FLOTSAM & JETSAM

AN UNREASONABLE MAN

Sam Smith

A FORTHCOMING documentary on the life of Ralph Nader - An Unreasonable
Man - includes many critics as well as supporters and reminds me of how
despicable the Democrats' attacks on Nader have been. It isn't that
Nader can't drive you a bit crazy with his waverless path. I know. I
wrote to urge him not to run in 2004 for a number of tactical reasons
and it wasn't well received. My basic thought was that even if you have
the best message in the world, standing in the middle of Route 95 at
rush hour may not be the best way to present it.

But I have also offered some the most detailed factual reasons why Nader
was not to blame for the 2000 Bush victory including the lack of
correlation between the polls results of Gore and Nader, the importance
of normally non-voters in the Nader tally, the drag of the Clinton
scandals and the defection of normally Democratic voters to Bush as
revealed by exit polling. And, as the film points out, during the
campaign, Nader spent all of two and a half days in Florida. If he did
all that alleged damage to Gore in that short a time, the Democrats are
avoiding an inconvenient truth.

Democrats can't imagine why anyone left of center would not want to
align themselves with a party that is corrupt, politically dishonest,
and doesn't come close to living up to its stated purposes. It is a
presumption that is almost Bushian in its narcissistic arrogance and
delusion. The film includes a number of clips of an obnoxous, whining
Eric Alterman of the Nation that typify this self-serving denial.
Alterman is good reminder of why I'm glad to be a Green even if people
like him are rude to you.

As I tell my Democratic friends, if you want me to vote for you, you
have to treat me at least as nice as a soccer mom and not blame me for
all your faults. Instead, I have found myself, albeit at far less cost
than Nader has paid, being sent to Coventry for not following the party
line of a party I don't even belong to.

Ironically, the Democrats not only blamed Nader for their failure in
2000 but then, as Phil Donohue notes in the film, spent the next four
years proving that Nader was right about the lack of difference between
Democrats and Republicans.

The film goes over this issue at length and in a particularly telling
segment covers Nader's attempt to join the audience - not the platform -
of a presidential debate in Massachusetts. He had a ticket but the
bipartisan thuggery of debate organizers resulted in Massachusetts state
troopers keeping Nader from even watching the debate from a Fox News
truck inside the event perimeter. Nader's handling of the state trooper
is Ralph at his best.

The film also looks at the many non-political reasons why people should
be grateful to Nader including seat belts, air bags, and safer food as
it depicts an American who has repeatedly stood up for what he believed
was right, did an immense amount of good as a result, yet found himself
under a vicious attack for failing to be as cynical and manipulative as
those criticizing him. What they won't admit is that his real fault in
their eye was that he blew their cover.

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