Nader expects Trump to bring ‘dangerous period’ for U.S.
U.S. POLITICS
Ralph Nader is on the road in Canada promoting a new book but his thoughts are not far from his troubled homeland south of the border.
“We are in for a very, very rough ride,” the famed consumer and environmental advocate despaired in a phone interview from Brantford in advance of an event in Hamilton at the Hamilton Public Library Friday.
“This could be the most dangerous period of American history.”
Nader said his biggest fear is Donald Trump’s response to terrorism. “All bets are off if there is major terrorist attack. That’s the real danger. I fear Trump will turn into a monster and the country will become a police state while everything else is crowded off the stage.”
Nader’s new book, “Animal Envy,” is an expression of his environmentalism and his fears about humans destroying the planet and the flora and fauna on it. It’s a fable that imagines animals being able to talk. They all gather for “The Great Talkout,” something that receives 100 hours of global television coverage.
“It deconstructs the hubris of the human animal,” he said. “It has humour, conflicts between different species and we come to see they have their own competitive situations and egos.”
Nader, 82, made a name for himself a half century ago with his groundbreaking book, “Unsafe at any Speed,” which lambasted the automobile industry over its complacency toward safety innovation. Since then, he has continued to be a thorn in the side of corporate America advocating for consumer and environmental protection. Atlantic Magazine calls him one of the hundred most influential figures in human history.
Many recall his Green Party candidacy in the 2000 presidential election that some argue put him in the role of spoiler to Al Gore becoming president.
However, Nader has a different view. “It’s classic scapegoating. The Democrats could not beat this bumbling governor from Texas
with a horrible record. Gore couldn’t even win his home state of Tennessee.”
But he says it’s a travesty that twice — with Gore and more recently Hillary Clinton — the presidential candidate with the most votes did not win. Both the Democratic candidates were tops in popular vote. But that meant nothing in a system that uses the Electoral College solely to decide a winner. It’s something Nader calls “an antiquated, sadistic attack on democracy.”
Other points made by Nader in The Spectator interview:
On how Canada should handle Trump as president: “Canada has to be very careful now in terms of the military alliance. Canada has to go back to its historic peacekeeping role.”
He believes Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders would have beat Trump. “Sanders did not have the baggage. He was scandal free. He was very blunt and he communicated well. She had huge scandals, huge liabilities.”
Asked about Hamilton Judge Bernd Zabel’s controversial appearance in court with a Trump “Make America Great Again” hat, he said: “It would have raised eyebrows in the United States for sure if it happened there. One side of the litigants would have clearly asked that the judge recuse himself immediately.” (Zabel apologized Tuesday for the incident that happened last Wednesday.)