Book Review by Thomas R. Fletcher:

Written by Ralph Nader

Published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press $24.95

Ralph Nader has written one of the most important books that will be published in 2002. Crashing the Party is an account of Nader's 2000 bid for the Whitehouse, but it is much more than a simple narrative. It lays bare what has gone wrong with the American political process, a process largely bought by corporate money.

Far too many politicians of both major parties represent the will of corporate America and not the will of the American people. Nader shows us the many ways this influence is realized. How dare the Republicans talk of "morality," and then defend an industry of death (tobacco)? How dare Democrats say they care for the environment and then support "mountaintop removal," a devastating form of coal mining in the mountains of West Virginia? Corporate money. Corporate money turns many heads, but Nader represents a voice not owned by the corporations. We are faced with a political system of two major parties that are gradually coming together in their unmitigated support of corporate interests. Nader stands witness: "Over the course of my work in Washington, both Democrats and Republicans have drawn so close to the monied, corporate interests that the citizens are shut out."

Nader doesn't waste time. He sounds the alarm in the book's preface: "Today, much of this economic, political, and technological power is in the hands of global corporations wielding immense influence over our government in very intricate ways. One industry after another, not the least being the mass media is dominated by increasingly fewer giant companies. The trajectory of this power is to centralize control--using our own government, wherever necessary, against its own people--and advance short-term commercial interests at the expense of the elevated living conditions and realizable horizons that should be the just rewards of all people." He nails the problem when he says: "The corporate quest for sovereignty over the sovereignty of the people is an affront to our constitution and our democracy. Indeed, in their largest and most transnational form, the global corporations reject allegiance to nation or community."

One of the most disturbing facets of the book is Nader's enumeration of the many ways he was shut out of the 2000 election process, from the sham Presidential Debates to the failing of the corporate media to cover the issues only Nader would dare bring forth (even though a majority of Americans are interested in those issues). The Commission on Presidential Debates with its "catch-22" rules largely excludes third party candidates. Nader was threatened with arrest for merely showing up outside one of the debates. What can you expect from an organization set up and maintained by the collusion of the corporate-owned Democrats and Republicans? Why didn't Nader's campaign receive greater media attention? Nader offers an explanation.

"In an age of deepening concentration of conglomerate media corporations, their executives have their own interests to defend and expand. More and more, newspapers, magazines, and television and radio stations are caught up in the larger megacorporate strategic objectives... When they are not merging or joint venturing, these mass communications giants are in a frantic race down the sensuality ladder, filling airwaves with what John Nichols and Robert McChesney call the 'trivial, sensational, and salacious.'"

"It is at least permissible to assume that corporations such as Disney, AOL-Time Warner, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Viacom, Seagram (Universal), Sony, Liberty (AT & T), and General Electric, which rely heavily on corporate advertising revenue for their expenses and profits, are not likely to go out of their way to cover candidates who are critics of their major advertisers who are big contributors to both Republican and Democratic parties. It's just simple business sense."

This book has the potential to awaken the US populace to the fact that our political process is largely sold out to corporate interests. Do I agree with everything Nader says? No. But I agree with the majority of it, more importantly, he is saying things that need saying. He is working--as he has for decades--in the realm of social justice. Here is a man working for the people, not corporations, proven by his record. Nader talks about real issues facing real people--not the market-tested, sound-bite catch phrases we hear over and over from the two major parties. It's time for the people to reclaim the political process before it's too late. Nader's book shows us ways to do so. "We need a new progressive political movement to change the dynamics and expectations of politics in America, to push the major parties in the direction of renewal and revival, or begin to replace them."

He offers an ominous warning should we fail to awaken: "...corporate globalism is creating its autocratic systems of governance under the guise of global or regional trade agreements such at the World Trade Organization and NAFTA. Increasingly, these modes of governance that subordinate nontrade standards, such as consumer, environmental, and worker conditions, to the supremacy of international commerce, will avoid and thereby undermine local, state, and national sovereignties."

"It is time to forget about party labels and instead focus on supporting candidates...who will take a stand based on what is right, not what big money dictates."

This book should be read by anyone who loves America and cares about democracy.