Ralph Nader Rolls Back the Stone

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

29 April 14

he best thing that ever happened to the careers of John Roberts and Samuel Alito, and the worst thing that ever happened to the Voting Rights Act, campaign-finance regulation, minority students in Michigan, the people of Iraq, the people of New Orleans, and the people of the United States generally, is back with another demonstration of his undeniable genius, and another invitation to the nation to join him on another unicorn hunt.

"On Capitol Hill, I'm seeing more and more in Congress, left and right," Nader told "The Fine Print." "It was a vote in the House over a year ago over the NSA snooping, it almost broke through ... so we're beginning to see formulations that once they click together, they're unstoppable." Nader was referring to a vote in July 2013 over a measure known as the Amash Amendment that would have curtailed the National Security Agency's ability to collect bulk phone call data. The measure narrowly failed by 12 votes, in part due to a concerted White House lobbying effort on Capitol Hill. Nader expects there is going to be a growth of left-right alliances in Congress, pointing to the war on drugs and bank regulatory efforts as areas of possibly confluence. On the war on drugs, Nader said that the United States should entirely decriminalize and move to regulate all drugs in the same way alcohol and tobacco are regulated.

Yes, and I am the Tsar of all the Russias. The idea of a "left-right" alliance on re-regulating the country's large financial institutions -- let alone the idea of Rand Fking Paul leading such a crusade -- is to send conventional political thinking spiraling into the realms of the psychedelic.

But Nader qualified that the success of his envisioned left-right alliance is dependent on strong leaders. He said Sen. Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, has the potential to be a leader for the alliance, but added that he thinks the Kentucky Republican has certain shortcomings as a leader. "He's a mixed bag, you know, he's evolving. He's broadening his issues that he's talking about and they're beginning to resonate," Nader said. "On the other hand ... he has problems dealing with people."

Aqua Buddha's ideas are resonating but he has problems dealing with people? Are they resonating with plants? Cows? The Lost Chord? This isn't a political analysis. It's the great lost Moody Blues album.

Nader has his own vision for who he'd like to be president and has even put forward a proposal of 20 billionaires who he encourages to run for president - a list that includes media mogul Oprah Winfrey and environmentalist Tom Steyer. "That's where we're at now: 20 billionaires with some enlightened background and I said run. Run! Run as an independent," Nader said. "Just to shake up this two-party tyranny ... So maybe one of them will run. We certainly have enough of them, don't we?"

President Oprah! I'm all in.

When it comes to the current president, Nader said that Obama has violated the Constitution on several occasions and should be impeached. "Oh, most definitely," Nader said when asked if Congress should bring forward articles of impeachment against Obama. "The reason why Congress doesn't want to do it is because it's advocated its own responsibility under the Constitution." Nader said the president's use of military force in Libya has been his most "egregious violation of the Constitution."

Poor guy finally makes it to the barn and discovers that the horse was stolen by Thomas Jefferson in 1801. Impeach Jefferson! Long live President Burr!