] After gauging the harsh reaction from Democrats and
] Republicans alike to Sen. Zell Miller's keynote
] address at the Republican National Convention, the Bush
] campaign -- led by the first lady -- backed away
] Thursday from Miller's -- savage attack on Democratic
] presidential nominee John Kerry, insisting that the
] estranged Democrat was speaking only for himself.

Zell Miller was the featured keynote speaker at the convention, but now we're supposed to believe he was only speaking for himself?

For those who haven't been following this, Miller went on to all but challenge Chris Matthews to a duel, which has led to days of references, between my wife and I, to the "tomacco" Simpsons episode which also features Homer challenging everyone to duels.

[ It's pretty obvious this was their plan from the start. I'm not sure it'll work, but having a crazy democrat to put on display could damage the dems as much as the repubs, if people buy it. Plus, Bush gets to come out and be the calm, steady voice of reason to soothe the more extreme elements of his party. All of that should be in big quotes of course, since that's all shite, but it's a valid ploy.

I'm not sure it's gonna work. I don't really think that many undecided voters view Zell as a legitimate dem. I think he's widely regarded as a tool, who should've switched parties based on ideology, but won't because he's more useful to the right as a way to paint the democrats as divided or weak. I don't think that many people will buy that.

Anyway, he had the *keynote* at *YOUR* convention, W, and he endorsed *YOU* for president. He's fucking yours. It's ultimately unseemsly to trot out your rabid caged democrat and then disavow him for doing precicely what you expected him to. -k]

MSNBC - GOP backs away from Miller's blast

] I will add one thing more. And that is the personal
] sadness I feel that this president who praises freedom
] wishes to take it away from a whole group of Americans
] who might otherwise support many parts of his agenda. To
] see the second family tableau with one family member
] missing because of her sexual orientation pains me to the
] core. And the president made it clear that discriminating
] against gay people, keeping them from full civic dignity
] and equality, is now a core value for him and his party.
] The opposite is a core value for me. Some things you can
] trade away. Some things you can compromise on. Some
] things you can give any politician a pass on. But there
] are other values - of basic human dignity and equality -
] that cannot be sacrificed without losing your integrity
] itself. That's why, despite my deep admiration for some
] of what this president has done to defeat terror, and my
] affection for him as a human being, I cannot support his
] candidacy. Not only would I be abandoning the small
] government conservatism I hold dear, and the hope of
] freedom at home as well as abroad, I would be betraying
] the people I love. And that I won't do.

[ I also thought it was very telling that while Cheney's daughter was present at the convention, with her partner, she was very obviously not invited on stage with the rest of the family. Disgusting.

Upthread of what i quoted here, Sullivan makes some good points on both sides of the debate... there are ways in which this was a good speech, and may have won some people. But he also points out the very blatant way in which the republicans have renounced their plank of small government and done so in the most irresponsible way possible. He talks about "big insolvent government" (Bush) versus "big solvent government" (Kerry) and points out that if you're a real fiscal conservative, Bush just isn't your guy (something i've thought was obvious for a long time now).

I've got friends who describe themselves as fiscally conservative but socially liberal. I've always thought that was kind of a bullshit cop out in the first place -- felt like saying, "I'm all for helping people, but I'm sure not paying for it." Regardless though, allow for a second that you can be both of those things in one. How do you vote for a candidate who's neither?

As Sullivan says above, you can't, not without losing your integrity. -k]

www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish

] For $2.4 trillion, guess what word -- other than "a,"
] "and," and "the" -- occurs most frequently in the
] acceptance speech George W. Bush delivered tonight.
]
] The word is "will." It appears 76 times. This was a
] speech all about what Bush will do, and what will happen,
] if he becomes president.
]
] Except he already is president. He already ran this
] campaign. He promised great things. They haven't
] happened. So, he's trying to go back in time. He wants
] you to see in him the potential you saw four years ago.
] He can't show you the things he promised, so he asks you
] to envision them. He asks you to be "optimistic." He asks
] you to have faith.
]
] ...
]
] Recession. Unemployment. Corporate fraud. A war based on
] false premises that has cost us $200 billion and nearly a
] thousand American lives. They're all hills we've "been
] given to climb." It's as though Bush wasn't president. As
] though he didn't get the tax cuts he wanted. As though he
] didn't bring about postwar Iraq and authorize the
] planning for it. All this was "given," and now Bush can
] show up, three and a half years into his term, and start
] solving the problems some other president else left
] behind.
] My favorite moment was when Bush touted the No Child Left
] Behind Act. No more social promotion, he promised. "We are
] transforming our schools by raising standards and focusing
] on results. We are insisting on accountability."
]
] Wasn't this speech, full of unfulfilled promises and
] appeals to good character, basically a plea for social
] promotion? Isn't that the message of the entire Bush
] campaign? Shouldn't the president have to show results,
] too?

[ Saletan positively destroys Bush's speech. -k]

Back to the Future - What Bush would do if he were president. By William Saletan

] "I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this
] country questioned by those who have refused to serve
] when they could have and by those who have misled the
] nation into Iraq," [Kerry] said at a midnight rally in Ohio
] less than an hour after the president concluded his own
] remarks.

[ Well, that's more than he's said yet. -k]

Bush says 'we will prevail' over terrorism; Kerry calls president unfit to lead

Vetiver is not only cheap to grow but resistant to pests and disease. The grass soaks up pollutants and improves crop yields. What's more, it can grow in any kind of soil on any kind of slope in just about any tropical region that is free of freezing temperatures.

Okay, I've read a number of articles about kudzu. Am I the only person who thinks this sounds like a potential Big Mistake.

[ Yeah, sounds to me like it's about the same. In 20 years they'll be driving around with trucks of herbicide, desperately trying to kill this crap, just like they do with the kudzu here in GA. I swear, there are whole sections of woods whose visible face is a solid wall of kudzu, all the way to the tree tops. -k]

Grass Grows 13-Foot Roots of 'Steel'

So, to sum up: CNN says Log Cabin Republicans cannot run an ad that accurately depicts signs carried by a publicity-savvy hate-monger. But the network has agreed to run (and give near-constant free airtime to) a series of ads by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that smear Senator John Kerry.

CNN rejected Log Cabin Republicans ad urging in ... [Media Matters for America]

] If it walks like a Republican, and votes like a Republican ...

] Zell Miller was once a centrist Democrat. But, in the
] past few years, he's increasingly supported George W. Bush
] and the Republican agenda in the Senate. The non-partisan
] National Journal's 2003 ratings say Zell Miller is more
] conservative than 73% of his fellow Senators. In fact,
] his voting record is more conservative than 23 Republican
] Senators. For more information about Zell's record, see
] "Has Zell Miller become a closet Republican?" or listen to
] his 1992 convention speech at www.listentothisvoice.com.
]

I've been asking for weeks how can Zell Miller claim to be a democrat. He claims his party has sold out the ideals of Truman and FDR, but I think he's just gotten more senile w/ age.

zellout.com

A very interesting read but I don't know that those who are polarized for Bush will pay much attention. The crap that the Swift Boat Veterans pulled on Kerry had its effect but for some reason Bush has been able to remain teflon coated when it comes to his National Guard issues. This interview, plus the upcoming "60 Minutes" interview on Wednesday with the former Lt. Governor of Texas that admits he pulled strings to get Dubya in the Guard will probably just work to make more anti-Bush people to actually vote. If it works, great.

[ If this thing gets grabbed by the wider media, and by kerry, i think it'll negate the convention bounce. If they get the chance to paint Bush as a hypocrite on matters of honor and service, backed by the words of someone who helped him exploit his background, i think it might finally stick. But maybe i'm just too optimistic. -k]

George W. Bush's missing year

] But the important thing isn't the falsity of the charges,
] which Republicans continue to repeat despite press
] reports debunking them. The important thing is that the
] GOP is trying to quash criticism of the president simply
] because it's criticism of the president. The election is
] becoming a referendum on democracy.
]
] In a democracy, the commander in chief works for you. You
] hire him when you elect him. You watch him do the job. If
] he makes good decisions and serves your interests, you
] rehire him. If he doesn't, you fire him by voting for his
] opponent in the next election.
]
] Not every country works this way. In some countries, the
] commander in chief builds a propaganda apparatus that
] equates him with the military and the nation. If you
] object that he's making bad decisions and disserving the
] national interest, you're accused of weakening the
] nation, undermining its security, sabotaging the
] commander in chief, and serving a foreign power%u2014the
] very charges Miller leveled tonight against Bush's
] critics.
]
] Are you prepared to become one of those countries?

[ Zell Miller apparently went off the deep end last night. -k]

Imperial President - Opposing Bush becomes unpatriotic. By William Saletan

] Republicans know that plunging ahead with a course of
] action, even if it becomes obvious it's wrong, is an
] easier political sell than flip-flopping, even if it's
] right.
]
]
] When the president slipped, admitting that the war on
] terror is unwinnable - perhaps recognizing that terror's
] a tactic, not an enemy - he had to be saved later by
] Laura Bush, who fixed his stumble into nuance. Then Mr.
] Kerry made the mistake of responding in Bush
] black-and-white, calling the war on terror winnable.

Op-Ed Columnist: Cutups and Cutthroats