St. Ralph Speaks, Generic Words Next To Each Other Edition

Rich Juzwiak describes a Ralph Nader rant as a “good one.” It is…not that. It is in fact very, very dumb.

The candidates still narrow the agenda. That is, the voters are not propelling into the electoral arena and debate the kind of things like cracking down on corporate crime in the ghettos against consumers, against workers. They’re not pushing in the issues on housing and public transit and empire abroad. They’re not pushing for restoration and rebuilding of our public works the facilities in every community that are crumbling. We’ve seen ‘em: bridges, highways, water/sewage systems, public transit.

Yes, I don’t understand why the Democratic candidates simply refuse to discuss the nation’s infrastructure. Both Clinton and Sanders ignore the issue in their policy platforms, and both Clinton and Sanders ignore the issue in their public speeches. Only Ralph Nader considers these issues important.

In addition, nobody could fairly listen to the relatively brief speeches given by Clinton and Sanders last night and think that the scope of the issues being addressed by the Democratic candidates is narrow or trivial. The two candidates advanced progressive positions on a wide range of issues: healthcare, education, the minimum wage, criminal justice, wages, gun control, worker’s rights, and climate control. Looking at their campaigns as a whole you’ll see much more. In fairness, neither Sanders nor Clinton is addressing the most important issue of our times, whether public libraries are built to Ralph Nader’s precise aesthetic preferences.

Nader’s tired, generic, dishonest rant reflects a man for whom it’s always 1996 1976 [thanks to Erik for the friendly amendment] and is convinced that he’s the only honest man left in the world. The fact that some people are still buying his con at this late date is rather pathetic. Whichever of Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders you prefer, they’re both people of far more depth and far more meaningful progressive commitment than this tired, endlessly narcissistic hack.