Truthout, Topic: Truths and Falsehoods About Ralph Nader’s New Book [ Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State]
Link: Truths and Falsehoods About Ralph Nader's New Book
Excerpt:
"Before Werleman begins his condemnation of Unstoppable, he assures us, “I like Ralph Nader. I like his politics and I like the causes he has championed,” and he lists some of Nader’s accomplishments, including auto and highway safety laws, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Then Werleman launches his attack: “But Ralph Nader wants liberals to back libertarian Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky)”. . . . But does Nader seriously believe liberals are prepared to sacrifice the other 90 percent of their ideals to rally behind a neo-confederate, Koch brother-shill like Rand Paul?”
In fact, Nader never says this or anything close to this. The index in Nader’s Unstoppable reveals three mentions of Rand Paul on pages 43, 92 and 109:
p. 43: “In 2013, Senator Wyden [D-Oregon] teamed up with Republican senator Rand Paul to introduce legislation that would legalize industrial hemp grown in the United States.”
p. 92: “In fact, in 2013, a debate over the military and domestic use of drones broke out, sparked by Senator Rand Paul’s twelve-hour filibuster, which brought together mainstream conservative and liberal think tanks, Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and citizen activists of both Right and Left.”
p. 109: “In March 2013, Senator Patrick Leahy [D-Vermont], chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the new senator Rand Paul introduced the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, allowing judges to impose sentences below mandatory minimums.”
Nowhere in Unstoppable does Nader ask liberals to sacrifice any part of their ideals to rally behind Paul. In fact, Nader tells liberals just the opposite, telling them to be uncompromising in their principles, “To create a convergence that will work and endure, at the onset those from the Left should have a take-us-or-leave-us stance, indicating they are not ready to compromise their principles but will work with any good-faith conservative who shares this one goal.”
After Werleman fabricates the premise that Nader is asking liberals to sacrifice their principles to back Rand Paul, he portrays Nader as naïve to libertarian goals such as deregulation and tax policies, and thus naïve to how horrible it would be to have them in power. Nader is not naïve at all, and that is why he is not talking about forming a political party with libertarians, but forming coalitions and alliances on specific issues where there is convergence.
Such Coalitions Have Worked to Increase Democracy
The fact is that such convergences have already been successful, and this empowerment has been contagious…" cont. at link.
Excerpt:
"Before Werleman begins his condemnation of Unstoppable, he assures us, “I like Ralph Nader. I like his politics and I like the causes he has championed,” and he lists some of Nader’s accomplishments, including auto and highway safety laws, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Then Werleman launches his attack: “But Ralph Nader wants liberals to back libertarian Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky)”. . . . But does Nader seriously believe liberals are prepared to sacrifice the other 90 percent of their ideals to rally behind a neo-confederate, Koch brother-shill like Rand Paul?”
In fact, Nader never says this or anything close to this. The index in Nader’s Unstoppable reveals three mentions of Rand Paul on pages 43, 92 and 109:
p. 43: “In 2013, Senator Wyden [D-Oregon] teamed up with Republican senator Rand Paul to introduce legislation that would legalize industrial hemp grown in the United States.”
p. 92: “In fact, in 2013, a debate over the military and domestic use of drones broke out, sparked by Senator Rand Paul’s twelve-hour filibuster, which brought together mainstream conservative and liberal think tanks, Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and citizen activists of both Right and Left.”
p. 109: “In March 2013, Senator Patrick Leahy [D-Vermont], chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the new senator Rand Paul introduced the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, allowing judges to impose sentences below mandatory minimums.”
Nowhere in Unstoppable does Nader ask liberals to sacrifice any part of their ideals to rally behind Paul. In fact, Nader tells liberals just the opposite, telling them to be uncompromising in their principles, “To create a convergence that will work and endure, at the onset those from the Left should have a take-us-or-leave-us stance, indicating they are not ready to compromise their principles but will work with any good-faith conservative who shares this one goal.”
After Werleman fabricates the premise that Nader is asking liberals to sacrifice their principles to back Rand Paul, he portrays Nader as naïve to libertarian goals such as deregulation and tax policies, and thus naïve to how horrible it would be to have them in power. Nader is not naïve at all, and that is why he is not talking about forming a political party with libertarians, but forming coalitions and alliances on specific issues where there is convergence.
Such Coalitions Have Worked to Increase Democracy
The fact is that such convergences have already been successful, and this empowerment has been contagious…" cont. at link.
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