Zell

[Bravo1-3]

The first time I had ever heard of Zell Miller was some time between 9/11 and 9/20/01 when I saw him give a speech on the floor of the Senate. It was an exceptionally motivating speech. I've been looking for it ever since.

Chris Mattiews needed to be cut off at the knees like Miller did to him.

[Roguish Lawyer]

Since I last stood -- (cheers, applause continue) -- thank you very much. Since I last stood in this spot, a whole new generation of the Miller family has been born: four great grandchildren. Along with all the other members of our close-knit family, they are my and Shirley's most precious possessions, and I know that's how you feel about your family also. (Applause.)

Like you, I think of their future, the promises and the perils they will face. Like you, I believe that the next four years will determine what kind of world they will grow up in. And like you, I ask: Which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower and, yes, the backbone to best protect my family? (Cheers, applause.)

The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight, for my family is more important than my party. (Cheers, applause.) There is but one man to whom I am willing to entrust their future, and that man's name is George W. Bush. (Cheers, applause.)

In the summer of 1940, I was an 8-year-old boy living in a remote little Appalachian valley. Our country was not yet at war, but even we children knew that there were some crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if they could.

President Roosevelt, in a speech that summer, told America "All private plans, all private lives have been, in a sense, repealed by an overriding public danger."

In 1940, Wendell Wilkie was the Republican nominee. And there is no better example of someone repealing their "private plans" than this good man. He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed for a peacetime draft, an unpopular idea at the time. And he made it clear that he would rather lose the election than make national security a partisan campaign issue. (Cheers, applause.)

Shortly before Wilkie died, he told a friend that if he could write his own epitaph and had to choose between "Here lies a president" or "Here lies one who contributed to saving freedom," he would prefer the latter. (Cheers, applause.)

Where are such statesmen today? (Cheers, applause.) Where is the bipartisanship in this country when we need it most? (Cheers, applause.)

Today -- today, 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. (Cheers, applause.) What has happened to the party I've spent my life working in?

I can remember when Democrats believed it was the duty of America to fight for freedom over tyranny. It was Democratic President Harry Truman who pushed the Red Army out of Iran, who came to the aid of Greece when Communists threatened to overthrow it, who stared down the Soviet blockade of West Berlin by flying in supplies and saving the city.

Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Democrats and Republicans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. (Cheers, applause.) But not today! Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.

And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators. (Applause, cheers.)

Tell that to the one-half of Europe that was freed because Franklin Roosevelt led an army of liberators, not occupiers. Tell that to the lower half of the Korean Peninsula that is free because Dwight Eisenhower commanded an army of liberators, not occupiers. (Applause.) Tell that to the half a billion men, women and children who are free today from Poland to Siberia, because Ronald Reagan rebuilt a military of liberators, not occupiers. (Applause, cheers.)

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. (Applause, cheers.) And our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. (Applause, cheers.) It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. (Applause, cheers continue.) It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. (Applause, cheers.) It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom he abuses to burn that flag. (Applause, cheers.)

[continued next post]

[Roguish Lawyer]

No one should dare to even think about being the commander in chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home. (Applause, cheers.) But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today.

In their warped way of thinking, America is the problem, not the solution. They don't believe there's any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.

It is not their patriotism, it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking. They claimed Carter's pacifism would lead to peace. They were wrong. They claimed Reagan's defense buildup would lead to war. They were wrong. And no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. (Cheers, applause.)

Together Kennedy-Kerry have opposed the very weapons systems that won the Cold War and that are now winning the war on terror. Listing all the weapons systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security -- (cheers, applause) -- but Americans need to know the facts. The B-1 bomber that Senator Kerry opposed dropped 40 percent of the bombs in the first six months of Enduring Freedom. The B-2 bomber that Senator Kerry opposed delivered airstrikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein's command post in Iraq. (Applause.) The F-14A Tomcats that Senator Kerry opposed shot down Qadhafi's Libyan MiGs over the Gulf of Sidra. (Cheers, applause.) The modernized F-14D that Senator Kerry opposed delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora. The Apache helicopter that Senator Kerry opposed took out those Republican Guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War. (Cheers, applause.) The F-15 Eagles that Senator Kerry opposed flew cover over our nation's capital and this very city after 9/11. (Cheers, applause.)

I could go on and on and on: against the Patriot missile that shot down Saddam Hussein's Scud missiles over Israel, against the Aegis air-defense cruiser, against the Strategic Defense Initiative, against the Trident missile, against, against, against.

(Audience members chant, "Against, against.")

This is the man who wants to be the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces?! (Boos.) U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs? (Cheers, applause.)

Twenty years of votes -- 20 years of votes can tell you much more about a man than 20 weeks of campaign rhetoric. Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside. (Cheers, applause.)

Senator Kerry has made it clear that he would use military force only if approved by the United Nations. (Boos.) Kerry would let Paris decide when America needs defending. (Boos.) I want Bush to decide! (Cheers, applause.) John Kerry, who says he doesn't like outsourcing, wants to outsource our national security! (Boos.) That's the most dangerous outsourcing of all.

This politician wants to be leader of the free world. Free for how long? For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure. (Cheers, applause.) As a -- as a war protestor, Kerry blamed our military. (Boos.) As a senator, he voted to weaken our military. (Boos.) And nothing shows that more sadly and more clearly than his vote this year to deny protective armor for our troops in harm's way, far away. (Boos.)

George W. Bush understands that we need new strategies to meet new threats. John Kerry wants to re-fight yesterday's war. President Bush believes we have to fight today's war and be ready for tomorrow's challenges. (Applause.) President Bush is committed to providing the kind of forces it takes to root out terrorists -- no matter what spider hole they may hide in or what rock they crawl under. (Cheers, applause.) George Bush wants to grab terrorists by the throat and not let them go to get a better grip.

(Applause, cheers.) From John Kerry, they get a "yes, no, maybe" bowl of mush -- (applause) -- that can only encourage our enemies and confuse our friends. (Cheers.)

I first got to know George W. Bush when we served as governors together. I admire this man. I am moved by the respect he shows the first lady, his unabashed love for his parents and his daughters -- (applause) -- and the fact that he is unashamed of his belief that God is not indifferent to America. (Laughs, cheers.)

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. (Applause, cheers.) He is not a slick talker but he is a straight shooter, and where I come from, deeds mean a lot more than words. (Applause, cheers.) 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 -- (applause, cheers) -- the man I trust to protect my most precious possession: my family. (Applause, cheers.)

This election will change forever the course of history, and that's not any history. It's our family's history. (Cheers.) The only question is how. The answer lies with each of us. And like many generations before us, we've got some hard choosing to do. Right now the world just cannot afford an indecisive America. Fainthearted, self-indulgence will put at risk all we care about in this world. In this hour of danger our president has had the courage to stand up. And this Democrat is proud to stand up with him. (Applause, cheers.)

Thank you. God Bless this great country and God Bless George W. Bush.

[rubberneck]

In the summer of 1940, I was an 8-year-old boy living in a remote little Appalachian valley. Our country was not yet at war, but even we children knew that there were some crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if they could.

No truer words have been spoken at either convention. I could get behind a Dem that understood this but apparently the party has no place for people who think like this. It saddens me that some in this country, less than three years removed from 9/11, are completely oblivious to what dangers lurk close by. Thankfully, if elected JFK has promised to act after we are attacked. How forward thinking.

[Achilles]

If in 2.5 years from now I am on the two way rifle range and I am denied ceramic plate inserts for my body armor so some lazy fat man in a trailer with no plans to get a job can receive a fat welfare check, I will be one unhappy Soldier.

[The Reaper]

Originally posted by rubberneck

No truer words have been spoken at either convention. I could get behind a Dem that understood this but apparently the party has no place for people who think like this. It saddens me that some in this country, less than three years removed from 9/11, are completely oblivious to what dangers lurk close by. Thankfully, if elected JFK has promised to act after we are attacked. How forward thinking.

Dem analysts were already saying this morning that Zell was way overboard, tried to dredge up fear and hysteria by reminding us of 9/11, and that they did not want to remember that day.

Figures.

TR

[Roycroft201]

RE: fear

'Fear' has taken on a whole new connotation since 9/11.

I don't say this flippantly or sarcastically - but if Kerry were to be elected President, it would be truly frightening.

And they just don't 'get it'.


RC201

[Solid]

The Democrat's symbol is the Ostrich, right?

Head deep in the sand avoiding reality, ass high in the air awaiting AQ's boot.

Okay, that was crude, but IMO it's unfortunately suitable.

Solid

[Gypsy]

Actually Solid, it's an ass. (donkey) How fitting....

[Roguish Lawyer]

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editor...l?id=110005614

CAMPAIGN 2004

Telling It Like It Is
I will never trust John Kerry with my family's safety.

BY ZELL MILLER
Monday, September 13, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

My critics in the national media are working overtime trying to paint me as an angry nut who got the facts all wrong in my speech to the Republican National Convention. Since there's not enough time to challenge all of these critics to a duel, let me set the record straight here and now.

First, the anger. A lot has been said about my angry demeanor. I've made enough speeches to know that you're supposed to connect with the audience by telling a joke or a humorous anecdote or some amusing tale. It's a tried-and-true formula that I've used for most of my life. But this was not a normal speech in a normal time.

Today, we are at the most serious moment of history that we may ever know, and I wanted to connect with the seriousness of this moment, not the audience.

Now, about those facts. I charged that John Kerry is weak on national security, and I listed some of the many weapons systems he has opposed over the years. My critics tripped over themselves to point out that Dick Cheney opposed some of the same weapons systems when he was defense secretary.

But, like with so many things in life, timing is everything. Mr. Kerry was proposing the cancellation of many of these weapons systems at the height of the Cold War--the worst possible time to weaken our military strength. It would be comparable to a senator in 1943 proposing to scrap the B-29 Bomber or Sherman tank or Higgins landing craft. By contrast, Mr. Cheney waited until after we had won the Cold War to propose modernizing our forces and replacing older weapons systems. There's a huge difference. Whether it's the Cold War of yesterday or the war on terror today, Mr. Kerry has sought time and time again to weaken our military at the exact moment we need to show our strength.

I also charged that John Kerry and his fellow Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator, and that nothing makes this old Marine madder. My critics pounced on that one, too. Aren't you aware, they sneered, that President Bush has used the term "occupiers"?

Do they mean when the president said this in April?--"As a proud and independent people, Iraqis do not support an indefinite occupation--and neither does America. We're not an imperial power, as nations such as Japan and Germany can attest. We are a liberating power." Are the people of Iraq not liberated from a terrible dictator? Did we not transfer sovereignty over to the Iraqi people exactly when we said we would?

John Kerry and his crowd derisively call American troops "occupiers" because it fits with their warped belief that America is the problem, not the solution. While more than 50 million people in Afghanistan and Iraq are enjoying freedom, Mr. Kerry is still fretting over whether the U.N. crowd likes us or not. The American people will not abide a commander in chief who gets squeamish over America's role as a liberating force in the world.

And my critics love to point out that I had nice things to say about John Kerry when I introduced him to a Georgia Democratic dinner in 2001. That's true and I meant it. But, again, timing is everything. I made that introduction in March 2001--six months before terrorists attacked this country on Sept. 11. As I have said time and again, 9/11 changed everything. Everything, that is, except the national Democrats' shameful, manic obsession with bringing down a commander in chief. John Kerry has been wrong many times, but he's never been more wrong than in his failure to support our troops and our commander in chief in this war on terror.


So, my critics can call me a psychopath and fire spitballs at me and froth at the mouth when an ex-president sends me a nasty letter. That's the freedom of speech they all enjoy, courtesy of the American soldier.

But for David Gergen and this newspaper's Al Hunt, among others, to call me a racist was especially hurtful. For they know better. They know I worked for three governors in a row, not just one: Carl Sanders, Lester Maddox and Jimmy Carter. They knew I was the first governor to try to remove the Confederate emblem from the Georgia flag. And by the way, when I called each of Georgia's former governors to tell them what I was about to attempt, Jimmy Carter's first question to me was, "What are you doing that for?" Mr. Gergen and Mr. Hunt also know I appointed the only African-American attorney general in the country in the 1990s and more African Americans to the state judiciary than all the other governors of Georgia combined, including that one from Plains.

So, they can call me names and ridicule my angry demeanor all day long. But facts are facts. And the fact is, John Kerry has a long record of proposals to weaken our national security in a time of war. And I would never put my family's safety in those hands.

Mr. Miller is a Democratic senator from Georgia.

[Bravo1-3]

Outstanding!

I ask again:

I wonder if David Gergen and Al Hunt knew Zell was "a racist" before he gave the 1992 keynote address?

[Gypsy]

Excellent rebuttal!

Thanks for this RL, my dad missed most of his speech at the convention so I mailed him the text. He'll love this as well!