From my blog
Zell Miller's speech was the ugliest rant I have ever heard. Ideology is not the only thing Miller shares with the Bush administration. He also shares their habit of using horribly out-of-context material, grave generalities, and fighting words to push their agenda at the expense of anything substantive, constructive, or positive.
This RNC indeed has been time for Republicans to forget what is happening in the world, to forget problems, to forget possible solutions, to forget that there is more to governing than positive words. It is a time for them to drape themselves in our flag, to declare that everything is under control.
A time to salute and praise our troops abroad, and neglect to mention those troops who come home often with broken bodies and to broken lives.
A time to remind us of No Child Left Behind, and neglect to mention the lack of funding given that initiative.
A time to justify a war by the capture of Saddam, and neglect to mention the justification given before the war.
A time to focus on the politics of tomorrow, and forget that tomorrow the job numbers for last month come out and will show how tomorrow is shaping out to be.
A time to forget that bad things happen in America, and that it is OK to discuss them.
A time to forget that optimistic politics comes with providing solutions to problems instead of ignoring the existence of one.
Let's take a look at Zell Miller's speech:
First, his indictment of Kerry's record on weapons systems.
"The B-2 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein's command post in Iraq."
It so happens that a famous Republican, who knew something about Iraq, talked about the B-2 bomber as well. That Republican is George H. W. Bush, in his 1992 State of the Union address:
"After completing 20 planes for which we have begun procurement, we will shut down further production of the B-2 bomber. We will cancel the small ICBM program. We will cease production of new warheads for our sea-based ballistic missiles. We will stop all new production of the Peacekeeper [MX] missile. And we will not purchase any more advanced cruise missiles. … The reductions I have approved will save us an additional $50 billion over the next five years. By 1997 we will have cut defense by 30 percent since I took office."
Then Miller's charge that:
"The F-14A Tomcats, that Senator Kerry opposed, shot down Khadifi's Libyan MIGs over the Gulf of Sidra. The modernized F-14D, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora."
Well, another Republican who knows something about Iraq, Dick Cheney, spoke of the F-14 Tomcats a few days after H.W. gave his SOTU address, saying:
"Congress has let me cancel a few programs. But you've squabbled and sometimes bickered and horse-traded and ended up forcing me to spend money on weapons that don't fill a vital need in these times of tight budgets and new requirements. … You've directed me to buy more M-1s, F-14s, and F-16s—all great systems … but we have enough of them."
"The Apache helicopter, that Senator Kerry opposed, took out those Republican Guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War. The F-15 Eagles, that Senator Kerry opposed, flew cover over our Nation's Capital and this very city after 9/11.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - RJ
Did you consider him a "monster" before he endorsed a Republican?
2 - Evilwhiteguy
I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations. - John F. Kerry
Pretty clear to me, too.
3 - Evilwhiteguy
As for the weapons system, you yourself highlighted it. We already had as many as we needed. Why keep the pump flowing when the tank is full? You're just wasting at that point. Kerry voted against these programs even existing.
4 - Evilwhiteguy
In fact, Kerry did not specifically vote against those weapons systems, but the package it was in.
Well, he voted against the package. They were in the package, no? Therefore he voted against them. What kind of lame excuse is that?
5 - Evilwhiteguy
Yes, and four years as President sure as hell tells you about the next four years.
It sure does. An economy roaring back to life after inheriting the Clinton recession (yes, the stock market started to slide in the spring of 2000) and the devestation of 9/11. An unemployment rate lower than Clinton's. Record low interest rates, and new housing starts at record highs. Real GDP increases of 2.8 percent in Q2 of this year. The list goes on and on. The country is certainly on a better path then we were when Clinton left office.
6 - Evilwhiteguy
And Cleland had a horrible Senate record. Cleland had refused to vote for the Homeland Security bill unless it was chock-full of pro-union perks that would have jeopardized national security, among a slew of other things. The voters of Georgia saw him for what he was, and voted him out. Yes, he too was in Vietnam and probably served honorably, which I thank him for. But having served in Vietnam (which is what Kerry is running on) obviously doesn't make one a capable politician.
So each convention had a cross-over candidate. The Democrats had Ron Reagan speak at theirs, and the Republicans had Zell Miller speak at theirs. Boy, did the Democrats get screwed on that deal!
7 - boomcrashbaby
Democrats sure got screwed on the deal. Right winger Andrew Sullivan has already broken down Zell's speech, and beat us to the punch.
Quite an interesting review, from one on 'your side', who ends with "I'll take Obama anyday".
8 - Evilwhiteguy
Since, according to Mac Diva, Sullivan is a racist, I guess we can immediately discount anything he has to say on the matter.
9 - Evilwhiteguy
He makes very few points in that post, one of which I've already contradicted in comment 2. No point re-hashing what I've already done.
10 - jack e. jett
i never knew zell miller from ann miller, but the guy on tv last night was SO full of hate that he made me type in caps which i only use when i am really cyber-raged.
he is a nut case. he is setting himself up for a good lobbying gig, which is fine. it will probably be for some drug company that represents prozac, zoloft, or perhaps valium. he needs them all.
he is an axis of evil.
jack e. jett
11 - Eric Olsen
While clearly brought in as an attack dog and virtually foaming at the mouth, I rather enjoyed his "performance" - you used to see a lot more of this kind of rabble-rousing and you were supposed to take it with a grain of salt. The point is to rouse the faithful to a fever pitch, and the beauty is the Republicans can can dismiss the over-the-top stuff with, "Well, he's a Democrat anyway."
12 - Shark
Nothing more destructive to the GOP than simply trotting out Miller and Cheney for the public.
Anyone southern asshole named "Zell" should be subject to a post-partum abortion just for the sake of the gene pool.
And Cheney making 'funny' jokes and then pausing with that half-assed crooked smirk?
After last night, I'll be surprised if the 'bounce' isn't a dip.
13 - Mark Saleski
what sort of amazes me about stuff like this is the condescention inherent in 're-broadcasting' things like 'he voted against this or that weapons system'.
factcheck.org debunked all of this stuff months ago.
and yet it's trotted out again and again as fact...because we're all too stupid to 'get' the twist of the real facts.
it's disgusting.
14 - ejf
The only interesting question left to ask about Zell Miller is: Is he actually stupid enough to believe he made valid points last night? Or did he know his entire speech was a sham and just not care?
He certainly seemed flustered when he was told, after the fact, that Dick Cheney, as Sec’y of Defense, was also against many of the same weapons programs that he “accused” Kerry of voting against. That can only mean one thing. If, on the basis of those votes, John Kerry is unfit to serve in the White House, then the only logical conclusion is that Zell Miller believes Dick Cheney is also unfit to serve in the White House.
Was I the only one who noticed a little foam at the side of his mouth? Has anyone checked to see whether his master (I mean, Karl Rove) has made sure Miller has gotten his rabies shot?
15 - Tom
The fact that this upsets you liberals so much is thta it is all so true and damaging to Kerry's campaign.
And as far as the no Child Left Behind act, it is funded at record levels. The trouble is the money isn't getting from the FEds to the States to the schools. The problem is with the states, not the feds.
And I work closely with this initiative, as I work in government. I see this every day of my work.
16 - Dirtgrain
A teacher told me that he is not voting for Kerry because Kerry abstained or was absent for every vote relating to education. The vagaries eventually find a home in some people's heads. But this has always been true.
Isn't Zell the motorcycle riding character from Pulp Fiction who loved the Gimp?
17 - Vilas
That's Zed from Pulp Fiction
"Zed's dead honey"
18 - Mark Saleski
sorry Tom....it doesn't upset liberals at all.
just like that scary buchanan speech...we have a smile spreading out across our faces as we just can't believe our luck.
that there appears to be some on the other side who just don't get it.
19 - Dirtgrain
Prove "funded at record levels." The money can't get from the federal level to the states? Huh? Does the money want to go? Maybe we should coax it.
20 - Justene
Dirt, Tom probably knows more but from what I hear from people who are connected to the schools is that the money goes to the States who then say "wow, money". They give it to the schools but then cut the portion of the state budget that was going to that stuff already, leaving schools still underfunded and states with a little extra cash in the treasury.
21 - Vic
Also, in regards to the "monster" monicker, here are some comments that I would consider pretty ugly:
"moral cesspool"
"complete incompetence"
"incompetent"
"most dishonest president since Nixon"
"dishonor"
"disgrace"
These were all used to describe either Bush or his administration by Al Gore.
Vic
22 - jack e. jett
vic:
the difference is that the bush administration considers these compliments. however, in nixon's defense, i thing W is a much bigger liar. nixon is arnold's hero. the wind beneath his girlie wings.
jack
23 - Dirtgrain
Friends also told me that if I show up at the Elsinore Beer factory with a bottle with a mouse in it, I get free beer for the rest of my life.
From the right we have No Child Left Behind Funding: Pumping Gas into a Flooded Engine?:
Federal education spending has increased dramatically since the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed into law two years ago " increasing so quickly that many states haven’t been able to use the money quickly enough. While lobbyists for the education establishment claim falsely that more money was “promised,” there are growing indications more funding has been provided than the system can effectively absorb during a limited period of time.
Wowee, wow, wow, wow. We are drowning in excessive educational funding that states just can't manage to spend.Two years after enactment of NCLB, states are sitting on billions of dollars in unspent federal education funds, some of which have been available to those states for more than three and a half years " longer than NCLB has even been law. And despite the growing balances of unspent funds being accumulated, states are about to receive yet another record increase in federal education dollars via the FY 2004 omnibus appropriations bill passed in December 2003 by the U.S. House of Representatives. And President Bush’s FY 2005 Budget proposal will include billion-dollar increases for the same programs, on top of the funds states are still trying to spend down now.
My ass!
From the left we have No Child Left Behind, Two Years Later: Empty Promised, Empty Rhetoric:
The President Has Repeatedly Broken His Promise to Provide Federal Support for Education. In the two years since the President signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, none of his budgets have come close to meeting the level of funding authorized in the Act. The FY 2004 budget submitted by President Bush fell $9 billion short of the amount authorized for 2004 and his FY 2003 budget fell $7.2 billion short of approved funding. [Office of Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, 6/9/03; Associated Press, 2/24/03]
See the website for more information on these other headings:Federal Education Reform Taxes State and Local Governments With Unfunded Mandates. In February 2003, the bipartisan National Governors Association voted unanimously to label Bush's No Child Left Behind Act an unfunded mandate, along with special education, homeland security and Medicaid. A November 2003 survey of nearly 2,000 superintendents and principals found that 9 in 10 viewed No Child Left Behind as an unfunded mandate. States and localities have struggled to keep up with the new requirements. Between fiscal years 2002 and 2004, education spending in 35 states was unable to keep pace with increases in inflation and enrollment. [The Wallace Foundation, www.wallacefoundation.org; Education Week, 1/7/04]
Bush Failed to Provide Purchasing Power For His No Child Left Behind Act. The FY 2004 funding failure is $1.4 billion below what would be required to maintain 2003 purchasing power next year. Bush's FY 2003 budget proposal was little better, falling $7.2 billion short of funding approved for FY 2003 in the original legislation. [Office of Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, 6/9/03; National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 2/03; CongressDaily, 2/3/03; National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), 2/5/03; New York Times, 2/5/03; Washington Post, 4/1/03]
Bush Fails To Support Children From Low-Income Families, the Centerpiece of No Child Left Behind.
"Important 'No Child Left Behind' Programs" is some kind of oxymoron, isn't it? Bush supports our troops?Bush Administration Inaccurately Claimed Budget Increases In Title I Funding.
Bush Administration Spends Fifty Times More on Tax Cuts Than Increased Education Spending.
Despite A Mandate In "No Child Left Behind" To Qualify All Teachers, Bush's Budget Cut Teacher Quality Programs.
Important "No Child Left Behind" Programs Were Eliminated In Bush's FY 2004 Budget.
Bush Refuses to Fund Vital School Modernization Projects.
Bush's Budget Would Cut $200 Million From Impact Aid, The Program That Helps Fund Education For Children In Military Families.
You choose which side you want to believe. All I know is that the budget crunches in states all over the country have trickled down to our public schools. It all started with Bush's first budget. Next year, my district will be $14 million in the hole, and we are as frugal as any. Teachers will be fired. My class sizes will go up. And children will be left behind. Starve the beast. Bring on privatized, corporatized education (Halliburton, maybe?). Let's let a complete moron (Bush, in case there was any doubt) recreate our schools in his image (or agenda, anyway).
24 - Tom
Dirt, Tom probably knows more but from what I hear from people who are connected to the schools is that the money goes to the States who then say "wow, money". They give it to the schools but then cut the portion of the state budget that was going to that stuff already, leaving schools still underfunded and states with a little extra cash in the treasury.
That is exactly it. And in some cases they use the money kind of like what they did with the tobacco money. They use it to plug holes in the state budgets. The money that has been going to the schools first goes to the states, that doesn't pass the funding through. Since NCLB is a federal mandate, schools must do it, and since it doesn't get funded by the states, the feds get the blame for it.
25 - Tom
I don't care what you read in some left wing rag dirt. I work in State government and can tell you from looking at budget items that I am right. You don't sit in budget meetings with directors of departmetns and commissions in government and be wrong.