Backwoods preacher pours hellfire on Democrats

[Nambe]

The Guardian

The belligerence of the Republican convention's keynote speaker was so overpowering it easily obscured the monochromatic performance of Dick Cheney. Senator Zell Miller of Georgia did not vary his grim expression or his shouting like a backwoods preacher casting out the devil. But his raw rhetoric framed the most profound questions about patriotism and democracy in wartime. ..

"Today," Miller said, "at the same time young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief." In one sentence, he advanced a new stab-in-the-back theory, achieved the seamless merger of Iraq and Afghanistan, attributed political division to the Democrats (who had supported the war in Afghanistan and overwhelmingly backed the congressional war resolution on Iraq), and stripped the presidency down to its military function.

Next, he offered a peculiar history of the constitution and the bill of rights. "It has been said so truthfully," said Miller, "that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest." ..


Click to sign “God is not a republican” letter.

[Jim Sagle]

1. Outright fascism.

We need a military, but if that's all we had, how much freedom would we have?

[Gman]

2. I just knew his next sentence would be...

"And, the Democrats are ultimately and solely responsible for the Negro being allowed to be seen with, date and even marry white women. The Democrats have mongrelized our society. George W Bush will force the Negroes back where they belong and he will restore our God-given right as spoken of in the Bible to oversee and care for our Negroes."

'Ol Zell would make Lester Maddox proud.

Or, he could have started his speech with:

"I love Georgia. THEY! They hate Georgia! They hate us because we represent a shining example of successful segregation. These Northern students, with their Communist, atheist bosses, and their wish to destroy us this week, has taken a terrible blow. This week, their cause has been crippled. This week, these federal policeman you see around here prying into our lives, violating out civil liberties have learned that they are powerless against us if every single Anglo-Saxon Christian one of us stands together!"

...with apologies to Clayton Townley in Mississippi Burning".

[GalleryGod]

4. 'Ole Lester came up from Hades to Snatch Zig Zag Zell's body

:puke: :silly: :argh:

[Eloriel]

14. I'm a Georgian and I don't think Zell is racist.

And I'm frankly tired of people insinuating that he is, without any shred of evidence or other support for such a claim. You folks are stereotyping and smearing all Southerners with such sloppiness, and that's just wrong.

It pains me to be defending Miller about ANYthing, but this line of attack is, as I've said, wrong, and beneath us.

[atreides1]

20. But It's His Actions, not Your Thoughts That Matter

But what proof do you have access to that Miller isn't a racist, besides what you think. He did say that he would prefer the Democratic Party of the past, what did he mean by that? Did he mean the Dixiecrats, those who became Republican after the Civil Rights Bill was passed in 1964.

I used to think that John McCain was a man of principle and integrity, someone who would defend his family from attacks by others.
I was wrong, McCain won't even come to the defense of his wife and daughter, but will suck up to the people that attacked them.

I have known people from the South when I was in the army, and you're right not all are racist, and not all people from the North are colorblind.

You're personal thoughts are not proof, just as my personal thoughts are not proof.

If you have some infornmation to show that Senator Miller does not now, or has ever had racist views, I'm sure we would all be happy to get access to it.

[TheRovingGourmet]

25. He did sound like the Democratic Party of the past. When I

was young there were lots of politicians that spoke forcefully, like he did at the Convention. Then again, they usually spoke forcefully in favor of the Democrats. The Democrats of old used to let you know up front that they were not to be f*cked with, and they meant it.

As to the racist bit, I'll assume he is innocent of those charges until proven guilty.

[sangh0]

28. Funny how Kerry votes for IWR and he's responsible for war

but Zell votes for Bush*, and he's not responsible for Bush*'s racist policies.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. welcome back to the politics of 1964

with an "extreme" twist. They succeeded in re-framing the debate to "only through martial law will we have peace and liberty" otherwise "they" will win by destroying us.

[KT2000]

5. Thank you Zell

With the right amount of nudging, Zell could just be our best tool.

This guy is on the razor edge and he could just explode any minute with all the stuff that RW'ers try to keep under wraps. Quick - somebody ask him about the confederate flag!

[despairing optimist]

6. And the hum-uh-SEC-shuls, Zell. Don't leave them out

What's the compleat demagogue wearing these days? Do tell.

White sheets are out, I guess.

And we thought Pat Buchanan was bad eight years ago.

The only thing Zell is guilty of is being bold enough to say what's on the minds of most of those delegates. Let's hope it's not shared by many who will be voting in two months.

[Bo]

7. Very Dark Evil Sub human

I pity him

[saigon68]

11. SEIG HEIL

Right arm outstretched.

[JI7]

8. between Bush and Kerry which one is the soldier ?

and Kerry is also a poet and protestor.

[PartyPooper]

9. I thought Zell was coming across like an evangelical preacher last night.

It sounded to me like he was trying to emulate Billy Graham.

:eyes:

[Crunchy Frog]

10. So, to paraphrase Jon Stewart,

to field a candidate during an election year and actually try to win the election is now an act of treason.

As for poets not bringing about freedom of speech, why don't you tell that to Vaclav Havel.

Zell Miller, a voice of reason in the wilderness:

[librechik]

12. the soldier/freedom part was plagiarized from an internet email

there's a thread about it here somewhere

[Swamp Rat]

13. Zell is not even human

[Dhalgren]

15. Is there a transcript of Zell's keynote speech anywhere?

I looked last night on Goog, but couldn't find it. Thanks in advance.

[iam]

16. Another stupid conservative

Without the reporter, the poet, the agitator, there is nothing to protect. Without speaking freely, there is no free speech. Conservatism is the dark black.

[Zhade]

17. FUCK THAT SHIT!

That's fascist thinking right there.

Our rights are INHERENT, asshole! No one grants them to us, they are inalienable. Remember that little document called the Bill of Rights? Nothing in there about soldiers granting us our rights.

This kind of thinking is extremely dangerous. How many people in this country think like this?

Canada's looking better and better...

[Cocoa]

18. so when soldiers kill journalists in Iraq

they should be awarded medals, not prosecuted...

[enki23]

19. it's the soldier, not the poet, who gives us torture

it's the soldier, not the fencemaker, who gives us prisons. the soldier, not the surgeon, who gives us blood, and anguish, and broken limbs. the soldier, not the bomb, who gives us death.

soldiers do a too-often necessary job. for their service, we commend them. we give them medals, confetti, and promises already broken before they're given. then we pack them away under bridges, in dusty hospitals, and filthy dives, and march them around on holidays to pay a paltry interest on our debt.

we "honor" them for our own ends. it's parasitic. there is more honor in "honoring" than there is in service.

and anyway, soldiers don't "give" us anything, but their lives. they do what they always have done. they kill, or threaten to kill, those who they are asked to kill, or threaten. they defend our rights only so long as we can ask them to do it, only so long as we grant those rights to ourselves. soldiers can take liberty, as easy as defend it. easier. we'd best be forever careful who we let do the asking.

[yellowcanine]

21. On that soldier thingie - I think it is a bunch of crap. Freedom of the

press doesn't exist if everyone is a soldier and there are no reporters; freedom of speech does not exist if everyone is a soldier and there are no poets; freedom to protest does not exist if everyone is a soldier and there are no agitators; democracy itself does not exist if everyone is a soldier and there are no civilians. Tell me where I am wrong, Zell-out.

[TheRovingGourmet]

22. It is a reference to the fight which made our Constitution possible.

[yellowcanine]

26. Fair enough - BUT my point is the Constitution is meaningless if we

sacrifice our civil rights on the altar of security achieved by the militarization of society. (Patriot Act; military tribunals, suspension of habeus corpus, etc.)

[TheRovingGourmet]

27. Very true. There are two sides to that coin. :)

[sangh0]

29. Not true at all. There's no other side to that coin

We have our freedoms because of Patriots, not just soldiers.

Thomas Jefferson fled when the British came into his home state of Virginia. Jefferson was no soldier, but I do suspect he has something to do with winning our freedoms.

[Emillereid]

23. Horse pucky to Benedict Arnold 'Zell' -- soldiers rarely fight for freedom

of anything -- usually fight for the ruling classes against the people. As history teaches, all our freedoms were won by our own bleeding hands and must be vigilantly guarded and renewed by each succeeding generation!

I think the following quote from Ben Franklin should be a democratic party mantra this year:
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."

[dansolo]

24. Zell should read up on our history

I guess journalists like Thomas Paine, poets like Thomas Jefferson and agitators like John Adams had nothing to do with our freedoms.

[sandnsea]

30. It's the lawyer who protects our freedom of speech

The soldier can't make the courts rule in favor of our civil rights. It's the lawyer that does that. Chew on that a while Zell.