Posted on 12/02/2012 2:37:38 PM PST by grundle
Its no surprise that Ralph Nader isnt a fan of former President George W. Bush. After all, the longtime activist ran against him in both 2000 and 2004. But Naders even less a fan of President Barack Obama, if only because he thinks Obama was capable of so much more.
On issues related to the military and foreign policy, Obamas worse than Bush, in the sense that hes more aggressive, more illegal worldwide, Nader told POLITICO, going so far as to call Obama a war criminal.
Hes gone beyond George W. Bush in drones, for example. He thinks the world is his plate, that national sovereignties mean nothing, drones can go anywhere. They can kill anybody that he suspects and every Tuesday he makes the call on who lives and who dies, supposed suspects in places like Yemen and Pakistan and Afghanistan, and that is a war crime and he ought to be held to account.
Nader called Obama below average because he raised expectation levels. What expectation level did George W. Bush raise? Hes below average because hes above average in his intellect and his knowledge of legality, which is violating with abandon.
I dont know whether George W. Bush ever read the Constitution, said Nader. This man taught the Constitution, and this is what we got.
Nader gave Obama this much: Hes the lesser of two evils when compared to GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. But he said Obama is the more effective evil because he brings credibility, he brings the democratic heritage to it, he has legitimized the lawless war-mongering and militarism abroad of George W. Bush.
(Also on POLITICO: Obama at U.N. gives robust defense of free speech)
When asked to highlight some positives about Obamas presidency, Nader said, I like the way hes emphasized renewable energy, even though he still supports nuclear and fossil fuels, as if theyre all the same, all of the above. But he does speak more about renewables than any president perhaps since Jimmy Carter. (Nader will be speaking at the Green Festival in Washington, D.C., later this month.)
And: He wanted to have a public works program, he really did want to have a jobs program and the Republicans crushed it and that would have created a lot of jobs that couldnt be exported to China.
Nader doesnt let Republicans off easy, either, calling them the worst Republican Party in history.
Were dealing with a real sick, decaying Democratic Party that cant defend the country against the cruelest, most ignorant, most anti-worker, most war-mongering, most Wall Streetindentured Republican Party in its history, since the 1850s.
As for Romney, Nader said hes not the old Romney, governor of Massachusetts. Hes had a character and personality makeover. Hes just bought into the extreme right wing of the Republican Party, represented by Paul Ryan, and I dont think hes going to be able to shake that. Hes basically a corporation running for president masquerading as a human being.
For the first time in a long time, Nader is not running for president this year. From the way he puts it, he may be through with such campaigns.
Ive run several times and weve documented the two-party tyranny, which means theyre very adept at excluding, with a whole variety of ways, third parties.
Its not, however, because hes been billed by some as a political spoiler.
Thats a politically bigoted words, as if were second-class citizens, said Nader. Since were all trying to get votes from one another, either were all spoilers of one another or none of us are spoilers.
people that supported bammey boy have no right to complain....likewise, those who didn't support Romney because he wasn't pure enough...
no complaining.....just take it...take it..take it...take it....lots of us tried to warn about bammey boy but were sneered at...
Obama taught constitutional law? I don’t think so.
Bush was eventually proved correct that there were at least chemical WMD in Iraq when Saddam was deposed.
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