[SfN] letter to the editor

[Arun Bhalla]

I wrote up this letter tonight and sent it off to the DI and News-Gazette
(perhaps also the Tribune).  I agree with Jim that we need to write letters
demanding coverage of Nader in our local media, given the bland debates
and popular demand to see Nader in the debates.  I didn't have room to 
fit it in my letter, and I figured the News-Gazette editors would edit
it out of my letter "for space."  They've done it before.

cheers,
Arun


To the editor:

After the recent visit of Jeffrey St. Clair in support of his book _Al
Gore: A User's Manual_ written with Alexander Cockburn, my distrust of
Al Gore has deepened.  Gore has shown himself to be a man of
half-truths and false promises.

Although he claims to have seen combat in Vietnam, he was actually an
army reporter with a security escort and spent most of his time
drinking beer, smoking dope, and playing basketball.

Some wrongly consider him the nation's foremost voice of
environmentalism.  The League of Conservation Voters rated Gore's
voting record at under 66% in agreement with their environmental
positions, far less than even some Republicans.  More than once, Gore
sought exemption from the Endangered Species Act, such as with the
utterly useless Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River.  During the
Clinton-Gore administration, loggers got the green light on the
Pacific Northwest, bringing the spotted owl closer to extinction.  In
addition, environmental regulations of the Environmental Protection
Agency began to be peeled away.

A supposed proponent of civil rights, Gore entered Congress with a
campaign against gun control, abortion, and homosexuality (which he
considered "abnormal sexual behavior").  We are supposed to believe
that he is a defender of abortion, yet his voting record has been 84%
against abortion.  He opposes Supreme Court justices like Antonin
Scalia and Clarence Thomas, yet Gore as a Senator voted for Scalia,
and Lieberman strongly endorsed Thomas.

I refuse to vote for the Lesser of Two Evils (or second worst) and
instead choose to vote for the best ticket: Ralph Nader & Winona
LaDuke, individuals reflecting honesty, progress, and justice.  In a
state such as Illinois which is not a battleground state, if you don't
desire the status quo, a vote for Bush or Gore is a wasted vote.