Miller acted as the Republican shill to stir the pot without giving the Democrats a Republican to point the finger at. A very unscientific poll take here at our state showed that Millers performance turned off more undecided voters for the Bush cause than it gained. He preached to the choir. A very entertaining performance, but I'd rather get my entertainment from Michael Moore or Rush Limbaugh and please don't equate him with JFK. Last time he spoke in Madison Square Garden he was endorsing Bill Clinton-flip flop?

Why not equate Zell to JFK and others? If Democrats still believed in principles like JFK, Rosevelt and others, I'd vote that way in a heartbeat.

Put yourself in Zell's shoes, if your party was taken over by socialists and even communists, wouldn't you be pissed off too?

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Matthews thinks his Crossfire (or whateve it's called) mentality is acceptable during civil political dialog and he's wrong

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but i am sure you find it perfectly OK when o'reilly does it?? you call matthews a jacka$$, but i suppose you think o'reilly is a saint? they are the same guy, jusyt on different sides of the fence..

the interviewer isnt the issue, its the one responding(or lack there of) to the questions. miller made himself look like a complete idiot, and truly embarrassed himself. he put himself in the position to be the republican stool pigeon, and the convention loved every minute of it.. after all, they look at zell and say, "see there, inside every democrat, there is a republican just trying to get out".. i think overall it was a bad move by the republicans and rather tasteless in its intentions.

BTW- off topic a bit.. the TV reporter i like the most that i think is "fair and balanced" on both sides is joe scarborough. he is young and has a point of view that is more 'my generation'.. check him out sometime

bigjohn

Socialists and communists!! I come from the home of the late Paul Wellstone, the most liberal voice in the Senate for the past 20 years. I hardly ever agreed with him but had enough dealings with him and his office to know that he was the most principled honorable politicians I have ever met. His detractors put him down as a socialist/communist as well. I know there has to be some balance within the parties and Miller is on the far right fringe of the Democratic party. I don't think he speaks for many in his party and certainly did them a disservice with his performance. He reminds me of our Senator Norm Coleman a liberal anti-war protesting Democrat for almost 30 years (only 6 years ago he campaigned for the despised liberal Wellstone) who switched parties when faced with a tough mayoral primary campaign in Saint Paul. Now he has his lips permanently chapped from kissing Bush's butt. I know political beliefs evolve through the years, but the major flip-flops smack more of politics than sincere beliefs.

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I actually got a $300 check, and to be honest I think our country would have been better off if they'd kept the money.

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So, did you send the check back?

Mark

craigsub, you are obviously an intelligent and well informed person on a broad range of issues. The teacher union leadership and the education elites do indeed suck, but scrapping public schools rather than reforming them is a bad idea. The reforms should be allowed at the local level, free from the control of the politicians, and the changes should be made by the experts - the teachers.

Why do you feel that a teacher is unqualified to make decisions regarding what he teaches, or how he teaches it? I have two credentials, have taught for 11 years, passed a plethora of competency tests, spent roughly $40K on my education, participated in countless staff development activities and even now continue to go to school myself. But you would prefer that politicians, administrators controlled by local school boards, OR PARENTS! be in charge of making decisions for me in the classroom? Why did I spend so much time, effort, and money to become an expert in education? Did you tell your wife's doctor how to treat her allergic reaction the other night? Would you tell your attorney which cases to cite as precedents? Your tax advisor? etc...

I won't bore you guys with a dissertation of what's wrong with public schools, or why private schools have inherent advantages that frequently lead to greater success (it has nothing to do with administrative control), or how most administrators are failed teachers. Unless, of course, you really want to know.

Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of O'Reily's either. He does the same crap. Alan combs does this to a lesser degree....he isn't abusive, but he loves to interupt speakers when they start to make a point he doesn't like.

I much prefer people with the temperment of Sean Hannity. You may disagree with everything that he espouses, but he is never rude to you. He may crush you in your discussion/debate, but he is always cordial and respectful.

As far as Zell goes, I didn't compare him with JFK. What I did do is say that he comes from a time where the moderate stances of people like JFK were celebrated in the Democratic party and those with socialist or communist leanings were relegated to the fringe of the party. You say that Zell's views are antiquated and I believe you are right. This is the great tragedy of the Democratic party. They have allowed the zealots to gain control of the party, which has pulled it farther away from the moderate base.

"Republicans sold us out with a generation of trickle-down economics that blew the deficit sky-high, drove poverty through the roof, and squeezed the middle class like a lemon at a county fair. They gave themselves the goldmine, and they gave the rest of us the shaft."

- Zell Miller, 2/25/96

So when exactly did the socialist and communists take over the Democratic party? Appartently it must have happened in the middle of Clintons second term. Because as of 1996, Zell Miller was still "towing the party line".

Oh...look there's more...

In a 2001 speech, Miller called Kerry "one of this nation's authentic heroes, one of this party's best-known and greatest leaders – and a good friend." He said, "John Kerry has fought against government waste and worked hard to bring some accountability to Washington…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." [Source: Zell Miller speech, 2001]

HAHA... now thats a gem of a quote!!

bigjohn

Wow, he must really, really love Bush then! Even more than the war-hero Kerry!