aaaaagggghhhhhh comparing Rachel Carson to Gore, that kind of sticks in my craw. Rachel Carson was one of the finest, bravest, most fully realized human beings this world has been privileged to know, and she did what she did at a terrible cost to herself. Gore is a politician who cobbled together a book of some truth, some half-truth, and a lot of baloney at a time when it was fashionable to be Environmental. You might as well compare Jesus to Deepak Chopra.

If your conscience say vote Nader, for god's sake DO IT. A vote for Nader is not a vote for Bush. It's a vote for Nader -- nothing more, nothing less. He may not win. He's very unlikely to win. There's probably not a chance in hell that he'll win. Those are probabilities. But here's an absolute certainty: he won't win if you don't vote for him. He won't win if you continue thinking in cliches like "a vote for X is a vote for Y", election after election after election.

For a third party (or a second party, in real opposition to the Democratrepublican party) to succeed, to become a meaninful force, somebody is going to have to VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE. Lots of somebodies, in election after election. Why not start now?

Nothing terrible is going to happen if Dubya wins. We'll still have plenty of light bulbs and toilet paper and 140 channels on the TV and an appalling educational system and something called the "health care industry" and kids shooting kids and corporations will still get to write their own legislation, just like now, just like before. Or maybe just a little more like now, but not so you'd notice much.

And besides, if this country elects Dubya, what could be more appropriate than having a president who looks exactly like Alfred E. Newman, only not quite as bright?

There's a great Michael Moore column at grassroots.com, to find it it's easiest to go to www.michaelmoore.com and take the link, third icon from the left at the bottom of the page.