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Here's what Zell Miller *really* thinks of John Kerry.

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Introduction of Senator John Kerry

Democratic Party of Georgia's
Jefferson-Jackson Dinner

March 1, 2001

It is good to be back in Georgia and to be with you. I have been coming to these dinners since the 1950s, and have missed very few.

I'm proud to be Georgia's junior senator and I'm honored to serve with Max Cleland, who is as loved and respected as anyone in that body. One of our very highest priorities must be to make sure this man is re-elected in 2002 so he can continue to serve this state and nation.

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 married to Teresa Heinz and they have two daughters.

As many of you know, I have great affection – some might say an obsession – for my two Labrador retrievers, Gus and Woodrow. It turns out John is a fellow dog lover, too, and he better be. His German Shepherd, Kim, is about to have puppies. And I just want him to know … Gus and Woodrow had nothing to do with that.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Senator John Kerry.

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That used to be on Zell Miller's web site. I guess he took it down.

link

The fickle finger of fate

And then 9/11 happened, and the world changed.

But not John F'in Kerry.

This was discussed last night [edit: discussed on one of the newschannels, not here] . He was given something to read and he read it. McCain is supporting Bush, even though he doesn't seem to like him much...it happend on both sides all of the time. I don't think you've got anything here.

He just reads whatever is handed to him?

Sounds like our current president!

No...he was asked to read it as an introduction, and he did. I don't know if he read it in advance or not. Even if they loved each other then, things can change.

LOL!!!!!

You are kidding aren't you, NY? One speech he gives is exactly what he thinks and another he gives is something he has been handed and read?

You have to stretch pretty far to come up with THAT explanation. And you have to be pretty gullible to buy it.

Let's face it -- supporting Zel like you all do really calls into question any attacks on Kerry for flip-flopping. I mean, c'mon, is there any greater flip-flopper alive today than Zel Miller?

Well, except maybe George Bush -- who when he speaks on his own says we cannot win the war on terrorism and when he is handed a speech and just reads it (like Zell apparently is in the habit of doing), says we can. Flip-flop.

None of you know Zell Miller the way I do. He was governor of my state for a long, long time. Any fool can see by simply reading it that NY is correct - this was written by a staffer, not Miller. It's a near generic introduction. To put the same level of signifigance on a throw-away introduction of someone in a throw-away speech to a keynote address is ridiculous. You guys are stretching really hard on this one.

Expect Miller to be ripped apart by the Democrat party members however. This is how they do things. They don't bother to listen to what's being said that they don't agree with. Zell Miller has tried to get his party to see how out of touch they have become, out of the public eye, for a long time. They refused to pay any attention. Now, he's retiring, and he doesn't care what they think.

Maybe you Democrats will understand it this way:

Zell Miller is a patriot. Oddly enough, he's also a decorated war hero - a marine, in fact. You probably didn't know that, since he has never tried to use it the way you've become accustomed to Kerry using it.

He's an American first, a Democrat second. Many Democrats are Democrats first, Americans second. You defend the Democrat party line at all costs, even above the best interests of America. Only after you feel the Democrat party line is not being threatened do you turn your eyes toward the needs of the country. What you're seeing in Zell Miller is what it looks like when a Democrat puts his politics second. I have no doubt that looks strange to some of you.

You are kidding aren't you, NY? One speech he gives is exactly what he thinks and another he gives is something he has been handed and read?

You have to believe that a national party convention keynote speech is just like an introduction at some dinner to make that connection. Now that is a stretch.

So JA, regardless of Miller's departure from his view expressed at a dinner introduction, where is he wrong in his assessment of Kerry's voting record?

I don't have the time or the inclination, but I expect that the list of weapons he cited against which Kerry supposedly voted were parts of pork barrel spending proposals or otherwise, bad bills; along the same line as the immense criticism lodged by the wingers against Kerry for voting down the 87 billion dollar Iraq war bill - when, in fact the he was pushing for the exact same dollar amount of aid, but with he proviso that it was to be partially subsidized by Iraqi oil money. In short, I don't put a whole lot of stock in hearing laundrey lists of isolated items voted for or agin. And when I hear that sort of list rattled off, my immediate inclination is to read between the lines and know that I'm being sold a line of bunk. All the more reason to shake one's head at Miller's utter about-face, hypocracy.

No line of bunk, ma'ma.

Kerry's record in the Senate is very well known.

That is why he only wants to talk about Vietnam.

I hope some of you caught Miller's interview on CNN following Cheney's speech. He made a complete ass of himself. He's obviously a very stupid man, and probably a tad insane, too.

No, Zell rightly called Matthew's hand. Matthews is an attack dog, and you don't attack Miller. Zell will eat you alive.

As to what Kathy hasn't the "time or inclination" to do - her excuse is the standard fare excuse given by Democrats to try and avoid the issue. Put the votes up there, Kathy. I *have* taken the time to look.

Bye bye, Kerry.

Zel Miller.....

flip flop, flip flop, flip flop

Nope, don't think so.

Zell is moutain folk, an ex-Marine, and he doesn't take kindly to Matthews type of "journalism". I daresay that if it had been Rush, or O'Reilly treating him that way, they would have gotten the same treatment.

If you think Zell is stupid, perhaps you never attended one of his college lectures, or sat in the Georgia legislature while he twisted arms to pass legislation.

When Orrin Hatch was first elected to the Senate, there were only 37 Republicans in that body. They now have the majority. (And don't look now, but the latest polling shows Thune pulling ahead of Daschle). There is a reason Democrats have lost their majority, and if you'd like to know the answer, go buy Zell's book.

You may learn something.

Now that's just a plain lie.

You may like Zell. You may not.

But he has always followed his conscience, sometimes an unpopular thing to do, considering his electorate.

You're funny John. If I thought you were really as empty of logic as you appear, I'd be very concerned.

You *are* doing an act, right?........

Probably Alzheimer's. It also has a tendency to bring on personality change and irrationality.

If All Democrats were like Zell Miller, I'd be a Democrat.