Now, just hold on there...

I don't want to devote too much space and attention to the Nader question, but since he seems likely to have a presence on Upper Left ballots this year, I've given some notice to his efforts lately. One reason that he can't be ignored completely is the effectiveness of his own propaganda effort. While he gained his public repute as an advocate for victims, he's become more devoted in recent years to painting himself as a victim.

It's taking with some folks, I'm afraid. Pessimist at The Left Coaster assures us that "I do not support Nader, and I do wish that he saw fit to drop out of this race..." but, he emphasizes, "I do believe he has the right to run."

Well, sure. Every native born American over 35 entitled to the franchise has the right to run. He even has the right to recieve help from Republicans, as in Michigan, where the GOP is running an active petition campaign on his behalf, so long as his activities and theirs are legal under the various state election statutes. While Pessimist seems to disagree on that point, disapproving of the apparently legal activities of the Rs. My only issue is Nader's persistent lying about what he's up to and who's helping him.

Pessismist is way off base with this notion, though.

In Arizona, where Nader seems to have enough support, the Democrats are attempting to use the courts to block his ballot placement.

Nader doesn't seem to have enough support in Arizona at all. What's apparent is that he has a collection of signatures gathered under a variety of illegal circumstances. It seems that the paid signature gatherers that the Nader camp hired (contrary to an earlier pledge to conduct a volunteer effort) were less than scrupulous in their efforts. The petitions were so far outside the regulations, in fact, that the Naderites didn't even try to defend them in court.

That's not an example of Democrats stomping on the rights of poor Ralph Nader. That's Democrats standing up for the rights of each of us to face a ballot assembled within the constraints of the law, barring candidacies from going forward through illegal or unethical means.

Sure, he has a right to play, but he has to play by the rules. If he wants to change the rules, there are ways to do that, too. Cheating isn't one of them.