Santa Monica activist fasts on Nader

starving oneself to preserve the two party system in America

it's hard to believe that Jerry Rubin is actually a veteran peace activist if he has fallen so far under the spell of the Democratic Party cult

as someone who voted for Nader in 2000, and recently changed my registration from Democrat to Decline to State, I can most emphatically say that Ralph Nader is NOT the reason that progressives and liberals are so divided today

instead, in my instance, it's because I have become increasingly frustrated with the control that organizations like the Democratic Leadership Council have over the domestic and foreign policy positions of the Part

it's also because the party has become addicted to conspiracy theories (Nader cost Gore the 2000 election . . . the Gallup poll is rigged to support vote fraud to enable Bush to win the election . . . ) to try to energize voters otherwise unexcited by its generational rightward drift

finally, it's because Democrats are only supposed to vote for Democrats, except when white liberals are terrified that California would end up with its first Latino governor, and then, it's OK to sit on the sidelines, or even vote for Schwarzenegger, as Attorney General Bill Lockyer did, to prevent Cruz Bustamonte from becoming governor

but, you can't break ranks on your own (like, horror of horrors, supporting Camejo for Governor, or Nader for President), breaking ranks for self-aggrandizement is a decision made from the top down, and NEVER done to support individuals to the left of the party, so don't get any ideas that anyone else is supposed to do anything other than follow orders

amazing, that of all the things that Rubin could engage in a hunger strike about, the occupations in Iraq and Palestine, the expansion of the prison/industrial complex, the increase in poverty globally as a result of IMF/World Bank globalization policies or even the craziness of Bush himself. . . he chooses this!

someone needs to get Rubin up to date: it's now OK to attack Bush instead of Nader, as the old strategy of spending more time attacking those to their left, like Nader, instead of Bush, at the direction of the DLC and its corporate affiliated lobbyists and consultants, has been temporarily suspended

truly sad, to see someone publicly humiliate themselves like this, unless the whole thing is an attempt to shake the money tree, hustling money from liberals the way Ann Coulter and Dr. Laura do with conservatives

if so, GO! JERRY GO!

--Richard Estes
Davis, CA

Aren't you going to 'hold your nose and vote for Kerry'? If so, what difference does it make to you if this man does fasts, since it's just his work for Kerry, just like you, since you'll be voting for Kerry. He's just making a larger statement than a vote, that's all.

people read these things

first, regardless of the candidate that I will voting for, Kerry, and unlike Jerry Rubin, I believe that Nader should be on the ballot wherever he wants, and if people want to vote for Nader, they should be allowed to do so

the absurd argument that a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush is typical of the increasingly cult-like thinking that predominates among Democratic Party activists

accordingly, I thought it appropriate to slam Rubin, because anyone engaging in a hunger strike to keep candidates off the ballot is an imbecile

as for the choice between voting for Kerry and Nader, it is, to me, as I have said here several times, a choice between following domestic or foreign sentiment

foreign sentiment is clear, they want Bush out, and my belief, certainly subjective, is that global opposition to American imperial policies will intensify if Kerry is elected

and, this opposition is likely to be much more effective, given that Kerry, like Clinton, will find himself torn between unilateralist neo-conservative advisors and multilaterialist moderate ones, making the likelihood of any clear, decisive American response unlikely

accordingly, as they are on the receiving end of what we do, I am more deferential to their expressed wishes than others might be, it's easy to say vote Nader and live in the US, a lot more difficult to say vote Nader in Venezuela, Iraq or Palestine

there is a reason that Zapatero of Spain, shortly after being elected in March, openly said that he wanted Kerry to win, he knows that he, and others that oppose the American empire, will have much greater room for maneuver than under Bush

admittedly, Kerry may go 100% neo-conservative after about a year in the White House, and having doors slammed in his face all around Europe and the Middle East, if he tries to develop a coalition to support the absurd things that he says on the campaign trail

so much the better: the US will find itself, and its political and economic system completely ostracized around the world, without the explanation that Bush and the Republicans are the problem, and with a weaker administration in the White House as well

for a contrary view, Gabriel Kolko has written an excellent piece, posted on the COUNTERPUNCH website on a couple of occasions (February and maybe, last month?), and perhaps here as well, arguing that Kerry, as President, will strengthen imperial policies by attracting outside resources to support the empire, and abandoning some of Bush's more extreme adventures, evoking Chalmers Johnson's assertion that Clinton was a better imperialist than Bush

indeed he was, but I believe that we live in different times, in any event, I recommend that anyone interested find the Kolko piece and read it, and there is also an article posted today (10/5) on COUNTERPUNCH by Greg Bates that alludes, without attribution, to Kolko's perspective

people can draw their own conclusions, and vote accordingly

will American hegemony be strengthened or weakened by the defeat of Bush? that is the question raised by Kolko and others, and while my answer is obvious, people should vote in a way consistent with what they personally believe is the correct answer, without having their chance to do so eliminated by nitwits like Rubin and corporate sponsored sharks like the NaderFactor.com

--Richard Estes
Davis, CA]

I hope he starves. There are better things to do.