Georgia Democratic Senator Zell Miller (no relation!) may have worn out the patience of his party with his endorsement of George Bush's "re"-election as President. David Worley, former chairman of the Georgia Democratic Party, takes him to task pretty severely:
You know I have been a lifelong supporter of yours. I wrote my first campaign check to you when I was still in law school, admired you as you fought [notorious segregationist] Herman Talmadge, worked with you on Walter Mondale's presidential campaign and was never prouder to be a Georgia Democrat than when you gave the keynote address at the national convention that nominated Bill Clinton. ...
I thought the history professor in you would know that Republicans built their success in the South on appeals to race and that you would speak out as again this year, in Mississippi, Republicans campaign on the Confederate battle flag while Bush stands by approving yet silent. ...
Looks as if you're on you're way back home, Zell, back to the hateful rhetoric of the Lester Maddox days ... Too bad that's the final legacy you're leaving.
Worley doesn't mention something that makes Miller's endorsement of Bush even more disappointing: the vicious campaign the Georgia Republicans waged against his former Senate Democratic colleague Max Cleland in 2002. In Big Lies, Joe Conason reports on what happened to Cleland, a veteran and "Medal of Honor winner who returned from Vietnam without his legs and his right arm."
Such a sacrifice is no guarantee of respect from a right-wing opportunist, as Cleland discovered during his last campaign. The wheelchair-bound senator had to listen to Representative Saxby Chambliss, his Republican opponent, cast doubt on his dedication to his country, loudly attacking him "for breaking his oath to protect and defend the Constitution."
The blustering Chambliss had avoided service during Vietnam with four student deferments and a "football injury," but he explained that his own lack of service was "absolutely not an issue."
Apparently none of this was much of an issue for Zell Miller, either. Republican maverick John McCain, on the other hand, was so disgusted by Chambliss' campaign that he flirted with changing parties himself.
2 comments:
Just a follow-on comment about Max Cleland's Vietnam service. Since the reason he lost his legs and arm is NOT discussed here, I'll discuss it - he sustained his injuries after picking up an un-exploded hand grenade while drunk.
While I can respect his service, in the interest of full disclosure, it should be pointed out that he did NOT sustain his injuries in combat, or in an attempt to save fellow soldiers by throwing himself on the device. He sustained his injuries out of doing something stupid while drunk.
While I am not going to cast dispersions on his patriotism, I would point out that his repeated votes against legislation needed after 9/11 (and which his constituents clearly supported), was done at risk of peril to his career, and he was affected accordingly.
Uh, no. Cleland picked up a grenade that he thought one of his unit members had dropped as they were preparing to leave on a mission. That's what soldiers do, support the members of their team - including not letting them go into battle having lost one of their weapons.
It was a non-combat injury only in the most technical sense. And the idea that he was drunk when it happened is one of those fantasies that Republican hacks just crank out to sucker the gullible. - Bruce
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