WAIT ALONG:

Nader Makes Waves (Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Beth Lester and Clothilde Ewing, 5/25/04, CBS News)

Ralph Nader, referred to President Bush as a "messianic militarist" who should be impeached for pushing the nation into a war in Iraq "based on false pretenses," reports The New York Times.

In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in Manhattan, Nader said, "The founding fathers did not want the declaration of war put in the hands of one man," referring to his belief that U.S. foreign policy goals are being compromised because the president tends to "talk like an out-of-control West Texas sheriff."

The Times says, "Mr. Nader also accused President Bush of exaggerating the threat of terrorism in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. 'To say that President Bush has exaggerated the threat of Al Qaeda is to trip into a political hornets' nest,' he said. But he said it was time to raise 'the impertinent question' about whether the threat had been 'exaggerated for a purpose.' Mr. Nader said he believed such a deception had taken place, and had been intended in part to draw popular support for more militaristic policies and to generate military contracts for companies with close ties to the Bush administration."

Mr. Nader's sheriff comparison is apt.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 25, 2004 1:26 PM