Let me get this straight. Ralph Nader (news - web sites) -- former presidential candidate (and close friend of Al Gore (news - web sites)), consumer crusader and political activist -- believes the way to bring Bill Gates (news - web sites) to his knees is for President Bush (news - web sites), in the guise of the Office of Management and Budget, to mandate that the government limit its purchases of Microsoft products.

In other words, spread the dollars around to Apple, IBM, Corel, Linux (news - web sites) firms and other manufacturers to encourage competition and get better pricing. Or as Nader himself told Reuters, "The only consumer in North America who can break up the Microsoft monopoly simply through purchasing strategies is the U.S. government."

Why Nader's Microsoft plan is flawed