This is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis

This is from Miller's website:

I continue to be impressed with all that Governor Barnes and Lieutenant Governor Taylor and the Speaker and the General Assembly are getting done over at the Gold Dome. Georgia is fortunate to have this kind of leadership.

My job tonight is an easy one: to present to you one of this nation's authentic heroes, one of this party's best-known and greatest leaders – and a good friend.

He was once a lieutenant governor – but he didn't stay in that office 16 years, like someone else I know. It just took two years before the people of Massachusetts moved him into the United States Senate in 1984.

In his 16 years in the Senate, John Kerry has fought against government waste and worked hard to bring some accountability to Washington.

Early in his Senate career in 1986, John signed on to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Bill, and he fought for balanced budgets before it was considered politically correct for Democrats to do so.

John has worked to strengthen our military, reform public education, boost the economy and protect the environment. Business Week magazine named him one of the top pro-technology legislators and made him a member of its "Digital Dozen."

John was re-elected in 1990 and again in 1996 – when he defeated popular Republican Governor William Weld in the most closely watched Senate race in the country.

John is a graduate of Yale University and was a gunboat officer in the Navy. He received a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three awards of the Purple Heart for combat duty in Vietnam. He later co-founded the Vietnam Veterans of America.

He is a habitual Flip Flop (he freaking had Carville run is campaign), and he scared the poop out of me, and not is a good way...HE scared me. Especially after he challenged Chris Matthews to a duel.

You'll note that the speech was given prior to 9/11. I think it's fair to say that Miller, though certainly one given to political pragamatism and thus to changes of mind, was greatly affected by 9/11, and that that change has been profoundly the reason why he said what he did last night.

Chris Matthews is a big fat jerk. If he agrees with you you get your say, but if you're a conservative like Miller, or have questions about Kerry like Maulkin or O'Neill (which comments, by the way should not be construed as an endorsement by me of these authors), he'll bulldoze you and your comments--or just flat kick you off his program.

I say "Good for Zell," give the ex-Carter staffer some taste of his own medicine.

But how could that change the feelings you have towards a person? I'm sorry, but to say things like that about JK, "John has worked to strengthen our military, reform public education, boost the economy and protect the environment," and then say Kerry is anti military, pro spit ball...this guy is just unstable.

Last night, with Matthew's...Chris was asking him a question and trying to elaborate on it. It was obivous Miller was having trouble hearing him and thought it was an ambush.

Kerry's record on military votes is the same as republican hero John McCain. All of the programs that Miller and Cheney said Kerry voted agains were pieces that were parts of drafts of legislation...McCain voted against them to because the intial versions had too much pork.

Miller's credibitliy is about nill in my book

What did Zell attack: Kerry's record. Now all the spinmeisters, including Edwards on the Today show this morning, want to make this a personal attack. It isn't. Zell spoke about Kerry's voting record. He disagreed mightily with that record.

Now, sure, that record gets spun negatively by Miller and spun other ways by Kerry advocates. And yes, a vote is rarely a simple up-and-down yes-or-no vote, because, as you rightly note, there's a bunch of amendments that get tacked on.

But surely you don't claim that each time Kerry voted against these military weapons systems, against troop funding, and against the use of military force, that every time it was about funding? If so, why isn't Kerry known as the anti-pork Senator? The anti-pork defense might work for some legislation, but not all. I don't think Miller's account of his record on the military was deceitful, even if it may well have been spun a certain way.

But you are certainly free to evaluate Miller on your own criteria.

Justin:

You might check out the vote on this link:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/Promos/P93599.asp?ShowResults=1&HasVotedTwice=#Vote

(Hint: Chris would not be the one kicking butt!)

Also, the video feed is available.

Justin posted an interesting editorial about Kerry's voting record. Did Kerry vote against those increases. Yes. At the same time that the first Bush was insisting that the government DEcrease military spending. It was in the early 90's after Desert Storm and after the Cold War.

All of those comments were taken out of context. It is a shame.

Hmmm. Maybe Factcheck ain't so non-partisan as they claim. typed in "anti-bush ads" into the search engine and came up with only a couple of links that had to do with anti-Bush ads. The rest were on how the Bushies were distorting Kerry's ads.

So, has there been any investigation of the MoveOn 527's? George Soros?

How 'bout that? Do they only check Republican claims?

I also find it interesting, bros, that what I put up of Zell's speach was about George W. Bush, the man, and had nothing to do with any sort of attack on Kerry. I mean given that his speech was an attack on Kerry's record, I studiously avoided that and only quoted what I thought were some exceptional words about our President.

But boy did our conversation devolve into partisanship. God help us, politics is the new U. S. religion.

I was mostly responding to the comments. However, you are right, partisanship is indemic. You, for example, have said nothing positive about Kerry and nothing negative about Bush. Perhaps your beliefs and feelings are that cut and dry, but there is the noticable trend of criticising the Dems and holding high the Reps.

Welcome to America. This is our political landscape.

I'm sorry, Tripp, but I take some exception to that. Can you point to some specific examples in which I criticize Kerry? And where have I praised the Republicans?

Perhaps my posts here are more of a Rohrshach test of your own convictions?

I'm not denying I have convictions about the political parties, but for the record, I am registered as an independent. I turn down all funding requests from all parties. I do not volunteer for any party or any activist group.

It is probably safe to say that my convictions more closely align with the Republican party platform than they do the Democratic party platform. But that's fairly unremarkable, and certainly doesn't make me a shill for the Republicans. And however much I admire the man, President Bush, an admiration of the man hardly necessitates an acceptance of all his policies.

But perhaps I'm forgetting some specific comments I've made, upon which you base your criticism of me.

I have not kept specific track. I just notice your clear bias toward W.

I am not a registered Dem. How does that strike ya? heh.