Is Zell Miller Suffering from a Mental Disorder?

Senator Jeffords' Statement on the GOP Convention -- published 9/1/04

It is a pleasure to be standing here with Senator Leahy and Congressman Sanders today to set the record straight: The Republican Party we are seeing at the convention this week is not the same Republican Party we have seen at work in Washington, D.C. for the past three years.

This convention has portrayed the President as inclusive and moderate, as someone who respects varying points of view, as someone who is willing to compromise and find common ground. Sadly, that is not the President I have come to know.

If this were an Olympic sport, the President and his handlers would win the gold medal for political gymnastics. They say one thing and do another.

And while they can parade moderate voices before the cameras on prime-time television, these voices do not represent the President they are there to nominate.

Since the day George W. Bush was sworn into office, the conservative Republican leadership in the White House and Congress has been driving an agenda of ideology over substance.

This Bush Administration has pushed the Republican Party to the far right - with little tolerance for differing opinions. In doing so, this Administration has promoted policies that are bad for Vermont and bad for our nation.

Let's take some of them one-by-one:

On environmental policy, this President Bush is moving us backward rather than forward. I was proud to work with the first President Bush on the Clean Air Act of 1990. He called our work, "A new chapter in our environmental history, and a new era for clean air." Now, this President Bush is undoing his father's legacy and our nation's environmental policy.

On energy policy, President Bush would rather help his friends and supporters at the big oil companies than invest in renewable and alternative energy sources.

On education policy, almost three years after the passage of the "No Child Left Behind Act," we are in danger of leaving many more children behind because President Bush refuses to provide the necessary funding so that every child in this nation receives a quality education.

On transportation policy, as our nation's highways and bridges deteriorate, President Bush blocks an important six-year highway bill that would improve our roads, create more than a million jobs, and provide a strong boost to our economy.

And worst of all, President Bush has spent billions of dollars on an unnecessary war in Iraq, with no coherent strategy; no timetable for withdrawal; no international consensus; and no accountability for intelligence reports that were manipulated to start the war in the first place. Now, more than 900 American soldiers have died.

The promises of candidate Bush, who pledged to bring a new bipartisan tone to Washington, have gone unmet. Three years ago, I left the Republican Party because of its intolerance for moderate views and its turn to the right. Today, I am more confident than ever that I made the right decision, and I am proud to stand here, united as a delegation, to refute the misguided policies of President Bush.

You can try to point out the differences if you like.

Book recommendation noted, blatham.

I haven't doubted that's been a goal, I've just been impressed that it seems so blatant at this convention. There have to be more moderates and centrists like Sullivan who see what's happening.

He also covered his voting record in the senate and it does show that he doesn't support a modern military. He did vote against weapons systems that are used in the current war on terror. If he is indeed strong on military weapons systems then why vote against them? Us soldiers need the best equipment we can get our hands on and when people vote against it, it isn't good for us. How do you defend this in a wannabe commander in chief?

I completely agree. There's no way they didn't know what he was going to say. And 'I don't know that we share that point of view'? He was the keynote speaker, for goodness sakes. Maybe they could find someone they agree with to do the keynote next time.

But they aren't smears or lies. John Kerry really did put himself in for three Purple Hearts (one for each band-aid) and later use those awards to get an early release after a 13 week tour of duty. John Kerry really did appear prominently before the Congress and testify to his direct knowledge of widespread atrocities done by those with whom he served - and later deny that he ever saw or participated in any himself. He did all this and then thirty years later go on to great lengths to portray himself as a war hero.

Miller blathering about the difference between liberation and occupation was contradicted by none other than George W. Bush who recently used the terms several times before a mike concluding that, "Nobody likes to be occupied." I guess Zell Miller believes they should change the sign on airplane toilets to "liberated" instead of "occupied."

"If John Kerry can't stop those who have worked and served with him from later attacking his character and principles, how can he lead anything?"

This is my version of a non-sequitor as absurd as the one above.


There is little doubt that the Republican convention was as well-scripted as was the Democrat one. Odd that conservatives didn't make a big deal about that after Boston, while so many Democrats (and Canadian equivalents) are hyperventillating about it now.

This is my version of a non-sequitor as absurd as the one above.

John Kerry really did put himself in for three Purple Hearts (one for each band-aid)