Posted on 09/02/2004 6:12:41 AM PDT by beaureguard
Last night's prime-time speech by Democratic Georgia Senator Zell Miller was a masterpiece, the best speech of the convention so far. It's interesting to note that such a good speech at the Republican National Convention was given by a Democrat. Miller offered a scathing indictment of the modern Democratic party over their appeasement in the war on terror.
Declaring right off the bat that his family were his "most precious possessions," Zell said "my family is more important than my party." He talked about leaders of the past who supported the president, no matter what the political affiliation. " Where is the bipartisanship in this country when we need it most?," thundered the senior Senator from Georgia. Then he hit on one of the biggest differences between the left and the Bush administration: " Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator." That's exactly right. The liberals see the American military as occupiers...a lot of the modern Democratic party sees our troops as some sort of evil occupying force, and Zell called 'em out, saying "And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators."
He took The Soufflé to task for opposing the weapons systems that won the Cold War, including everything from the B-1 and the B-2 to the F-14 and the Apache. This is the record that John Kerry doesn't want anybody to know about. Why else has he been running on his four months of Vietnam service? He mentioned being a prosecutor decades ago in Massachusetts...but leap-frogged his twenty years in the Senate. What won't The Poodle tells us about his votes in the Senate? Why not run on your record? Perhaps voters needed a little reminding of The Poodle's Senate antics...and Zell was all too happy to oblige last night.
"As a Senator, he voted to weaken our military. And nothing shows that more sadly and more clearly than his vote this year to deny protective armor for our troops in harms way, far away." Miller also took The Poodle to task for "fighting yesterday's war" (referring to his Vietnam fetish.) Then he had some nice things to say about George Bush, and took a suttle shot at Bill Clinton. "I can identify with someone who has lived that line in "Amazing Grace," "Was blind, but now I see," and I like the fact that he's the same man on Saturday night that he is on Sunday morning." And there was another great line...." I have knocked on the door of this man's soul and found someone home, a God-fearing man with a good heart and a spine of tempered steel." It doesn't get any better than that.
Basically, what you had was a man who realizes that putting John Kerry in the Oval Office as commander in chief would be an unmitigated disaster. Having The Poodle in charge of our national security and armed forces would be so disastrous, we really would lose the war on terror. Like Zell said...George Bush is the man he trusts to protect his most precious possession: his family.
Line of the night: when he was talking about The Poodle voting against weapons systems and troop funding, Miller had this to say: "This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces? U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?" Priceless.
WAS ZELL BEING MEAN?
A quick media read this morning shows that the general Democratic spin on Zell Miller is that he was mean. What a mean man. Well, they have that wrong. Zell wasn't being mean, he was angry.
Remember ... Zell didn't want to be in the Senate in the first place. He had retired from politics and was quite happy, thank you very much, to retire to his home in the North Georgia mountains, teach a bit at Young Harris College, and spend time with his wife Shirley. When Senator Paul Coverdell suddenly died Georgia's governor called on Zell Miller to serve out the term. It was a sense of duty, not a desire for power that sent Zell to Washington, and he was clearly distressed with what he found. This was not the Democratic Party that Zell had known for 35+ years of public service.
People ask why Zell didn't change parties. Why should he? He had already announced that he wasn't going to run for reelection. He was going to serve the interests of the people in Georgia for the remainder of the Coverdell term, then return to his North Georgia home. Zell felt that it was his vote that would count in the Senate, not his affiliation.
Zell Miller may be the most honest politician I have ever known. He's a stern, focused Marine. Years of working for him and many more years of interviewing him as a guest on the show have taught me that you will always get a very clear and direct answer from Zell Miller. He also won't hesitate to let you know if you have angered him. Trust me on this.
It serves the interest of the Democrats (and the media) to portray Miller to the American voter as a mean man. To whatever degree you succeed in portraying him as being mean, you discredit him. If, on the other hand, the people believe that his words stem from genuine anger they will be more willing to listen in order to understand.
It was a great night for Zell Miller. I can't tell you how proud I am to have him as a friend.
Does anyone know of a link to a video of the entire speech?
Or his apperance on Hardball after the speech? He challenged Matthews to a duel!
Here we go! :)
omg... suttle? SUTTLE? i've never seen THAT one before.
This is hugh! So hugh I am going to take a shower!
those with neither! ROTFLMAO!!!
Does anyone have a link to a mpg file of the audio of the speech?
Carolyn
All political benefits aside, that speech added 5 years to my life.
Thank you greatly for posting the link. I missed Zell's speech.
"A quick media read this morning shows that the general Democratic spin on Zell Miller is that he was mean."
That's Kerry's response? If he can't handle criticism of his record, how is he going to handle terrorists trying to kill us?
The DNC guys are so pathetically incompetent. It almost makes me mad. I want to win against some real competition, not just walk over these losers.
ZELLS SPEECH COVERED MANY OF THE ISSUES THAT HAVE LOST THE DEEP SOUTH FOR THE DEMOCRATS THE LAST FEW ELECTIONS. ALTHOUGH I VOTED AGAINST HIM AS GOVERNOR 2 TIMES I AM NOW PROUD TO CALL HIM MY SENATOR. HE HAS NEVER FAILED TO EVOKE THE MEMORY OF THE LATE SENATOR PAUL COVERDELL WHEN HE VOTED FOR MANY KEY CONSERVATIVE ISSUES. OF COURSE THAT DRIVES HIS OLD GEORGIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY NUTSO BUT 60% OR MORE OF US APPROVE. BY THE WAY WHEN HIS TERM IS UP THIS SEAT WILL BE WON BY A REPUBLICAN.
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