An Unreasonable Man

Ralph Nader gets no respect.

The political right subverted him; the left abandoned him; both for the same reason: Nader's objectives in protecting the public were at dead odds with both parties need to raise campaign funds. Worst of all, his closest allies now blame him for Al Gore's defeat in 2000.

The public television series "Independent Lens" aired a two hour documentary last night on Ralph Nader, called "An Unreasonable Man," which they have seen fit to show just once in this dead zone of broadcast time before the holidays.

I hope you have digital cable, because you won't find it on the regular PBS stations again this year. Nader himself would find this interesting, as public television has become as commercial as the networks, constantly flogging music specials and documentaries with the widest possible appeal, all in the name of raising operating capital.

It's an amazing piece; well balanced, with lots of interviews and file tape that covers Nader's career, his achievements and failures. Unlike Nader himself, the film is riveting.

It must really kill Nader to watch Al Gore win the Nobel Prize, when the documentary shows how much the Clinton/Gore administration stonewalled Nader's efforts on the environment and consumer protection. Nader, whose efforts have probably saved more American lives than anyone else, couldn't get a meeting with Clinton or Gore while they were in office! And Gore gets the Nobel for a stinking, inaccurate movie?

Someday, some President will give a dying Ralph Nader the Medal of Freedom and put his image on a postage stamp. Ralph would be the first to point out that neither would do a damn thing to help the average American. So it goes.