Letters

From the August/September 2002 issue

(Page 4 of 5)

Ralph, Ralph, Ralph

Matt Welch's article on Saint Nader ("Speaking Lies to Power," May) is terrific journalism. How refreshing to hear Nader receive a full-blown and deserved remonstrance but without his annoying tone of self-righteousness or hyperbole. Keep firing away!

Lee C. Waaks

Jenkintown, PA

The title and subtitle of Matt Welch's article implied we would be getting some real dirt, some bald-faced lies proving that Ralph Nader's appeal to truth was just the work of yet another cynical politician manipulating a public desperate for a little honesty. Instead, what we got was some bad math, a lot of hyperbolic prose, a ridiculous accusation of lunacy by association, and a variety of other rhetorical flourishes.

For example, Welch accuses Nader of lying about whether most of his votes would have gone to Gore. Welch's primary evidence? A study that "estimated" Nader supporters would have chosen Gore over Bush "47 percent to 21 percent, with the rest abstaining." Where's the lie? When I do the math, it sure looks to me like the survey shows that 53 percent, i.e., "most" of Nader's votes, would have gone to Bush or to no one.

Welch accuses Nader of overestimating the success of his appearance on the Tonight Show. Big deal. He ridicules Nader's suggestion that his positions are held by the majority but doesn't cite any evidence that Nader is wrong.

In an especially silly moment, Welch attempts to slime Nader with the goofy statements of Howard Zinn, Jim Klosterman, and a Seattle Coalition Web site. Did Nader endorse those statements? Could we find similarly goofy things said by supporters of Bush and Gore? Of course we could.

The article is full of words and phrases that appeal to emotion, such as self-delusion, schizophrenic, lunatic nonsense, wrongheaded ravings, and incoherent fantasies. It didn't take long to conclude that Welch's argument was not, in fact, reason at work. It was just another self-indulgent, sarcastic hatchet job in the Rush Limbaugh mode.

The article begins with a citation of Nader's book as if it were a review, but nowhere does it bother to examine the book's central question: How will things ever change when the two major parties control the system, and voters feel compelled to vote for the lesser evil, rather than the candidate they really want? That's a topic that deserves discussion, not just a dismissive reference to "European-style proportional representation."

John Haine
Fridley, MI

I abandoned writing a point-by-point rebuttal of Matt Welch's critique/polemic/harangue masquerading as a book review. His assertions are too gelatinous to get ahold of to give them the thrashing they deserve. The article is a narrow and petty read that in no way reflects Nader's book.

Welch refers to Nader's "whoppers." I consider these to be broadly stated assertions that actually contain kernels of truth. Yet Welch's article is riddled with several slippery turns of phrase that obscure distinctions. Welch overgeneralizes and blurs meanings. Normally, I would overlook such ambiguities, but when he goes on to chide the Greens on "the politics of soft consensus, not a rigorous culture of truth telling," I lose all patience.

A rehash of "Nader made Gore lose" is a moribund topic unless you've got an ax to grind. Why target Nader? Why now? There aren't any pressing issues to focus on besides pointing out that Nader is parsing numbers and trying to angle his message in the most favorable light. What else do politicians do? If Welch had imagined Nader as being above it all, he needs to get over it. I doubt his intentions are as pure as the ideals he holds Nader to.

I don't want to vote for a candidate who has no chance of winning, but desperate times require desperate measures. To be forced to such extremes by the currently degraded political climate is enough of a vexation without Matt Welch trying to rub my nose in it.

Comments

nfl jerseys|11.13.10 @ 1:41AM|#

jhxx

قبلة الوداع|8.16.11 @ 10:13PM|#

thank u