Extra! Extra! Corporate Media Ignores Nader Again!

Dear Editor,
Ken Tingley’s recent editorial asked, “Who’s Man Enough to Be President?” In it, the only principled person running is completely ignored (Ralph Nader). Tingley found Kerry to be “impressive” and Bush to be lacking.I can certainly agree that Bush has been a spectacular presidential failure. He is, at best, a simpleton, a chauvinist and a warmonger whose failed policies rival the worst in our history. But, to say that Kerry is impressive, by comparison, seems a stretch. Bush and Kerry squaring off in the intellectual arena are kind of like a heavyweight bout between a six-year old and Lennox Lewis, don’t ya think? Is it really a fair fight?What if we put Kerry up against a real contender, like Nader? Kerry, like Bush, is just another ruling class politician whose two-party message is surprisingly consistent with that of his supposed “opposition”. Neither candidate is a friend of anyone who works for a living, they’re just good fakers. What’s so “manly” about that?Ralph Nader is the man who will withdraw our troops from Iraq. No reinstatement of the draft on his watch! He has a single-payer Healthcare plan and a way to pay for it. He’ll repeal NAFTA and help put an end to global economic slavery (or “globalization”, as we’re asked to call it). He will mandate a minimum wage that is above federal poverty guidelines. He will fully fund alternative energy research. This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.Will we see this title fight? Will Nader get his time in the ring with “Mr. Impressive”? It’s highly unlikely with the “free press” so focused on the completely fake battle between TweedleDumb and TweedleDee. If the press continues to ignore independent candidates and doesn’t focus on the undemocratic nature of the “debates”, who will?Imagine an America where Instant Runoff Voting is the norm and where the press thinks of it as its duty to give equal time to every candidate. Do you think that place might be a little closer to a real democracy than the system of lies and posing we currently live under?Ken, please do your part. Stop ignoring the only “real man” in the race. Don’t wait for the wire services or the mainstream corporate press to signal that it’s okay. Cover Nader yourself. That’s what a newspaperman should do!
Matt Funiciello