Former Georgia governor, U.S. Sen. Zell Miller has died at age 86

[brooklynite]

Source: WSB-TV

ATLANTA - Former Georgia governor and U.S. Sen. Zell Miller, has died after battling Parkinson’s disease. He was 86.

WSB-TV has confirmed the information from Miller's family.

Miller served as Mayor of Young Harris from 1959-1960. He served as a Georgia State Senator from 1961-1964. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Georgia for 16 years from 1975-1991. He is currently the longest serving Lieutenant Governor in Georgia history.

Miller served as the 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991-1999. As Governor, he created the HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) Scholarship and Georgia’s Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Program. He went on to serve in the U.S. Senate from 2000-2005.

Read more: https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/former-georgia-governor-us-sen-zell-miller-has-died-at-age-86/720575085

[hlthe2b]

1. Early on he may have been admirable, but surely not at the end.

I'll leave it at that.

[Sanity Claws]

2. I won't mourn him

I remember his shameful behavior in the 2004 Presidential election.

[Funtatlaguy]

3. He did a lot of harm to Georgia Democrats

Was certainly his choice to do so.
But he broke a lot of hearts.

[Initech]

7. I remember a great Daily Show clip from around that time.

Zell Miller was at some conservative Christian conference and he was saying something like "Isn't it strange that the government allows warning signs on gas stations but doesn't allow us to preach god in the public square?"

And Jon Stewart goes "Yes, I think that makes sense. The government should keep us from being engulfed in flames on earth and that's pretty much it."

[DemoTex]

4. Zig Zag Zell

RIP (Rant In Peace), Zell.

[kimbutgar]

5. He was a frickin traitor

[bucolic_frolic]

6. I realize

we Democrats are not too enthralled with his lukewarm support

but I do remember hearing him on news radio during the year 2000 campaign with Al Gore at a Georgia rally, mocking Republican economic policy by asking the crowd, "Trickle down ... trickle down ... is anybody wet?"

Memorable line.

[cstanleytech]

12. Yeah but he clearly changed his tune four years later.

[StevieM]

38. He actually started getting very conservative in 2001 right after the election.

I think Gore getting shut out in the south had a major effect on him.

Not that Gore really lost Florida, mind you.

[Paladin]

8. Don't expect me to shed any tears. (nt)

[BeyondGeography]

9. Oh

[hatrack]

10. "Kerry would let PARIS decide!!!!!"

Blahblahblahblahblah

[MaryMagdaline]

11. I will remember him for establishing Hope

Scholarships in Georgia. Anyone with B average goes for free. My nephew got through college on Hope. I will forget 2004 for now

[Glorfindel]

13. I voted for him every time he ran. I deeply regret those votes.

I hope never again to be as sickened and disappointed by anyone as I was by Zell. My late sister, who never said anything bad about anyone, said of Zell "His mama would be ashamed of him." She was right. I will shed no tears for him.

[Stallion]

14. Run the Tape....

[Calista241]

15. The Hope Scholarship got me through college with no debt.

He did a lot i didn’t agree with after his govonorship, but i will always be thankful for his efforts to get me and my fellow Georgians a quality education.

[groundloop]

21. Sadly repubs have managed to fuck that up for us, just like everything else

They've put so many restrictions on the HOPE that my son graduated (with honors) from Georgia Tech with a very significant amount of debt, and that's with my helping him out as much as I could.

[Downtown Hound]

16. Good.

World just became a better place.

[Aristus]

17. One should only say something good about the dead.

Zell Miller is dead.


Good.

[Dennis Donovan]

18. Cause of death; shot in duel by enormous yellow bird..

Sorry, couldn't resist,

[Downtown Hound]

22. He betrayed the Democratic Party and endorsed Bush

while Bush was attacking the constitution, illegally invading Iraq, botching the war on terror, and engaging in torture.

Yeah. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Maybe I should excuse every murderer that ever lived because they did a single good thing at one time in their life?

[hueymahl]

19. Zell was not perfect

But he did some good too. Already mentioned is the Hope scholarship and Pre-K program. In many other ways, he was a moderating factor when my state was shifting hard to the right.

He, in the end, was just a politician and made plenty of mistakes and self-serving choices. I understand the hate and people cheering his death, but it is in poor taste. Some deserve it. I don't think Zell does (he doesn't deserve canonization either, which we will see plenty of over the next week here in Georgia).

[TranssexualKaren]

20. He was an Andrew Jackson Democrat.

He was a good person born into the wrong century.

[Downtown Hound]

24. The man responsible for the "Trail of Tears?"

Yup, that's fitting.

[TranssexualKaren]

26. Well, I wouldnt nominate Andrew Jackson for National sainthood, but he did do a few good things

Extended the franchise to non land owning white men, this was a step forward.

Took on the big banks too.

[Downtown Hound]

28. Hitler probably did a few good things too.

Just ask any German living in that time.

[hatrack]

31. "Took on the big banks" - and kicked off one of the worst depressions in US history

So there's that, I guess . . .

[TranssexualKaren]

34. He also recognized that capitalism was essentially wage slavery.

[TranssexualKaren]

27. Its unfair to judge a person outside the context of their time.

[Downtown Hound]

29. Bullshit times 50 fucking million

They knew murder was wrong then.

[TranssexualKaren]

33. Lets unroll this...

I’m happy to continue this debate by [e-mail]

[Downtown Hound]

35. Not interested in emailing you

Here or nowhere.

[gopiscrap]

23. good

[IronLionZion]

25. Reminder that it wasn't too long ago when Democrats were elected in the deep south

But that guy really lost his mind when he was appointed senator and then supported Bush while viciously attacking Kerry and other dems. He even had folksy sayings about killing rattlesnakes with a hoe before they bite his grandkids. What an asshole.

[TranssexualKaren]

30. Well at least he had principles

They were terrible principles, but at least he should by them. I wish more Democrats of the 21st century should by theirs.

[Downtown Hound]

32. Who the hell cares if you stand by your principals

when those principals suck? In this case, it would have been better if he hadn't stood by them.

[TranssexualKaren]

36. Never hate your enemies....

It affects your judgement”
Micheal Corleone

[Downtown Hound]

37. And yet, deep down

Michael hated his enemies more than anyone. It was always about hatred with him.

[TranssexualKaren]

41. The principle stands nonetheless

[Downtown Hound]

42. Unless not hating your enemies causes you to make excuses for atrocious behavior

such as the massacre of thousands by saying that they either did a few good things as well so we shouldn't be too harsh or excusing them as victims of their time so they just didn't know any better. I'd rather hate my enemies and actually hold them accountable for their crimes than pretend to love them and make excuses for them.

[TranssexualKaren]

44. I maintain that ....

George Bush and Dick Cheney are personally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraquis, this doesn’t change the fact that they are a present enemy that must be understould to be effectively confronted.

[Downtown Hound]

48. Fine. And I understand Zell just fine

He was an opportunist who made a deal with the devil to advance his own career. As I said before, good riddance.

[StevieM]

39. I will try to remember him for his awesome speech at the 1992 Democratic Convention.

It was a real barn burner.

Bill Bradley and Barbara Jordan were supposed to be the big stars of the night, but Zell Miller wound up stealing the show.

[JDC]

40. Ah yes, ol spitballs himself.

That speech in 04 at the RNC was disgusting.

[john657]

43. R.I.P. Zell Miller.

I will not speak ill of the dead, unlike others.

[demosincebirth]

51. +100

[Bradical79]

45. I'm only familiar with him from the Republican National Convention

That was disgusting and indefensible behaviour.

[obamanut2012]

46. Good

[LexVegas]

47. ....

[Demsrule86]

49. I lived in Georgia at one time...and Zell gave us a pre-k program and the hope scholarship.

I liked him at first, but he went off the rails after 9-11.

[DinahMoeHum]

50. (Yawn!)

.

[Jake Stern]

52. He's been dead to me since 2004

So this physical death is meaningless

[dalton99a]

53. Okey dokey

He's dead

[Tatiana]

54. A mixed bag with this one. He did some great things in Georgia.

Tried to get the Confederate flag removed ahead of the Olympics (soundly rejected, but he tried). Started scholarships for deserving students.

As he got older, he became seriously wingnutty. I often wondered if he suffered from Alzheimer's because of his increasingly angry speeches.

[dflprincess]

55. This is one of those "I've never wished a man dead

but I've read many obituaries with pleasure." situations.