A breath of fresh air …

A few days ago a friend alerted me to a powerful letter written by Ralph Nader and posted this week on the website Common Dreams. I had never heard of that site so I decided to check it out. I was pleased to say the least.

Here is their pledge: “Common Dreams is a non-profit independent news center created in 1997 as a new media model. By relying on our readers and tens of thousands of small donations to keep us moving forward -- with no advertising, corporate underwriting or government funding -- Common Dreams maintains an editorial independence our readers can count on.

We are optimists. We believe real change is possible. But only if enough well-informed, well-intentioned -- and just plain fed up and fired-up -- people demand it. We believe that together we can attain our common dreams.” (the underline is my addition !)

Indeed, a breath of fresh air. I knew it had to be when I saw the title of the Nader post … The Country You Destroyed: A Letter to George W. Bush. Mr. Nader had received a ‘personalized letter’ from the Presidential Center asking for donations. A card was enclosed for “tax deductible contributions” and a suggestion was made to include these words with your donation, “I’m thrilled that the Bush Institute is advancing timeless principles and practical solutions to the challenges facing our world.” Isn’t that wording incredible? No wonder Ralph Nader responded as he did.

The Nader letter is too long to copy here but I hope you will all go tohttp://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/01/03 and read it for yourself. I have not always agreed with him but have never questioned his integrity and honesty and I appreciate the fact that he is not afraid to express his views… and, even more importantly, to put them into print.