate domination of the Democratic and Republican parties. There are many more where these came from. We’ll be adding them as we go along. Write to us with your suggestions.

So now I'm going to write to him and say:

Dear Ralph:

Investigate 9/11
Stop the "war on terror"
Eliminate electronic voting
Break up the media monopoly
End tax breaks for the wealthy
Restore habeas corpus
Investigate 9/11
Stop all the torture everywhere
Restore fairness in media
Eliminate electronic voting
Repeal the PATRIOT ACTs
Repeal the Military Commissions Act
Investigate 9/11
Stop fomenting terrorism
Shut down the death squads
Tear down the concentration camps
Quit invading foreign countries
Eliminate electronic voting
Investigate 9/11
Execute the war criminals

I invite you to do the same, or something similar. And if you wish to share your "Letter to Ralph" in the comments thread, by all means please do so.