General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What have Nader, Stein and the Green's accomplished, [View all]Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)You act as if Nader did absolutely nothing before running for President except write one chapter of "Unsafe at Any Speed". If ALL he had done was to write that one chapter about the Corvair, that would have been a worthwhile contribution. In fact, however, the book addressed many other safety issues about automobiles generally. Nader's book about auto safety was a best-seller in 1965. The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was enacted in the United States in 1966. Do you think that was a coincidence?
If ALL Nader had done was his work on auto safety, that would have been a significant contribution. In reality, of course, he didn't spend the succeeding 30 years doing nothing but planning his presidential campaigns. He made major contributions on numerous other issues. In addition to his own advocacy, he played a key role in establishing other organizations, such as the Public Interest Research Group, the Center for Auto Safety, and Public Citizen. He deserves some measure of the credit for everything those groups have done.
Apparently, you're so blinded by your anger at Nader's political races, in particular in 2000, that you can't concede the slightest bit of merit to him in any respect. My reaction is different. Before his Green Party foolishness, Nader was one of my heroes, and I stand by that assessment of the first part of his career. All the harm he did by running in 2000 made me think of "Ichabod", by John Greenleaf Whittier. It begins:
"So fallen! so lost! the light withdrawn
Which once he wore!
The glory from his gray hairs gone
Forevermore!"
I feel much more sadness about Nader than about any of the subsequent Green Party nominees, none of whom had much glory to start with.