WebMink
Simon Phipps's personal commentary

Open Letter to Ralph Nader from an Unenfranchised Alien

Dear Mr Nader,

I respect you greatly and very much admire what you have achieved in so many places. Your principled voice has had an impact on America and on the world that many would envy. In the last US election, I was thrilled to see the degree of support you were able to garner for alternative causes - until I realised that you were splitting the liberal vote. My Green Party friends in the US told me not to worry, that sometimes a loss was necessary to make the greater gain in the future.

Instead I have seen George W Bush elected and have seen consequences that have impacted not just Americans but also me and others in Britain, as well as millions elsewhere in the world. We don't get to vote in your election, but its outcome can mean life or death to millions. You helped Bush win and because of that you helped start an unnecessary war that has endangered the world and left it, in Nelson Mandela's words, a less safe place. You helped Bush win and resume creation of a world where unaccountable corporations are once again in the ascendant. You helped Bush win and made totalitarian immigration and travel controls a part of daily life globally. These affect me personally every day.

So this time round, though I have no franchise in your country, I am begging you to work to prevent a second term for Bush and the powers of the right-wing. Please do whatever it takes to stop Bush winning a second term and cementing the ungovernability of the US by Democrats or Greens. Even if that means eating your pride and deciding not to stand. You have the principles, you have the moral strength - now please have the humility not to run. For the sake of those of us with no vote.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Phipps

[inspired by a US appeal to Nader and a shockingly prophetic Onion article]

posted at 10:47 PM (UK) | |