Per Fagereng
----- Original Message ----- From: "Nathan Newman" <nathanne at nathannewman.org> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 7:09 AM Subject: Nader Goes Buchananite (Re: [lbo-talk] Vote Nader/Camejo 2004!
> How can any progressive seriously support Nader, who advocates cracking
> down on immigrants entering the country and opposes legalization of
> existing immigrants in this country. He gave an interview to Pat Buchanan
> in THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, where he played to anti-immigrant
> conservatives:
>
> "This is very difficult because you are giving a green light to cross the
> border illegally. I don't like the idea of legalization because then the
> question is how do you prevent the next wave and the next?... We don't
have
> the absorptive capacity for that many people. Over 32 million came in, in
> the '90s, which is the highest in American history...We have to control
our
> immigration. We have to limit the number of people who come into this
> country illegally..."
>
> He even attacked the AFL-CIO for trying to organize those immigrants:
>
> "The AFL-CIO has no objection to it [immigration] because they think they
> can organize the illegal workers because they have been so inept at
> organizing other workers."
>
> This is not an interview he gave to raise provocative questions among a
> lefty crowd. This was an interview throwing red meat to the Pat Buchanan
> crowd reading the magazine. Yes, Nader advocates applying existing labor
> laws to immigrants already in the US, but if he combines that with
> marshalling more support for tougher INS enforcement, it's hardly a
> progressive position.
>
> Screw Nader. His "national sovereignty" rhetoric always sounded too
> nationalistic in the trade debate, but this reveals a real chauvinistic
> streak in Nader that is unacceptable in anyone posing as a non-"lesser
> evil."
>
> How Nader supporters can make common cause with the Buchanan-related
Reform
> Party, which has given Nader its endorsement as well, is beyond me.
>
> -- Nathan
>