Ralph the Leninist

Chuck0 chuck at tao.ca
Wed Nov 1 11:45:06 PST 2000


Chris Kromm wrote:


> This depraved indifference to Republican rule has made Nader's old liberal
> friends even more furious. A bunch of intellectuals organized by Sean
> Wilentz and Todd Gitlin are circulating a much nastier open letter,
> denouncing Nader's "wrecking-ball campaign--one that betrays the very
> liberal and progressive values it claims to uphold." But really, the
> question shouldn't be the one liberals seem to be asking about why Nader is
> doing what he's doing. The question should be why anyone is surprised. For
> some time now, Nader has made it perfectly clear that his campaign isn't
> about trying to pull the Democrats back to the left. Rather, his strategy is
> the Leninist one of "heightening the contradictions." It's not just that
> Nader is willing to take a chance of being personally responsible for
> electing Bush. It's that he's actively trying to elect Bush because he
> thinks that social conditions in American need to get worse before they can
> better.

Intellectuals? Gitlin is simply a hack writer who peddles anecdotes about the glorious 1960s.

Look, I'm an anarchist and I don't plan to vote, but the rampant stupidity and ignorance coming from the pro-Gore liberals has become downright annoying. Perhaps Nader supporters should take solace in the fact that Naders campaign has put so many limousine liberals and progressives on the defensive. I'd be on the defensive too, if I wrote for a magazine that held fund-raising cruises and had its own credit card. These progressives have made their bed with the Democratic party and they should be forced to lie in it. If any of them claims to still be for progressive values, then they are simply hypocrites. Anybody who associates with the Democratic Party associates themselves with its pro-capitalist values.

I think Nader sincerely wants to help create an alternative to the Republicrats.

There is fundamentally no difference between the Republicans and Democrats--I've pointed out why in a previous post.

I'll just be glad to see big labor go down on the sinking Democratic ship after Gore loses next week. You think the union fat cats would have learned something from the bosses, who donate equal amounts of money to the two major parties. At least they understand the obvious: the Republicans and Democrats will always do the bidding of the ruling class, be it breaking a strike, stealing land from the Indians, or intervening militararily to protect the "Washington consensus."

Chuck0



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