By Brian Carnell

Wednesday, November 15, 2000

In his New York Press column, Alexander Cockburn relays a conversation he had with Ralph Nader about the "I want to kill Nader" comment made by Harry Evans at Hillary Clinton's victory bash,

Talking to Nader last Thursday, I asked him what he thought of GroveÂ’s story. "I called up Evans," Nader answered, "and he was chagrined. He said everyone was drunk, and he apologized. But look at what Hillary Clinton said right after. Can you imagine what would happen if the Secret Service monitored a private citizen making a remark like that about a public political figure?" Nader called up New YorkÂ’s freshly elected junior senator, but as of Thursday she was too busy with her proposed constitutional amendment discarding the Electoral College to get back to him.

Cockburn also pokes fun at Michael Moore's overnight change from endorsing Nader to comparing the possibility of a Bush win to the Holocaust(!):

Now we’re at the point when to deny Al Gore the victory in Florida is to deny the Holocaust. Here’s what Michael Moore posted on his site over the weekend: "Sixty-two years ago tonight, the Holocaust began in full force on what was called Kristallnacht. The German government sent goon squads throughout the country to trash and burn the homes, stores and temples of its Jewish citizens. Seven years and 6 million slaughtered lives later, the Jewish people of Europe were virtually extinct. A few survived. I will not allow those who survived to come here to this ‘land of the free’ to be abused again. They are our fellow citizens in our great democracy, and their voice, if I have anything to say about it, will never be snuffed out."

Are the stakes really that high? Of course theyÂ’re not. ThatÂ’s why everyone is having such a wonderful time. The Lewinksy scandal was good, dirty fun. Vote Screwup 2000 is good, clean fun. It makes no difference whether Gore or Bush is "elected," or appointed by AmericaÂ’s tiny reserve of "wise men." We have glorious gridlock, and the prospect of glorious gridlock for the next four years. If Bush makes it, weÂ’ll probably get Al in four years after Bush is retired, just as his dad was, by a recession. If Gore makes it, weÂ’ll get W in 2004 for the same reasons, then in 2008 it will be HillaryÂ’s turn.

Discuss (2 Replies) | Printer Friendly