> --------- Forwarded Message --------- > Special report: the US elections > > George Monbiot > Thursday August 17, 2000 > The Guardian > > Everyone on earth should be allowed to vote in > American elections. All the major decisions about the > future of world are now brokered by the United States. > Only the US has the power to provoke a world war. Only > the US can re-engineer the global economy. > > As the Transatlantic Economic Partnership - which is > quietly "harmonising" our laws with those of North > America - demonstrates, Washington now exercises more > control over the lives of British people than > Westminster. > > We will never, of course, be allowed to influence the > world's most important political decisions. But this > autumn we can do the next best thing, which is to > plead with our friends and colleagues in the United > States to cast their votes against Al Gore. The only > hope for both America and us is that George Bush wins. > > A Bush presidency would, of course, be an unmitigated > disaster. This poisonous political pygmy owes > everything to the dollar and nothing to democracy. > Under his governorship Texas has killed more convicts, > left more children without health provision and > poisoned more of its own air and water than any other > state. Its spending on education, public hospitals and > social services has all but collapsed. > > As president, Bush would cut the scant taxes rich > Americans pay, disabling America's residual public > provision. He would dump the minimum wage, abandon > affirmative action, sell off national parks and > destroy trades unions. > > He has suggested that he would like to see more > adventures of the kind the US pursued in Nicaragua and > Grenada, and fewer humanitarian missions [sic]. His > incomprehension of world affairs will reinforce > American isolationism, while his plans for a national > missile defence system will launch a new nuclear arms > race. > > Anyone with a grain of political sense, in other > words, would be mad to support George Bush. But the > biggest threat to Al Gore is a defection of Democratic > voters not to the Republicans, but to the Greens, and > their presidential candidate, Ralph Nader. Nader will > capture, depending on which opinion poll you believe, > anywhere between 3 and 10% of the vote. > > Crucially, his prospects are best in some of the > states Gore must win to secure the presidency: > Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Oregon and California. There > is, in other words, a seductive if superficial truth > in the assertion, aired repeatedly by Democratic party > hustlers, that "a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush". > > But Ralph Nader's campaign is about far more than the > coming election. He has launched what amounts to > nothing less than a rescue plan for American > democracy, and with it, a rescue plan for the rest of > the world. Nader, alone among the remaining > candidates, has promised to tackle the world's > principal problem, namely the corporate stranglehold > on American politics. > > When George Bush raises $100m for his campaign, Al > Gore has to do the same. In his eight years in office, > Bill Clinton has distinguished himself by amassing > some one billion political dollars, almost all of > them, directly or indirectly, from corporations. > > This money is merely a measure of the politicians' > indebtedness to special interests. The result is that > the priority of both presidential candidates is to > deliver not what the people want but what the > corporations want. For the past 50 years, the world > has been held to ransom by America's corporate > oligarchs. > > Ralph Nader would kick corporate money out of > politics, ensuring that public campaigns are publicly > funded. He is, of course, no more likely to become > American president in November than you are. > > The best he is likely to achieve is to hand victory to > Bush, plunging the world into four terrifying years of > government by morons. But the alternative is far > worse. If Gore wins, backed by one hundred million > corporate dollars, then the last faint hopes that a > mainstream political party might fight for a change in > the way American campaigns are financed will > evaporate. > > His victory would hasten the arrival of a new and > potentially endless dark age, in which only the > demands of the mighty are acknowledged. > > If, by contrast, Gore loses because Nader steals his > key votes, then this will force the Democratic party > into the most profound self-examination in its recent > history. As the Democrats come to see that they cannot > recapture public trust until they have done something > to earn it, they will ensure that campaign finance > reform becomes the key issue in the 2004 presidential > elections. > > If you don't stand up for what you believe to be > right, regardless of the consequences, you will > quickly discover that there is nothing left to believe > in. The Americans, like all of us, should vote not in > fear, but in hope. > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --------- End Forwarded Message --------- > xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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