Ralph Nader Visits Smalltown America

Lifelong consumer advocate and Green/Independent presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, visited our sleepy little town for the second time a week and a half ago. The visit was phenomenal. We (the Adirondack Progressives) set up 7 events in one day between Albany and Glens Falls.

My son, John, and I picked Ralph up at his home in Winsted, Connecticut in the wee hours of the morning Friday May 25th and brought him to an interview at WAMC's Albany studios (our local NPR affiliate). Alan Chartok, the station's "Political Guru" and resident Nader-hater, was nowhere to be seen. Ralph spoke with Joe Donahue and Julia Taylor, hosts of the station's morning show, The Roundtable, for about a half hour. It went very well. You can listen to it as soon as they get the podcast up on their website which they have assured me they will do once they fix some technical problems they often have posting live interviews.

Time Warner News, WRGB, Fox, WNYT and TV 8 all gave Ralph some TV coverage. The Times Union, The Daily Gazette, The Troy Record, Metroland, The Saratogian and the Glens Falls Post-Star all did fairly good pieces on the visit or, at the least, reasonable advance stories. I could not believe how good the Post-Star piece was (especially given how much the editorial staff seem to hate me, Ralph, Greens and intelligent discourse in general). I actually had to send them a "thank you" email for their great coverage. Those of you who know me, know how difficult and wonderful that must have been for me at the same time (it was).

That said, media coverage wasn't the big deal this time around. The Spectrum 8 Theater in Albany and Aimie's Dinner and a Movie in Glens Falls premiered the film, "An Unreasonable Man", which is an excellent, critically-acclaimed, documentary about Ralph's life. It deals with
his Quixotic runs for national office head on giving all sides plenty of room to rant. It is truly an eye-opener for many two-party pragmatists, conservatives and Ralph-haters alike. The film is an inspiration to all who see it and if there is any justice in the world, Al Gore will be required to use the profits from his recent blockbuster ("The Inconvenient Festival of Alternative Energy Consumption") to buy free copies of "Unreasonable" for every high school and college campus across the nation.

The book signings were great. Ralph was selling copies of his newest book, "The Seventeen Traditions". This short biography is about his very different, but quintessentially American, upbringing in Winsted. A friend of mine called it sentimental and meant it as high praise. He is an academic and is extremely well read and once told me that he saw my connection to Ralph as a sentimental one and he labelled the book as a confirmation of same. I guess thats true because
every attack the Dems level at Ralph just strengthens my resolve to protect him and hit them right back. I know Ralph to be a good man and their vicious attacks against someone they
revered simply because they aren't intelligent enough to see his motives (or explore them). This strikes me as propagandistic, hypocritical, shallow and cruel.

We did two book signings, three sets of Q & A after premiere showings of the film, a fundraiser for the Sanctuary for Independent Media and a speech/forum at Glens Falls High School for seniors from four area high schools. The student forum was simply excellent and was the highlight of the day. I wish we could have stayed there all day. Ralph told the 400 some odd students that they needed to stop worrying so much about a "career" and get out there and "fight for justice". Damn! He said that it was time to put down their blackberries and laptops and "get serious" about the issues. Many students interviewed afterward said that they were extremely pleased with Ralph's stance that they were more than old enough to tackle these problems themselves and that, in fact, they were the only ones who could (or would) do so. There's no doubt in my mind that he inspired them.

The Spectrum showings of AUM were both sold out and we stayed after the second showing for almost an hour and a half. It was so cool to hear some of the more open-minded Democrats who showed up to see what all the fuss was about. They weren't nearly as upset after watching the film. The propaganda started to melt away and they started to understand both the math and the "good fight". The first woman who asked a question told Ralph that she was till a "little bit mad at him" (for his role in Bush's election) but she also said that she could see he was a really good man who was just doing what he though was right, even what was necessary.

If we had discourse like this every day, we wouldn't be such a stupid, classless, narrow bunch of dopes intent on killing kids to line our pockets or keep gas prices down, would we? Too bad we don't!