Dear Dad, I Wish I Would've Listened to You About Ralph Nader

For my dad, who died 3 years ago today.

Dear Dad,

          Well, first, I miss you dad.  I’ll always miss you.  It’s strange not having you around but oh man- Dad- thank God you aren’t here to see this…

          I don’t know what you’d think about Trump.  Wait a second- I’m nuts.  You’d be going crazy about this nut even being in Washington in general but that’s besides the point.  I remember how you used to rip Trump and call him the ‘biggest crook in history-’ LOL- I can just imagine what you’d say today.  Never mind Trump, Dad, here’s what I really want to say:

          I’m sorry I never listened to you about Ralph Nader.

          Wow, Dad, did you have Nader pegged correctly.  I remember time after time after time how you literally lectured Mom, me and your other children about him.  I like all of them shrugged you off because I figured what’s the big deal?  Democrats are good- they do what’s right in the end.  Man was I an idiot and boy did I blow a big chance to really jump on something special.

          Here’s the thing with you Dad, you and I had problems but then again- nobody out there is perfect.  Dad, you had a lot of brains, you were smarter than a lot of people with many college degrees.  You were able to see what a lot of us (especially in my generation) should’ve seen.  Ralph Nader was indeed the only guy who spoke for the people.  He took a problem, gave an answer that was so unbelievably rational that it was hard to believe no one in Washington could see it.  I think you hooked onto Ralph Nader because you were like him. You wanted the same things that Nader talked about and was always happy to tell that to anyone who would listen.  Like I said, I really wish I would’ve listened closer.  I regret this because- I would’ve not just voted for Nader, I would’ve campaigned for him, wrote about him and just skipped through the town putting up any ‘Nader For President’ poster that I could find.  Would it have helped Nader win the presidency?  Of course not- but damn I could’ve helped make somewhat of a difference.

          Dad, I don’t know what you’d think of this democratic party today.  I know you wouldn’t be happy with Pelosi, not a chance.  You would’ve called Schumer a wimp, you would’ve like Tulsi Gabbard, I think because of her military service and you would’ve really liked Bernie Sanders.  Who knows what you would’ve thought about Ocasio-Cortez?  My guess is you would’ve called her an idiot and you wouldn’t have been too far off, but I digress.

          In a way Dad, I’m glad you didn’t live to see how rotten this party is today.  They’ve turned up their nose at seniors and call every single white person in a rural area a Trump voter.  They laugh at people who don’t have college degrees and won’t give you the time of day if you don’t agree with everything they say.  You would’ve been disgusted at how they fight on social media and you would’ve been furious at how the republicans suck-up to Trump.  You’d be saying “I told you so” at the farmers about their whining about republicans because they always drove you nuts on how they hated democrats.  I also know that you would’ve been disgusted at today’s media, the fading newspapers, the rotten tv news and the lack of answers.  The only good thing is that Nader is still around and he’s still trying to make things better.  I’m pretty sure you’d like Bernie still, but I think you’d be frustrated by him too.  With all that being said…

          I miss you, Dad and I do wish I would’ve listened to you about Ralph Nader.  You saw a great thing for America and we would’ve been better off if we could’ve seen it too!