WP: Fallout From Miller Speech Still Unknown

[kskiska]

(snip)

NEW YORK, Sept. 2 -- Sen. Zell Miller, apostate Democrat from Georgia, was the talk of the town here among (mostly) adoring delegates at the Republican National Convention on Thursday.

He was the talk of many other towns, too, as his fulminating keynote address from the night before continued to echo -- with uncertain political consequences -- across television news, talk radio, David Letterman's show and countless "Did you see that guy?" conversations in car pools and on coffee breaks.

(snip)

Privately, some senior Republicans agreed that red meat that tasted delicious in the convention hall did not look appetizing to independent voters watching on television. "Everyone read the speech in advance and approved it," said one prominent GOP lobbyist working closely with the Bush-Cheney campaign on the staging and message for the convention. The problem, he added, was that handlers did not account for the shouting voice or glowering stare with which the 72-year-old former Marine delivered his speech, or the short-tempered manner he displayed in interviews once the veracity of his charges began being challenged minutes after he left the podium. The scrutiny continued Thursday.

First lady Laura Bush, in an interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw, responded coolly when asked whether she and the president agreed with what Miller said. "I don't know that we share that point of view," she said, adding that Miller has a "very interesting viewpoint" as a Democrat who disagrees with Kerry.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57566-2004Sep2.html

[slojim240]

1. Do you think Zell was really trying to destroy the Bushitas?

He was so bad he must really be still on our side.

[mark0rama]

2. I'd like to believe that,

but Zell's nowhere near that smart.

[truthisfreedom]

17. he's bitter and angry that he got "left behind." perhaps deep down he knew

he could poison his whole performance by appearing to be a madman... or perhaps, like we all thought before, he is simply completely mad, and the kool-aid drinking club couldn't see it even though his pasty complexion and red-rimmed eyes revealed a sick, dark character that really has no home.

[Demonaut]

24. I think it's the onset of Alzheimer's , I read somewhere his mother had it

it's on his website, it can run in families

[yellowcanine]

25. I don't believe that Alzheimer's is usually expressed as aggression, is

it? Could it be a brain tumor? Has to be something going on, because the interview with Matthews was just surreal.

[Demonaut]

26. aggression is common in patients, at least early onset

aggression comes partly from the confusion and partly from released inhibitions on social manners

[sandnsea]

28. Yes it is

Particularly in men, agressive behavior is definitely part of Alzheimer's. It's one of the main reasons they have to be removed from their homes.

[belle]

34. If the patient's aggressive to begin with, sure.

My great-grandma, God rest her, was paranoid and hostile. one day she attacked another resident of the elder hostel she was living in with her cane! poor grandma.

it's very upsetting. it seems like, if you have alzheimers' you know *something's* wrong, but not what, and the tendency is to blame it on the outside world rahter than on your own malfunctioning brain, which, well, who could blame you.

[Piperay]

40. Yeah my uncle had Alzheimer's and

all his life he had been to put it mildly a "pain in the ass" also an alcoholic. After the onset of Alzheimer's he became violent and aggressive, the family had to hide anything he could use as a weapon. Once they found him wondering the house at night with a knife and threatening to murder everyone. :scared:

[belle]

33. or that good an actor. if he were, he'd have been far more powerful by now

[Zorra]

23. If this was another Kerry campaign trap for Karl Rove.....

somebody is a freaking genius, and I can't wait to see what they have planned for October.

[Tight_rope]

47. That's what I was thinking.. This whole thing don't make sense!

What if Miller contacted Kerry and told him...look the repukes have some dirt on me and they want me to do this thing at the convention and speak out against you. So maybe Kerry said...ok...run with it....run with it hard...hard enough to backfire on the repukes. Zell already knew in advance that he was retiring so it's not like it would hurt his career. Just last year he was praising Kerry and cursing out Bush*...it's just hard to believe that he's been so good to his party for 20+ years and then all of a sudden at the end of his career he turns. :shrug:

Man...if he did this to help Kerry then God bless him. But if not...may he burn in hell with the rest of those repukes.

[Sophree]

29. No.

His misguided actions have unintentionally shown the irrationality of supporting B*sh.

Hurray for us. Hooray for truth.

[kskiska]

3. From the article:

Democrats in Miller's home state likewise suggested that their one-time hero has become non compos mentis. In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia AFL-CIO President Richard A. Ray was quoted as saying: "Why do I want to be polite here? He's lost his damn mind."

Chuck Byrd, a lawyer and conservative Democrat from rural middle Georgia said: "I know of no reasonable explanation for it other than people who have known Zell Miller for a long time are concerned about him now."

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. Zell MIller is the Republican Party!

[truthisfreedom]

18. hahahahaa! i love it. 8^)

[belle]

35. Sad but true...all sound and fury, signifying nothing.

[Sheldon Rowan]

5. It's frightening

Democratic reaction last night on the net was that Zell torpedoed Bush. But if he didn't and Bush gets elected with the kind of campaign he's running, what will this country become?

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Welcome to DU, Sheldon.

And I must say that's one hell of a question you're bringing to the board for your first post. It is downright frightening to contemplate that this kind of stuff must appeal to a fairly large segment (one certainly hopes not a majority) of the public.

[The_Casual_Observer]

21. Not quite

Around here zell was the fucking laughing stock. We all had a great time with that old kook.

[belle]

36. Why don't we address that if and when we get there, okay.

[demoman123]

45. Yup. The public kinda likes red meat these days.

It's part of the steady coarsening of public taste. Look at our movies. Down the road there will be gladiatorial contests to the death. On TV.

The Miller speech may not backfire after all. People may eat it up, or it may simply roll off their thickened skins.

[Chomskyite]

48. Good lord

This is a question that'll keep me up at nights.

[onehandle]

6. Excellent! nt

[AlCzervik]

8. They own him and that spin of theirs is pure bullshit

they are doing a preemptive strike so their poll numbers dont tank. I bet they did polling after the even and it was bad news.

[Iris]

9. but, but, but. . .

they don't "govern by polls"!

[AlCzervik]

10. Oh, thats right, sorry, where is my head?

[Iris]

maybe you lost it in a duel! n/t

[AlCzervik]

12. You sir, are a scoundrel of the lowest order! Why if you were here i'd

slap your face with my whaleskin gloves!

[Iris]

13. hee! hee! I'll have to call a truce.

I'm going to bed now!

[donco6]

11. As I said the other night . . .

. . . no one likes a traitor. It was inevitable Zell would find himself in this position - even if he hadn't been such a frothing idiot.

[Bombero1956]

15. even Bush should know

when you lay down with a dog, you can expect to get up with fleas. Have a good time scratching asshole.

[SKKY]

14. That's an interesting thought...

...He was sooooooo bad, sooooo over-the-top, I was thinking to myself, "He's got to be a mole we somehow planted." Either that, or he really is in early stage dementia.

[Infomaniac]

16. Bullshit the Bushies didn't know how Zell would come off.

The pig shit is mighty deep over there at RNC headquarters if the Shrub toadies didn't know how Zell would appear. He's been basically drooling for nearly 3 years now. Anybody who's spent 5 minutes talking to the man knows he's a nut. I ain't buying this crap about not knowing how he would come across. Read that speech. Would it sound any better if somebody said it with a smirk and a wink? Delusional twits.

[Skittles]

20. yup, they knew how it would be delivered

they just didn't realize how it would be accepted

[Sophree]

31. They were blinded by hubris.

A former Democrat coming out for Bush was way to good of a temptation for them to resist. Their hubris blinded them.

Too bad (for them) that he turned out to be an unintentional Trojan Horse.

[belle]

37. Why would they? It's not like they're a bastion of sanity themselves.

They've just been so insulated from any input from the rest of the world that raving lunacy sounds normal to them by now.

[Democat]

19. Miller stole his speech from an email hoax on Snopes

Make sure to spread this around and send it to any media people you know!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x729535

[MasonJar]

22. Laura doesn't know?

[yellowcanine]

27. Good catch - what's not to know? "Uh that Nuremburg speech by Adolf , I

don't know that we agree with that."

[liberalcanuck]

30. And I actually live in Georgia. What an embarrassment! I have

two bumper stickers: John Kerry for President and Bush: Cheney - We're Gooder (I wanted to get something more inflammatory - but this is big time freeperville) and I'm really in the minority here, Shrub 04 stickers everywhere.

[RebelOne]

50. I live in Georgia, too.

I have a Kerry/Edwards sticker and the MoveOn.org one that reads "Nothing Accomplished." So, far I have only seen one other Kerry sticker.

[neverborn]

32. Just like what happened to Dean

[Swamp Rat]

38. Rove or some GOP operative really fucked up. Zell is insane.

Or they let him out of his pod to soon.

[Pachamama]

39. They let him out of his pod too soon....that's a good one Swamp'r!

Love the image....:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

42. Oi Pachamama!

You still up too? Well, it's 4 am here but I'm kinda concerned about hurricane Frances and I'm also celebrating the end of the RNC. I think Zell's insane rantings will hurt them. Let's hope the press gives it half the coverage of Howard Dean's yell.

:hi:

[Pachamama]

44. I'm looking at Frances right now on NOAA...Wow is he big....

Mom is up in Murphy, NC....I told her to leave two days ago...she took my advice....I told her I had a dream her house was going to be okay but her neighborhood will take a big hit....She knows my dreams so she went to NC (originally was going to Tallahassee, but I told her no)....

You and I are in sync...yeah, I can't sleep....

BTW - I think the protester who interupted Smirky's speech is my friend Jodie Evans....don't know yet, can't find any info online about the person/persons or arrest etc....

:hi:

[klook]

51. Great image

[Piperay]

41. Hahaha the repiggies thought

they were so fucking smart, we had Ron Reagan but they had Zell Miller. Well they can keep wild eyed Zig Zag :crazy: we have intelligent coherent Ron Reagan who spoke at our convention. We came out way ahead with Ron Reagan! :thumbsup:

[JSJ]

43. give 'em zell kerry n/t

[Tight_rope]

46. Zell Miller hung himself....The repukes used him like a "WHORE"!

[Disturbed]

49. Used like Chalabi..

but now they don't know them. It was a set up for the Glorious Leader to make him appear great in comparison.

[canuckybee]

52. I liked Carville's spin on it on MTP:

Shame on the republicans for taking advantage of Miller who is obviously not in his right mind. He didn't use those exact words of course, but he sure hammered home that point.