Ralph Nader, Celebrity Weiner

Ralph Nader was scheduled to lead a contingent of concerned citizens on a lobbying trip to Nancy Pelosi's Office at the San Francisco Federal Building at 11AM Thursday.



I arrived a bit late after the crowd had moved into the Federal building to journey to Pelosi's 14th floor office, leaving behind a large, grotesque Gandhi statue along with Krissy Keefer, the Green candidate who ran against Pelosi last fall.



It turned out that Nader had arrived at the gathering late and was scheduled to speak for a paying audience at the Commonwealth Club at noon, so he didn't bother joining the group that went to Pelosi's office and simply made a brief appearance in front of the building.



I saw Nader speak in Santa Barbara about 35 years ago, and though he was smart and inspiring, he was also an obviously self-involved megalomaniac.



Nader was not the only reason that the odious Bush and Cheney administration was installed six years ago, but he was one of the reasons, and he has never apologized nor even acknowledged that his hubris has helped to make the world an uglier and ever more dangerous place. He also threatened today, on a San Francisco radio show, to run for president again if Hilary Clinton is the Democratic candidate in 2008. I have one request for Mr. Nader, and that's to get the fuck out of public life because you have nothing left to offer except for your weinie celebrity.



There was also a media swarm in front of the building, but it had nothing to do with Nader. They were there for the arraignment of the BALCO lawyer who was the "confidential source" for two San Francisco Chronicle reporters who copied his confidential grand jury transcripts. Everybody involved in the story, including the reporters, have come out of the story looking like utter scum.



It was a tonic to see the Quaker Peace Vigil organizer, Markley Morris, come out of the Federal Building where he'd just been at a hearing for those arrested during the "die-in" recently. "They've decided to play hardball this time, with no community service, and possible penalties of up to a $1,500 fine and a year in jail." Unlike Nader, these people put their lives and their livings at risk to help stop the insanity of war.