We all play the blame game. It's easy to be disgusted with the Bush Administration and easy to blame Ralph Nader for costing Gore the last presidential election.
But he didn't.
In the first instance, the voters who chose Nader are more responsible than Nader himself.
Secondly, if reports that they manipulated voting are correct, some Florida Republicans are responsible.
Thirdly, all the fine folks who counseled over the years that the Electoral College system isn't so terrible are responsible.
Finally, a majority of the Supreme Court of the United States is responsible.
How quickly they forgot that they favor states' rights!
Nader was responsible only for his own vote.
Now he's back and replying to the cries of anguish that the situation hasn't changed - both parties are corporate tools.
He's correct, of course, though we can argue with him about the extent.
As I see it, corporate interests had way too much influence in the Clinton Administration, while they are the Bush Administration.
This is not to say that Nader should get any votes. The job is to get back to where we were and the most effective way to do that, to reduce corporate domination, is to elect the 2004 Democratic candidate.
That is also the shortest distance toward ending the radical, unilateral, murderous, paranoid, imperialistic foreign policy of the Bush White House.
First, elect a Democrat. Later, maybe, we can establish (re-establish?) American democracy.