Worst American Birthdays, vol. 42
By 
Ralph Nader turns 74 today. After enjoying a breakfast of whole grain toast and Postum, the Green Party’s 2000 presidential candidate will receive his customary birthday tug job from Dick Cheney.
On Ralph Nader’s 67th birthday in 2001, George W. Bush told an audience in Charlotte, North carolina that
[a]nother reason I feel confident in our ability to accomplish some important missions for the country is, I’ve assembled a great team. For those of you who have ever run a company or run an organization, you understand what I’m about to say – that you’re only as good as your team. And my national security team is strong and capable and experienced, and so is my domestic policy team.
The next year, George W. Bush’s press secretary Ari Fleischer explained to a temporarily combative White House press corps that
the United Nations Security Council called for, in November, full, complete and immediate disarmament. It did not say, stretch it out, delay it and only after you’re under pressure should you say you’re going to destroy a missile that you once claimed you never had and you still say doesn’t even violate the United Nations. And that’s the problem with the Saddam Hussein. Every time he’s under pressure he tries to relieve the pressure by disarming just a touch, just a little; playing the game, playing the deception.
And the’s why, as I said to you, when you sum up what Iraq is, and you sum up the actions they take, the Iraqi actions are propaganda, wrapped in a lie, inside a falsehood.
On the 69th anniversary of Ralph Nader’s birth, George W. Bush welcomed German chancellor Gerhard Shroeder to the White House. In post-meeting remarks with the press, the President opined — quite heterosexually — that marriage has served society well, and I believe it is important to affirm that, that marriage between a man and a woman is the ideal. And the job of the President is to drive policy toward the ideal. This is a sensitive debate, and it is important that people hold true to their beliefs without condemning anybody else. And so therefore, I call upon all sides in the debate to conduct themselves with dignity and honor and respect. But this is a debate that the Nation must have. And the people’s voice must be heard in the debate. The President believes we ought to be working to build a culture of life in America. And we have taken practical, common-sense steps to help reduce the number of abortions in America. It is a strong record that is based on building a culture of life, and the President has made very clear that he is pro-life with three exceptions [rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is at risk].
Two years later, on Nader’s 72nd birthday, a reporter asked Bush’s press secretary Scott McClellan about the President’s opinion of a new South Dakota law that banned abortion in nearly all cases including rape and incest. McClellan assured the press corps that
Which is so totally what Al Gore would have said.
(Condolences to LGM reader Spencer, who apparently shares his special day with Mr. Nader but who will not — we assume, at least — be receiving a social call from the Vice President.)