RNC - Day 3 Zell Miller's Speech Under-Reported
By Sharon Hughes (09/06/04)
Did you ever think you'd see the day when a prominent Democrat politician would be so frank about his Party and so supportive of a Republican President?
Even though I knew the Democrat Senator from Georgia had been vocal on his support of the President, I sat in front of the television with my eyebrows raised at the bold statements Senator Zell Miller made on Wednesday night at the Republican Convention.
I also sat with brows raised this morning looking for mainstream coverage of his speech. Instead Dick Cheney led the headlines, some calling his speech "Firey." Did I miss something. Was I dreaming? If anyone's speech was firey, it was Miller's!
Not only are the major television networks covering only highlights of the convention, but the mainstream print media, again, is obvious in their selective coverage. It appears they don't want to give any more power to Miller's speech than it already had. No, instead, downplay it. Say he came across as mean. Say he is the one who is flip-flopping. Check it out for yourself. Do an online search. For instance, the New York Times' lead story today on the convention was, "Cheney and GOP Mount Vigorous Assault on Kerry".
Well, for the record let me list just a few of Zell Miller's statements from last night:
- "What has happened to the party I've spent my life working in? I can remember when Democrats believed that 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. 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."
- "And no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry."
- "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. This is the man who wants to be the commander in chief of our U.S. Armed Forces? U.S. forces armed with what? Spit balls?"
On July 31, 2004 Senator Zell Miller said in the Wall Street Journal online : "Twelve years ago, I delivered one of the keynote addresses on the first night at the Democratic National Convention in New York. It was a stinging rebuke of the administration of George H.W. Bush and a ringing endorsement of Bill Clinton. This summer I'll again be speaking in New York, but it will be to the Republican Convention that renominates George W. Bush. Many have asked how I could have come so far in just over a decade. Frankly, I don't think I've changed much at all. At 72, I don't feel much need to change my opinions. Instead, the reason I didn't attend the Democratic Convention in Boston is that I barely recognize my party anymore. Most of its leaders--including our nominee, John Kerry--don't hold the same beliefs that have motivated my career in public service."
Last night at the RNC he said, "Like you, I believe that the next four years will determine what kind of world [my grandchildren] 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? The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight. For my family is more important than my party.â€
For more commentary on the convention visit my blogsite for "RNC Day 1 & 2 Countering the Opposition"
also SOUND OFF! on "(Kerry's) Anti-War Group's Flyer" - http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com
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