A dear friend of mine just fired off an email to Ralph Nader. With his permssion, I offer it up to the board:

Greetings, Ralph.

Thanks for all that neat consumer advocacy work you did back in the, what,
sixties?    I really do appreciate that my car is safer today because of
you.  But Jesus, Ralph, didn't you learn anything from 2000 election?  Yes,
Gore was a stiff, and yes, the Democratic party needed then and still needs
today a swift kick in the ass.  But whether you recognize it or not, without
you Bush wouldn't be "President" today.  We almost certainly wouldn't have
invaded Iraq, and Bush's two recent ultra-conservative recess appointments,
Pickering and Pryor, would probably be teaching at Bob Jones University
today.  Anyone who can't see the difference between Bush and ANY of the
Democrats in the race, from Kerry to Kucinich, must truly be an idiot.  At
least some of the special interests that influence Kerry, et al. are our
special interests, whereas none of Bush's are.

I understand that your monumental ego makes it difficult for you to perceive
that progressives can actually be pissed at you for helping escort Bush into
the White House.  You must actually believe that you're advancing
progressive values, but all you're really doing is undermining the existing
Democratic alternatives to the current right-wing lock on our government.
The perfect is the enemy of the good, Ralph, a lesson I wish you and your
followers would learn before you damage our nation any more than you already
have.

Here's to your future irrelevancy.

Chuck A.