Since my last post ("Double those efforts!"), I've more than doubled my own work hours, so blogging has been more than just light -- it's been nonexistent. I've skipped lots of important topics, but it's time to get back to this work.

Let's start with that rat bastard Ralph Nader. I used to have some respect the guy, but in light of his unrepentant attitude after the 2000 US presidential election -- and especially his recent decision to participate in the 2004 election -- it's time to give him a virtual boot to the head.

While he wasn't necessarily to blame for the outcome of that election, it should be pretty clear to Nader that without him, there wouldn't have been the controversy which led to the Supreme Court putting a sub-primate in the White House.

I'd usually agree that voting is a choice between tweedledum and tweedledee, but when choosing between a Democrat and a Republican, it's more akin to choosing between your friendly neighborhood pot-smoker and someone like Jeffrey Dahmer to babysit your kids.

Let's see just how Nad-boy is being a real asshole this time around. Nader had a web site asking people's opinions about whether he should run this time around. I, for one, wrote an uncharacteristically nice-toned letter pleading with him not to run citing a need for some semblance of democracy to return before he gets involved in the process again.

What did that get me and others who did the same? We're being accused of "censorship"! According to this article, neither Nader nor Dick Meyer understand either democracy or censorship:

Nader says the "liberal intelligentsia touts itself as the most tolerant voice in America." But with their rabid demand for him not to run, "They're crossing from opposition to censorship." He understands some of this. "They are desperate to replace Bush, " he said. But he is mystified as to why their opposition is so, well, rabid. He is particularly dumbstruck by an open letter in the Nation magazine, supposedly the leading voice of dissent and civil liberties in the leftie world, commanding him to not run. There's a Web site devoted to keeping him out of the race. A Stanford law professor and blogger named Lawrence Lessig likens Nader to the tobacco and auto executives he's famous for attacking. He's being vilified. [Emphasis mine]

And so he should be. Nobody has tried to pass a law forbidding him from running. The Nation didn't "command" him not to run, despite printing yet another article titled "Ralph, Don't Run." (I suppose Dick Meyer thinks they're Nader's commanding officer.) Nad-boy is apparently ignoring all those people who sent their opinions to him his web site begging him not to run in an exercise of democracy. Ignoring these pleas, he shouldn't be surprised when people break out their choicest 4-letter words and their "evil" web sites. The rat bastard has obviously had his brain extracted by the right.

Here's what DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe had to say in a letter to Nader:

The Democratic Party has a long and proud history of standing up for people traditionally without access to the corridors of power. We are a Party based on the ideals of worker rights, consumer rights, civil rights and individual freedoms. With a Democratic administration, those rights will be advanced and those without access to the corridors of power will have an advocate and voice in their own government.

But we can not defeat this President; we can not fend off his millions of dollars and powerful allies, if we are divided.

As you consider whether to enter the race for President this year, I ask you to keep the best interest of the country -- -and the issues for which you have been an articulate, effective and passionate advocate -- in mind. I ask you to stand united with the millions of Americans who yearn for change, who yearn to have their government and their country back.

That's far too nicely worded to express how I feel today. "Begging," "pleading," and "requesting" are all words that could be used to describe McAuliffe's letter. "Rabid," "censor[ing]," and "commanding" are not.

If Nader had only said he'd stay out of it this time, he might have gotten a huge increase in his support by 2008. I think he'll ruin what little reputation he had left. That's actually the worst thing that could happen. This time around, if Nader gets 0.5% of the vote, I'll be shocked. If he gets more than 1%, I'll be angry. If he gets enough to upset the balance that would knock Bush on his ass, I can only assume complicity and put Nader in the same category as that idiot son of an asshole who's been fucking up the world like Godzilla on PCP for the past 3 years.