Zell rips out Kerry's Spine

IF you missed Zell Miller's speech tonight you missed one of the most fiery political speeches of modern times (Transcript here, but try and find a video of his speech to download, you don't want to miss his delivery).

Text of speech by Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia as prepared for delivery Wednesday at the Republican National Convention: Since I last stood in this spot, a whole new generation of the Miller Family has been born: Four great grandchildren. Along with all the other members of our close-knit family, they are my and Shirley's most precious possessions. And I know that's how you feel about your family also. Like you, I think of their future, the promises and the perils they will face. Like you, I believe that the next four years will determine what kind of world they will grow up in. And like you, I ask which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower and, yes, the backbone to best protect my family? The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight. For my family is more important than my party.

After this Miller starts to get mad.

In 1940, Wendell Wilkie was the Republican nominee. And there is no better example of someone repealing their "private plans" than this good man. He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed for a peacetime draft, an unpopular idea at the time. And he made it clear that he would rather lose the election than make national security a partisan campaign issue. ... What has happened to the party I've spent my life working in? ... Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator. And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators. ... 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. ... For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure. As a war protester, Kerry blamed our military. As a Senator, he voted to weaken our military. And nothing shows that more sadly and more clearly than his vote this year to deny protective armor for our troops in harms way, far away.

That is just a small sample. The speech was pure fire and brimstone, but obviously, to me anyway, motivated by sincere passion. The Democratic Senator from Massachusetts used his primary to define himself as a Vietnam Hero. The Democratic Senator from Georgia used this primary to define John Kerry as a Senator. It was not a flattering definition, and it will not be easy for Kerry to redefine.