No, seriously, I want to know something right now.
Yesterday, I posted as to whether I was alone in being fairly happy with JFK's platform, and I got some telling answers.
For example, I got "well, I don't like his Venezuela policy." I didn't either, based on one sentence comments here. Then I READ IT.
So, fess up, folks.
How many of you die-hard anti-JFKs have either gone to the site and read it in full OR read my/somebody else's DETAILED policy analysis?
And how many of you have read Nader's platform?
There's a lot of ABPNRN (anyone but people named ralph nader) going on here as well. It's not how great Nader is. It's that he's Nader, and no one else is.
Nader could have a platform of kicking puppies and peeing on children's ice cream and you people would be defending him.
HE HAS NO VENEZUELA POLICY. It could be anything.
"Well, Ptolemy," you say, "he wants to work with all nations in peace."
And what if, just what if, the people of Venezuela peacefully change their minds?
Hugo Chavez ain't Caesar Chavez returned to earth, you know. And he certainly ain't Jesus.
Kerry's policy is to have the OAS and the Carter Center oversee any recall referendum, so as to avoid a coup and keep everyone on the level.
Or do we like coups?
Or dictators, so long as they are leftist?
And THAT isn't Bush's policy. He won't even allow oversight of OUR elections. Coups are his favorite way of dealing with leftists, dictator or no.
Look, I think Chavez is on the level. Not great, but honest. Sorta like Joe Lieberman. He kinda sucks, but his constituents keep electing him.
And Nader's Israel policy is the equivalent of Bush's ... I'm not going to play ball with any government unless it's led by Meretz (which is what he said in a speech the other day) is noble, but is equivalent to "I'm not going to talk to these people"
And he will only speak to the Geneva faction of Palestinians, who are equally likely to gain power as Meretz.
As for cutting off funding in the interim ... again, we have to deal with facts on the ground.
That money is probably the only thing that allows Labor or Likud to keep their religious nutballs in check. It is the only thing that keeps the PA from completely losing control to Hamas.
Things could easily get worse. I want Sharon gone. I want Yasser Arafat replaced by Yasser Abd Rabo.
But no one is proposing elections.
We have Bush, who actually allows the status quo.
We have Kerry, who will try to re-engage with whomever is in government.
And we have Nader, who will allow the status quo (minus stabilization funds) until Meretz comes to power. Does he really think that if the U.S. President backs Meretz, they'll win? Even if it's backed by the threat of their funding being pulled?
I won't get into the money-loving implication there ... suffice it to say that the Israeli Right will play that card to the HILT. And even liberal Israelis will feel fairly betrayed and slighted by such a move. Monthly to weekly bombings in a country the size of New Jersey (which was founded by persecuted people) will kinda do that to the national psyche.
Meretz is just turning itself around ... they're making alliances with Arab parties and a left splinter of Labor ... they've just elected the Israeli architect of the Geneva plan as their head. Nader would inadvertently destroy any hope that they could become a player in a Labor-led coalition. And ... that would destroy any hopes of building bridges to the peace faction in Palestine.
If the IDF is short on cash, they'll stop policing settlers and focus on bombing Palestinians. And even if they don't do the latter, the settlers will. And the settlers are never short on cash, because they have strong ties to religious nuts in my faith and in W's.
Kerry and Nader would work with a Meretz-Labor government. Kerry and Nader would work with a "Geneva-led" PA, if my prayers were ever answered so dutifully.
Bush would not.
Why?
Because the religious nuts won't let him.
Please remember that. Just because we are more effective at hiding our crazy uncles in the proverbial attic, please don't forget that they are there. And they have W's ear, because the Xtian nuts have W's ear. Even if he thinks my nutty faction is still going to Hell.
Shorter policy:
Kerry - Because you have to work with the devil you've got until the people elect someone better.
Nader - Because they can go to hell until they elect who I like.
Bush - Who cares? They're all going to hell anyway.