Let Nader Debate

From an opinion piece by Martin J. Schoen:

Only the "major" party candidates are allowed into the debates. And there is no real debate, just answers to pre-approved questions. Worse, these so-called debates are controlled by the Republicans and Democrats and large corporations. The Commission on Presidential Debates is headed by Paul Kirk and Frank Fahrenkopf, former heads of the two parties.

During a time of national economic crisis, it is imperative that another voice be allowed into the debates. Ralph Nader, a man who has long predicted the present meltdown on Wall Street, deserves to be included and show the citizens of our country what a real debate looks like.

Barack Obama and John McCain are loath to debate Nader, of course because he would bring up an embarrassing point: Not only are the Democratic and Republican parties both guilty of causing this crisis, but two of the most notorious Wall Street toadies are associated with the Obama and McCain campaigns: Obama's Robert Rubin, a major Clinton administration force behind the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, and McCain pal, Phil Gramm, Rubin's Republican counterpart in that corporate-friendly decision.