- From: firespring <firespring@nfx.net>
- Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2000 18:20:58 -0500
Greetings, Well, once again it's time to clean up my mailing list. Normally I'd do that by just sending out some short innocuous message with no particularly meaningful content (other than letting you know that if you no longer want to be on my mailing list, just reply to this message politely and I'll remove you). However this time I thought I'd send out a message with something that I really think you need to know about. If you would indulge me by reading it all the way through, I'd appreciate it, and if, despite my positive intent, you still consider it spam, please accept my apologies and just delete it. But if you find that what I have to say makes sense to you, please choose to make a difference and forward this message to as many of your friends as you can before next Tuesday's elections. And with that said, here I go. Most of you that know me, know that I have not previously cared much about politics and government. However, my experiences in the past year or two, as I've begun to step back and look at the world more carefully, have provided me with several levels and types of personal epihanies. Never in my life have I felt as energized by politics, and the reason WHY politics has now begun to interest me is simple. This is the first presidential election in my lifetime where I can actually vote my conscience and maybe have my vote MEAN something. Rather than being trapped between voting for a corporate-friendly centrist Republican and a corporate-friendly centrist Democrat and being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils, there is actually a candidate who has been fighting his whole life for social, economic and political justice in this country. And that excites me because it is the first time in years that I've had a glimpse of some real, honest-to-goodness hope for my country. Ralph Nader is leading the movement to take back our democracy from the power brokers, the moneyed interests, the greed mongers, the bought-and-sold politicians, and all those who dismiss the people from whom democracy has been stolen. He has spent 37 years working tirelessly and solely for all of our rights, and is widely considered to be the most honorable figure in public life -- he is not now, nor ever has been, for sale. No one knows better than Ralph Nader that we have reached a point in history where corporate control has effectively shut out citizen and grassroots participation in our own government. This ever-increasing erosion of our most fundamental rights, especially the right to participate in our own government, has compelled him to run for president. In stark opposition to the other candidates, Ralph Nader promotes programs that empower people left behind by corporate power run amok. He has always worked, and continues to work, for truly just and populist goals, focusing on issues they would never touch: abolishing the racist death penalty, repealing Taft-Hartley and allowing millions of workers to unionize, guaranteeing a living wage, implementing universal health insurance, fully funding Head Start programs, and ending the racist drug war to drastically reduce the vast population of our unfairly and shamefully overcrowded prisons (visit http://www.VoteNader.org for more campaign issue positions). Shut out of the media and the presidential debates (by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is run by the former heads of the Republican and Democratic Parties) and taking zero money from corporations and zero "soft" money, Ralph is drawing crowds of thousands wherever he speaks -- crowds never once matched by the other candidates, even with their many millions of dollars and saturating media coverage. So you can throw your vote away on the lesser of two evils, insuring ever-increasing evil every four years, or you can help build this movement that at the very least can be a powerful watchdog exposing the deceit and destruction of the ruling parties, and at best will eventually elect a president, and more and more representatives, who serve the greater good of all of us. Gore, after hundreds of millions of campaign dollars and virtually unlimited, friendly media coverage, still ignites no passion in voters, and for good reason: he is a hereditary politician who stands for nothing and espouses whatever position he and his party handlers think will win him votes. And now the Democratic Party is panicking and labeling Ralph Nader a "spoiler." They're not about to blame their own ineptitude for their difficulties in defeating Bush, another hereditary politician with a dismal record and bumbling persona. With all his advantages, if Gore can't earn his votes and beat a candidate as weak as G.W. Bush without resorting to such low-handed tactics, then is he worth your vote? We are heading down a very destructive road. But now we have the opportunity for a healthier society, one we can be proud to live in. This campaign is about fighting for our lives and our futures. It is not about which corporate candidate does what in the next four years; it's about the rest of our lives. Only with millions of committed people working together in a progressive movement can we take our government back. The Green Party and Ralph Nader's candidacy are our best and only hope for that future. With just five percent of the national popular vote, Ralph Nader and the Green Party will earn federal matching funds, making them an immediate force in national politics. Vote for the candidate who truly, honestly represents what you believe in. And has the record to prove it. I know most of you, and I think I know you well enough to know that in your heart of hearts, that candidate is Ralph. Vote for Ralph Nader and the Green Party on November 7. For detailed information and links go to http://www.votenader.org/ . Blessings, Rick Johnson firespring@nfx.net "Welcome to the politics of joy and justice." - Ralph Nader
Received on Thursday, 2 November 2000 18:37:59 UTC