As a Canadian watching and reading this ongoing debate about ABB and Nader on this list, I feel a certain sense of frustration, not least of which is the fact that we have no say in the election even though our lives will be greatly affected by the outcome. The absolute revulsion against the evil that is Bush is palpable through most of Canada and it is hard for us to fathom how he could even be in the running with his record of economic disaster, lies and distortions, war mongering and civil rights abuses.
However, when Bush gave his state of the union speech just prior to the invasion of Iraq, John Kerry rose and joined in the standing ovations 16 times. If Bush is such a symbol of palpable evil, it is difficult for me to understand why somebody ostensibly opposed to such evil would applaud the wrongdoer in such a fashion. It is also difficult for me to understand why Kerry would have voted for invading Iraq, *even if there had been no WMD's*. If that invasion based on a Great Lie is supposed to warrant above all else removing Bush from the White House, why is replacing him with Kerry supposed to deliver us from Evil? It is like removing Ronald Reagan and replacing him with Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman. Big fucking deal.
No one that I know thinks that Kerry will make a great president. The only question is can you take the chance of Bush being elected (for the first time) and thereby threatening the world with rampant imperialism, death and destruction, or voting for Kerry with the possibility of a less virilent and unilateral imperialism and, possibly, the opportunity to influence the outcome through political action and democratic mobilization. Bush is hell-bent for destruction and no amount of domestic political pressure will change his course which, as we all know, is dictated by god. (Bush as the American Pope?) Is Kerry so demon driven?
Actually, far more Iraqis died as a result of economic sanctions under Clinton than have died under direct occupation. It is important to note, I should add, that elements of the antiwar movement who rallied around Kerry's candidacy have been enthusiastic supporters of such bestial sanctions that have cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of children. David Cortwright launched this mainstream antiwar group called "Win Without War". In a Feb. 15, 1998 New Orleans Times-Picayune article titled "Iraqi Children Suffering Most", Cortwright blames Baghdad for malnutrition--not those imposing the sanctions. He says, "It's sort of like being in a war with an enemy willing to put children on the front lines. Are you still justified in firing, knowing you have an enemy so diabolical they're willing to use children?" A question to which he answers in the affirmative. To put it bluntly, there is not much difference between Madeline Albright and "doves" like Cortwright when it comes to thesort of "ends justifies the means" mentality that has resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children.
Would Kerry be better? I don't know but he couldn't be worse. As much as I like Nader and respect his positions and policies, which unfortunately don't have an institutional support system, I know he will not be elected. I am left with the opinion that Bush is such a great evil that, whatever Kerry's sins (of omission and comission), I would have to vote for him if I were American if only to protect the rest of the world against one of the most dangerous and evil administrations we have encountered in the last 60 years.
We on the Marxist left see the Nader candidacy, the Green Party and other transitional political formations as steps in the road to the aboliton of wage slavery, just as the abolitionists of the 1800s approached the Free Soil Party, etc. Our enemy today is the wage slave system. It must be abolished or the world is doomed. If you are not for the abolition of wage slavery, but hope to see that its more icky aspects are eliminated, I can understand backing Kerry. In any case, those who back a Kerry vote in the name of Marxism are beneath contempt in my view.
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