Best of the Web Today - September 3, 2004
By JAMES TARANTO
William Was a Gay Deceiver
NEW YORK--The final day of the convention found us at the University Club in midtown Manhattan, where the Club for Growth was throwing an early party in honor of Sen. Zell Miller. After Miller's stem-winder the previous night, this was a very hot ticket: When we called the club to RSVP, we were told--twice--that the party was filled to capacity. Only through the personal intercession of the club's president, Stephen Moore, an old friend from our Heritage Foundation days, did we gain admission.
Miller took the stage and soon was joined by Herman Cain, who finished second in Georgia's July GOP Senate primary. (The man who beat him, Rep. Johnny Isakson, is expected to win easily the seat Miller is vacating.) We hate to dwell upon people's looks, but we couldn't help noticing that Cain has the dark skin tone that is common among people of African descent. Or, to put it bluntly, he is black. (Blogress Karol Sheinin has video.)
Normally this wouldn't have seemed the least bit odd, but we had just learned, by reading the ever-astute Andrew Sullivan, that Miller, a person of pallor, is a "Dixiecrat"--i.e., a segregationist. What was a white segregationist doing on stage with a black man?
We've done a little further research, and the evidence we've uncovered suggests Sullivan may have been mistaken. First, there's this e-mail we received from reader and veteran journalist Frederick Allen:
As political editor of the Atlanta Constitution, I knew Zell quite well, and I have observed his career for more than 30 years. As a native of north Georgia, Zell did not grow up in the stew of black-white politics (he is closer probably to Orval Faubus, only with a high IQ), and I have never known him to utter a racist sentiment. He made two runs for Congress in the late 1960s against veteran Phil Landrum, one from the right and one from the left, and uttered an infamous line accusing Landrum of selling out his heritage for a "mess of dark pottage." So for a time, anyway, Zell was not enlightened on race.
When he served as executive secretary to Lester Maddox, I'd put Zell closer to the part of Lester that tried to help the little man than to the seg rhetoric, and by the time Zell ran for lieutenant governor in 1974 he seemed to me to fit the bill of a reformer. He ran as a near-liberal against Herman Talmadge for the Senate in 1980 and lost in the Democratic primary. In 1990, he ran for governor and won and passed the lottery, whose proceeds allowed him to send the children of the middle class to college for free.
He is a good man, in my mind, but also one whose nickname, "Zig Zag Zell," has been earned.
Blogger Greg Greene, a Miller critic, picks up this passage from "Buck Up, Suck Up . . . and Come Back When You Foul Up: 12 Winning Secrets From the War Room," a 2001 book by Democratic operatives James Carville and Paul Begala:
Zell Miller, our candidate for governor of Georgia in 1990, had performed stunningly well in the statewide-televised debate against his GOP opponent. There had been one rather tense exchange that Miller knocked out of the park. He was asked about a comment he allegedly made back in 1964--a racist attack on Lyndon Johnson when LBJ had gone to Georgia to campaign for Miller's opponent. The reporter questioning Miller said that Miller had slammed Johnson for supporting civil rights, accusing him of "selling his Southern heritage for a mess of dark pottage."
As racist comments go, that was hardly the worst we'd ever heard. And it was allegedly made a quarter-century ago. Still, watching the debate, we were stunned. Miller had been one of the leading lights of racial progress in Georgia for decades; he was one of the few white Georgia politicians to endorse civil rights hero John Lewis when he ran for Congress. This hurt.
Carville and Begala write that Miller told a reporter in 1990 that "he'd always been for racial equality but when Lyndon Johnson supported his opponent, he wanted to lash out. He'd regretted that one moment of anger, dressed up as racial division, ever since. It was as moving, honest and forthcoming a moment as we'd ever seen from a politician."
Miller's 1964 comment was to his discredit, but it seems an awfully slim basis on which to call him a "Dixiecrat" 40 years later. We trust a correction will be forthcoming from Andrew Sullivan.
The Row Effect
After the party, we returned to Madison Square Garden, where we paid a visit to Blogger's Row, where we met a bevy of bloggers: David Adesnik, Kevin Aylward, Tom Bevan, Matt Margolis, Scott Sala, Roger Simon and Joshua Trevino. The ubiquitous Karol Sheinin was also on hand.
Then we dropped by Radio Row, where we got to meet Larry Elder. We remembered an amusing experience from November 2002: We were driving in California, en route to our parents' house for Thanksgiving, and flipping through the radio dial, when we heard our own words--or actually our readers' words--being read by someone else. It turned out it was Elder, who had been especially amused by our Nov. 25 column following up on a report about "post-traumatic slavery disorder" and devoted a large part of his show to it.
'Liberty's Century'
We'd like to doff our hat to Henry Oden for overseeing The Wall Street Journal's coverage of both political conventions, and, on a more personal note, for providing us with a floor pass so we could watch President Bush's speech in person last night. We walked in past the Wisconsin delegation, where Tommy Thompson, the secretary of health and human services and a former Badger State Governor, was holding forth. A young man asked us to snap a picture of him with Thompson, and we obliged.
We wandered down and stood for awhile in front of one of the president's boxes. Above us were, among others, Dick and Lynne Cheney, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani and Jack Kemp. Brendan Miniter, assistant editor of this Web site, phoned us to discuss some business, and, looking up at the president's box, we described the scene. Giuliani must have been reading our lips, for when we mentioned his name, he waved at us. A few minutes later, we were ordered to clear the aisle, so we moved closer to the stage and finally found a spot to stand, just to the left of the Nebraska delegation, with Arkansas and Arizona on our left.
Being on the convention floor is an experience quite unlike watching a speech on television or even from the press stands. You're standing there the whole time, cheek by jowl with a crowd of fevered partisans. It's exhausting, but you get a much better sense of the crowd's excitement as they watch history being made.
Our journalistic detachment broke down at one point during the speech. We couldn't help but applaud this riff on the challenges of nation-building:
America has done this kind of work before--and there have always been doubters. In 1946, 18 months after the fall of Berlin to Allied forces, a journalist wrote in the New York Times, "Germany is--a land in an acute stage of economic, political and moral crisis. [European] capitals are frightened. In every [military] headquarters, one meets alarmed officials doing their utmost to deal with the consequences of the occupation policy that they admit has failed." End quote. Maybe that same person is still around, writing editorials.
Take that, you ink-stained Sitzpinklers!
The speech started off a bit State of the Unionish for our taste, as the president reeled off a list of domestic initiatives. Most of them sounded worthy, but it was a bit dull. If we'd been watching the speech at home, we might well have gone to the kitchen to mix a martini. On the other hand, Bush did succeed in establishing himself as the candidate of substance, in marked contrast with John Kerry's empty display of self-puffery in Boston.
(New York's Gov. George Pataki, who preceded the president, had a nice line on this theme: "You saw their convention a few weeks ago. They had a slogan: 'Hope is on the way.' But with all their flip-flopping and zigzagging their real slogan should be, 'Hype is on the way.' ")
But when he turned to foreign policy and national security--which must be reckoned the overriding issues in this year's campaign--Bush was masterful. He restated the case for liberating Iraq: "Do I forget the lessons of September the 11th and take the word of a madman, or do I take action to defend our country? Faced with that choice, I will defend America every time." He outlined his vision--our vision too--for a peaceful Middle East based on democracy and freedom. And he gave John Kerry a well-deserved lashing for disrespecting America's allies:
My opponent takes a different approach. In the midst of war, he has called American allies, quote, a "coalition of the coerced and the bribed." That would be nations like Great Britain, Poland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, El Salvador, Australia, and others--allies that deserve the respect of all Americans, not the scorn of a politician. I respect every soldier, from every country, who serves beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful, and America will not forget.
This brought huge applause. Also excellent was this anecdote:
Not long ago, seven Iraqi men came to see me in the Oval Office. They had X's branded into their foreheads, and their right hands had been cut off, by Saddam Hussein's secret police, the sadistic punishment for imaginary crimes. During our emotional visit one of the Iraqi men used his new prosthetic hand to slowly write out, in Arabic, a prayer for God to bless America. I am proud that our country remains the hope of the oppressed, and the greatest force for good on this earth.
This accomplished several things: It vividly reminded the audience of just how evil Saddam Hussein's regime was. It showed that Iraqis are grateful for their liberation. And it sent a message of faith and conciliation, reminding us that Iraqis and Americans worship the same God.
At at least two points during the foreign-policy portion of Bush's speech, anti-American types heckled the president. The crowd imposed spontaneous order, drowning out the intruders with chants of "Four more years!" until security booted them from the Garden. Blogger Josh Marshall got a close-up look:
My watching of the speech was disrupted in a jarring way because I happened to be sitting two seats away from one of the protestors who was hustled out of the arena during the president's speech. An unassuming women had been sitting on our press row for the couple hours prior to the speech. And about half way through out of the corner of my eye I saw a plainclothes police officer lunge in our direction. I looked back to see the woman who--without my having noticed--had tossed on a pink slip over her dress and I guess was about to start some sort of chant or statement.
We guess that by a "pink slip" Marshall means a reddish undergarment and not a notice of termination. Her proximity to Marshall suggests that she might have had press credentials.
Bush's speech had its lighter moments, too:
In the last four years, you and I have come to know each other. Even when we don't agree, at least you know what I believe and where I stand. You may have noticed I have a few flaws, too. People sometimes have to correct my English. I knew I had a problem when Arnold Schwarzenegger started doing it. Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, which in Texas is called "walking." Now and then I come across as a little too blunt--and for that we can all thank the white-haired lady sitting right up there.
Imagine how much more appealing John Kerry would be if he had been able to joke about his penchant for flip-flopping, not to mention his haughtiness, his French looks and by the way his service in Vietnam. Gallic as he is, Kerry's élan doesn't hold a candle to the president's.
He closed by tying together his domestic and foreign agendas:
To everything we know there is a season--a time for sadness, a time for struggle, a time for rebuilding. And now we have reached a time for hope. This young century will be liberty's century. By promoting liberty abroad, we will build a safer world. By encouraging liberty at home, we will build a more hopeful America. Like generations before us, we have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom. This is the everlasting dream of America--and tonight, in this place, that dream is renewed. Now we go forward--grateful for our freedom, faithful to our cause, and confident in the future of the greatest nation on earth.
"Liberty's century": This may turn out to be a phrase for the history books.
After the president finished speaking, balloons, confetti and streamers dropped from the rafters. As ecstatic conventioneers burst the balloons, we felt as though we were in a popcorn popper. Behind us, two midgets with press credentials started pummeling each other with balloons. (Strange but true.) But the crowd hushed when Cardinal Edward Egan took the dais to deliver the closing benediction.
Then the crowd streamed out of the Garden onto the streets of New York. Many stopped to thank the New York City policemen who were keeping an eye on things; some shook their hands or posed for pictures with them. We left the security perimeter, and as we crossed Sixth Avenue a woman muttered at us, "Bush m-----f---er." Spoken like a true loser.
The Incredible Shrinking Democrat
After watching President Bush's speech, we couldn't help but think that he had succeeded in making John Kerry look awfully small. Kerry decided to make himself look even smaller by making a midnight appearance--shades of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"--in Springfield, Ohio, just after the president's speech.
He opened with the complaint: "For four days in New York, instead of talking about real plans for creating jobs, strengthening the economy, expanding health care, and bringing down gas prices, we heard almost nothing but anger and insults from the Republicans." Note that Kerry didn't even mention terrorism or national security in his list of things the GOP should have talked about. He then launched into a litany of anger and insults:
Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without health care makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi royal family control our energy costs makes you unfit. Handing out billions of government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit. That's the record of George Bush and Dick Cheney. And that only scratches the surface.
Even more pathetic, Kerry once again raised questions about his own patriotism:
For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as commander in chief. We'll, here's my answer. I will not have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq.
The man is Michael Dukakis without the charm. A pair of Reuters headlines nicely sums up the contrast between the two candidates' speeches: "Bush Promises Safer World, Says Will Not Relent." And: "Kerry Criticizes Cheney for Avoiding Vietnam War."
Hoping for Panic
Blogger Mickey Kaus, one of the few Kerry supporters who recognize what a weak candidate he is, has a wonderfully perverse reaction to the Bush speech:
The one possible upside for Democrats: If Bush now pulls ahead in the polls Dems may substitute a clear-eyed panic for their previous media-fed belief that this is necessarily a close race--abandoning as well all the bogus comforting spin ("wrong track" internals will save us; Hispanics will save us; 527s will save us; Cheney's unpopularity will save us, Joe Lockhart will save us, etc.).
That's the way the cocoon crumbles. Better now than on Election Day.
Hoping for Unemployment
Writing in yesterday's Financial Times, Richard Medley, who runs an eponymous financial-services firm, opined that the Kerry campaign is in trouble, but offered this ray of hope: "He can always hope that tomorrow's unemployment number is so damaging that the economy becomes the dominant theme."
But the news turned out to be good, which is bad news for Kerry: "Job growth rebounded in the United States last month and the unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly," reports CNN/Money. "The Labor Department said the economy created 144,000 jobs in August, the strongest reading since May and up from a revised 73,000 jobs in July. . . . The unemployment rate dipped to 5.4 from 5.5 percent in July, mainly due to a decline in the labor force, bringing the rate to its lowest since September 2001."
As we've been saying all week, it's too bad for Kerry that those "protesters" weren't looking for work instead of harassing Republicans.
The Great Unraveling
Former Enron adviser Paul Krugman, still waging war against reality, is sinking ever deeper into a quagmire. His New York Times column today contains this gem:
The vitriol also reflects the fact that many of the people at that convention, for all their flag-waving, hate America. They want a controlled, monolithic society; they fear and loathe our nation's freedom, diversity and complexity.
Remind us again, who is questioning whose patriotism? Of course, this is the same Paul Krugman who, as we noted Wednesday, thinks it is a sinister conspiracy when those who don't share his opinions participate in the democratic process. Like Kerry whining about GOP "anger and insults," Krugman is engaging in what psychologists call "projection"--attributing his own faults to others.
"Nothing makes you hate people as much as knowing in your heart that you are in the wrong and they are in the right," the former Enron adviser writes. Physician, heal thyself.
The Democratic Mainstream
CNSNews.com reports on a National Organization for Women protest rally:
Poet Molly Birnbaum read aloud to a crowd of feminists gathered in New York's Central Park on Wednesday night, as part of a NOW event dubbed "Code Red: Stop the Bush Agenda Rally."
"Imagine a way to erase that night four years ago when you (President Bush) savagely raped every pandemic woman over and over with each vote you got, a thrust with each state you stole," Birnbaum said from the podium. . . .
"A smack with each bill you passed, a tear with each right you took until you left me disenfranchised with hands shackled and voice restrained. Thanks for that night, Mr. President, I can barely remember my tomorrows," Birnbaum said to applause.
At the same rally, Rep. Major Owens, a New York Democrat, opined "that the Bush administration is taking America 'into a snake pit of fascism.' Owens also said the Bush administration 'spits on democracy' and is leading the country down a path reminiscent of 'Nazi Germany.' "
We can't resist one more quote from the former Enron adviser: "There was plenty of hatred in Manhattan, but it was inside, not outside, Madison Square Garden."
Swinging Toward the President
Remember in July when we published letters from disillusioned Gore voters (and here) and disillusioned Bush voters? Anecdotal evidence from last night suggests President Bush is doing much better among swing voters than John Kerry is. National Review Online's Kathryn Jean Lopez notes that in Frank Luntz's Ohio focus group, "Bush beat Kerry by 15 to 6 among . . . swing voters. Fully 13 of them decided because of Bush's speech."
We received this letter from reader Doug Lanpher:
I was one who responded to that piece with a story about my mother in Ohio (a Republican since the Eisenhower days), who was so angry about the war in Iraq that she was going to vote for Kerry. However, as she learns more about Kerry, the less she likes him. She has come full circle since the spring, from intending to vote for Kerry, to someone who would not vote for president, to where she now plans to vote for Bush even though she still disagrees with the war.
And this is unscientific but interesting: America Online is conducting a state-by-state straw poll of its users. Currently, Bush holds the lead in 49 states, while Kerry is ahead in Vermont and the District of Columbia. If this were an actual election, Bush would win with 532 electoral votes, to 6 for Kerry.
Time has a real poll, which finds Bush leading Kerry 52% to 41% among likely voters, with 3% for Ralph Nader.
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What Would Republicans Do Without Experts?
"Republicans Stage More Effective Convention--Experts"--headline, Reuters, Sept. 2
Oh, by the Way . . .
Did you know John Kerry served in Vietnam?
Homer Nods
Ralph Reed is no longer chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, contrary to our description of him in an item yesterday.
Hospital Bill
"Former President Bill Clinton has been admitted to a top New York hospital for heart bypass surgery after experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath," Reuters reports. This column, which has had its differences with Clinton over the years, wishes him a quick recovery. |
