September 02, 2004

Our 21st Century Jeremiah Sen. Zell Miller
"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"
Zell, you ROCKED the hall and the republic!

Jeremiah & the Veep
Once again, NRO's Peter Robinson (President Reagan's speechwriter) sums up Sen. Zell Miller's outrageously wonderful jeremiad best:

[...]
Zell Miller? What a speech. Genuine emotion is rare enough in politics, but anger? Righteous anger? Zell Miller stands in a line that runs all the way back to Jeremiah — but of which we see almost nothing in today’s Oprahfied context. And once again, the contrast with the Democratic convention could hardly have proven any sharper: Whereas the Democrats suppressed any display of anger in Boston, in the Republicans, the milquetoasts of American politics, went right ahead and cut loose in New York, cheering Miller with gorgeous abandon. And take a look at Miller’s text. Political prose just don’t get any hotter — or more memorable — than this:

[I]t is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.

No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home.

But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.

I suppose I’d have to grant that at least Dick Cheney did his job, conveying a sobriety and maturity that contrast with the boyishness and, well, lightness of John Edwards. But Zell Miller? Mine eyes have seen the glory.

Mine, too, Peter. Mine, too.
Tell the choir and the orchestra to prepare to play the "Battle Hymn of the Republic again.
I know I cheered with gorgeous abandon!
I cheered, I screamed, I woo-hooed and I yee-hawed at home in my living room!
What a night! What a week!
In fact, I'm still coming down from the high of hearing Zell speak truth to power hours later...honesty is energizing and living history is too exciting!
It's the first time we Conservatives have had the chance to tell the Dimocrats and the country what we really think about their anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-America "crusade" since this damn war started!
God Bless you, Sen. Miller and your children, your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren.
You've probably not only played a major role in making this country and her future safe and secure for them but you may have been the Lord's instrument in helping save the Republic.

Postscript: As if giving an American History text-book-making historic speech wasn't enough, Sen. Miller then went on to give "Spitball's" Chris Matthews his comeuppance, first telling him to get out of his face, to shut up and then by challenging him to an actual Aaron Burr duel. Michelle Malkin was avenged in the bargain.--What a night to be an American!!!
The Reclycler has streaming video of both the already famous barn-burner speech and the Whiffleball showdown here: Zell's barnburner