Thomas:

thanks for the rhymes! Keep 'em coming.

kat:

I call Gore a liar because he admitted smoking pot a few times in Vietnam, while a Harvard chum of his claims they smoked together literally HUNDREDS of times. I could care if he is still a pothead, but to have the views he has on the death penalty and the so-called war on drugs, I think this is rather hypocritical of him. And as far as I can tell he is not pro-hemp (because this is such a politically sensitive issue, supposedly because of the non-existent marijuana connection, but actually because the big textile corporations like DuPont and Monsanto wan't let it happen and Gore is a slave to the corporate machine) and that does not make him a very environmentally-proactive candidate in my opinion...

Bartholomew,

thank you for your comments and I do agree this is important. I know it may seem romantic of me to want Nader no matter what the consequences. I know he is far from perfect and a human being like all of us. I just think the country needs change. Last time people felt this way and wanted to shake up the system, their only third-party choice was a megalomaniacal millionaire moron from Texas...this time around, we have a selfless crusader who knows a whole lot about how to get corporate interests to do the right thing, no matter how long it takes...Gee, I sure would love to see Americans freed from the yoke of commercialism and greed and military taxation long enough to realize their creative, intellectual and social potential.

When's the last time any of you overheard a scintillating political conversation outside the MudCat or your own musician friends? People are too busy chasing stocks and dropping kids off in daycare so they can rush to their jobs and yak about the latest episode of "Survivor" by the water cooler...

troll:

you wrote:

"We had Government inspection of meat long before Nader.I'd suggest "The Jungle", a book about the meat-packing industry which was written around the turn of the century (1900)." --That was a hundred years ago. This industry is MUCH larger now and the agribusinesses of today are a whole different world from the family-farm based meat operations of Victorian times...what you seem to be ignoring is that the USDA standards system WAS in fact a result of Nader's work, and those inspection and hygiene standards are a direct result of research by his watchdog organization.

"If the man spends every dime on good causes, why did the article place his personal worth at two million dollars and the value of the apartment where he lives at a hundred thousand in 1970 dollars." --first, I am still waiting for you to cite "the article"; where did it appear and when and who wrote it? Mr. Nader does not own a car and has lived in the same Washington DC boarding house since the 1970s. His "personal worth" is still money he chooses to spend on charitable causes...he makes a fair amount from lawsuits and he funnels it all back into his consumer advocacy groups.

Two million? Gore and Bush have both spent over ten times that much on their campaigns to date...

"according to the article, former staffers claim that he has been known to fire anyone who disagrees with one of his positions." --I think most politicians tend to do this sort of thing, don't they? And I would wish them to do so, if it were important to me to have people who shared my vision working with me.

"Theres plenty more but don't take my word for it." --okay, I won't. I'd like to know what article you are citing, though...

"Look it up for yourself. If he's your man, you should know as much as possible about him from as many sources as possible." --I have looked into it thoroughly. I think he is a decent human being who has done an amazing amount for the citizens of this nation...

"Personally, I don't think he's up to the job." --thanks so much for sharing. May the best man win. You don't say who you will vote for, or even if you will vote.

Mbo:

You can't have a revolution if you aren't even willing to utilize the one tool of democracy guaranteed to us. Your apathy is understandable, but if you don't vote, you won't really have any right to complain later on. It is precisely this sort of apathy that has brought our country to its knees, politically-speaking. 55% of the American people do not vote on a habitual basis. That is a majority! People in places like Afghanistan and Indonesia and Yugoslavia are dying in the streets for the right to have a voice or some semblance of democracy...

oh, and I wanted to correct a goof from an earlier post of mine:

"My own wallet, my own backyard, they are the most important thing to me."

What I meant to say was...they are NOT the most important thing to me!!!