vol. 1

If you can make a few bucks off your blog, then fine. Why shouldn’t everyone get a few hundred bucks off their shit if someone is willing to pay it?

I don’t have any problem with that.

What I have a problem with is what might happen in the near future.

Say im a blogger who posts one thing a day and makes $50 a month off ads. That’s pretty sweet since it’s obviously a hobby, and yet $50 will pay off the dsl bill and fill up the gas tank once a month.

or buy you your monthly bus pass.

But why wouldn’t someone then think, “but how much could I make if I posted three times a day and kissed up to a few of the A-list bloggers in order to get more hits?”

Let’s say that someone gets 400 hits a day x 5 working days. that’s about 2500 hits a week, not a bad week for most bloggers.

But get a nice link from Atrios or Blair or Instapundit and he could very well get 2500 hits in one hour. Figure out a way to make that happen once a week, and there is no question that he will make a lot more than $50 a month through his ads.

The problem is, that blog now sucks because in one or two of those extra posts a day he’s pandering to supplement his income.

Or writing emails to that a-lister giving him links as to what he should write about.

In exchange, the ever-helpful blogger is hoping for more attention from the blog-star, which equals more hits, which equals more money, ultimately, thanks to the new ads on blogs craze.

But what happens if the now B-List blogger starts to disagree with some of the things his A-list sponsor is writing? Will the b-lister risk the meat-and-potatoes hits from his provider and call bullshit? If the b-lister has a penchant for delivering harsh, powerful diatribes against the things he feels strongly about, will he direct that sort of energy to his a-list massah

Or will he sell out and shut the hell up.

Odds are he will shut up, or write about his cat.

And that’s how the blogosphere turns to shit.

I sell out enough with the career I have chosen to accept. Why should I start selling out with my fucking hobbies?

Don’t get me wrong, ads on their own are fine. But when they’re tied into hits-per-week or hits-per-month (which they’re destined to), and when those hits can go up (or down) significantly due to one major blogger, then what ever shred of credibility the blogosphere has drops significantly because it will slowly be shaped by the ass kissers and the echo chamber.

Let’s say you are an A-lister, closer to the B-list border. Let’s say that on a Number of serious topics you disagree with your a-list sponsor. You’d be out of your mind to disagree with him on your blog, especially if as an a-lister you’re currently getting a car payment a month off the ads on your blog.

Who wouldn’t sell out for a free car?

It’s just a blog, after all.

And if you’re an a-lister, why wouldn’t you only link to people who agreed with you and linked you all the time? You weren’t born getting tens of thousands of hits a day. What a better way to keep your hits coming?

Because it’s insincere. Because it adds to the suckingness of the web. Because that’s not why al gore invented the internet.

The best form of blogging is about presenting both sides, debating the major points that each side brings to the table, and coming to an intellectual conclusion supported by linked facts, diagrams, charts, and research.

Sad thing is, as seen by Drudge and Instapundit, research and great writing don’t get as many hits as short little sentences ending in a link. These two conservatives have proven that their readers aren’t interested in reading. They want something to click and maybe then they’ll read, but don’t hold your breath.

So if that now b-lister wants to really make more money, the lesson that Drudge and Indy have shown is don’t write. Just link things that make the right look good (or not as bad). And if that b-lister actually follows that lead, well now we have gone from one decent post a day to none. Just a bunch of links that his blogfather would approve of.

All because people have the insatiable desire to make money at things they were barely any good at in the first place.

layne’s opinion + jeff jarvis’s opinion + rapil’s texas photo essay + rob‘s minnesota state fair photo essay

move over swift boaters, theres a new muckraker town. kitty kelley who has written gossip-laden bios on liz taylor, the royal family, jackie o, and the reagans, is now about to release a book about the Bush family that will no doubt leave no shred of dirty laundry unsniffed.

according to indymedia, the following bulletpoints will be exposed

It reveals alleged sex offenses against minors by Dubya’s father.

It reveals the use of the White House by male hookers.

It reveals crooked business deals by every member of the Bush clan, including the oh-so-holy first lady, Laura “Round Heels” Bush.

It reveals how former first lady Babs Bush is almost a practicing witch.

It reveals how Dubya has had a very special friend in the mayor of a Tennessee city, who has has cohabited the Texas ranch many times.

It reveals the details of embarassing photographs of Bush that actually caused U.S. Govt. agents to perpetrate the anthrax mailings to destroy the building of National Enquirer and kill photo editor Stevens.

It reveals the incredible relationship between Dubya and some famous televangelists.

It reveals intimate details gleaned from persons close to Bush in Crawford, Texas.

It reveals the filth of Bush’s ancestors, the most shocking family in US history.

It reveals how Bush plans additional wars for oil, under the pretense of fighting terrorism and defending Israel — these are just pretenses, the real reason is we are running out of oil.

It reveals Dubya’s oedipus complex with Babs, his love/hate relationship with his father, some surprising medical details about Duby, including an explanation of why he is so burnt out.

It reveals who runs Bush, and it is not Round Heels.

It reveals murders committed by the Bush family.

It reveals why George W. Bush is the greatest threat the US and the world has ever faced.

after the wheelbarrows full of anti-bush books that have come out over the last few years, could kitty’s be the one to break the camel’s back?

doubt it. but it promises to be a cute little fun read.

pre-order it now

kos + rumorfilter + babymop + free republic + roger simon

the players, and fans like me, hate their announcers.

the chicago sun-times yesterday ran a little timeline of the drama on the northside

Here is a rundown of the feud between the Cubs and their television announcing team of Chip Caray and Steve Stone:

July 22: After a 13-2 win over Cincinnati, Moises Alou said Caray and Stone overemphasized the value of the team’s pitchers at the expense of the hitters. ”Sometimes it gets kind of old,” Alou said. ”This team is so much pitching-oriented that sometimes it [ticks] you off. What about the rest of the game? They don’t give the offense any credit.” Stone responded: ”I don’t know how much TV Moises watches during the game. But if he is watching during games, I assume that’s not a good thing. We talk about hitters and their statistics every time they come to bat. We do happen to have superlative pitching. I don’t know if he’s noticed that.”

July 23: Stone, who admitted he has been negative on occasion, elaborated: ”I have said some things that haven’t gone well. On the other side of the coin, I have been exceptionally positive. I have had one player — Joe Borowski — come up to me and say, ‘I really appreciate what you said in some very trying times.’ I said, ‘Well, thanks.’ I have had just one — knowing that I say about 90 to 95 percent really good things about players, manager and staff.” Stone then said he hadn’t talked to Alou about the matter. ”I don’t think it’s my place to do that. The team should be in pursuit of one goal. Anything that diverts from that is not in the best interests of the team, and it surprises me.” Dusty Baker seemed to side with his players: ”Sometimes you can get annoyed by what the announcers say. You’re not worried about it, but you’re annoyed by it. We all think we’re on the same side.”

Aug. 27: During a contentious game against the Astros, Kent Mercker (right) called the press box to complain that Stone had been too flattering about Houston pitcher Roy Oswalt. ”I said on the air that Oswalt had done a good job for eight innings in 85-degree heat, which he did,” Stone said. “[Mercker] disagreed is all. It was just a difference of opinion. Everything is fine with us.”

Aug. 29: Baker weighed in indirectly with his perspective of the growing feud, allowing that there could be some merit to the players’ complaints: ”I don’t think I have a team that’s going to complain unjustifiably. At times it appears it’s more focused on what we haven’t done than what we’re doing.”

Aug. 30: When Mike Remlinger left the dugout to shout at Houston players after Derrek Lee was hit by a pitch, Stone pointed out that none of Remlinger’s teammates rushed out to grab Remlinger. Baker took exception to the observation. ”Our guys ain’t on their own, bro, so don’t listen to TV. Just watch it.” Some Cubs were unhappy that Mercker’s call to the press box had been leaked to the media.

if you remember, a little more than a year ago i expressed my own annoyance of the broadcastig team, also asking for their termination

Monday, July 07, 2003

why i would fire cubs tv announcer, chip caray, who claims to be the grandson of the finest baseball announcer of all time, harry caray.

reason number one: he sucks.

july seventh, two thousand and three, wrigley field, chicago.

cubs up 6-3 over the marlins, bottom of the eigth, bases loaded with cubs.

eric karros at bat.

chip caray: “had a great time visiting with eric karros and his wife, mark grudzielanek and his girlfriend last night at the house of blues.

“hootie and the blowfish put on a great concert.

“jim sonnenfeld, one of the members of that terrific rock n roll outfit, kind enough to have us out to that concert last evening.

“let’s see if eric can rock this house with a big hit in the 8th to put it out of reach.”

its bad enough that we have to be cubfans.

but then they make us listen to that.

i kept thinking, what if my kids heard that.

the court says that i dont have any kids anymore, which is a relief because i would point alot and say, be like that, or dont be like that.

or sometimes i would just point and say bad.

i just switched over to the dodgers padres and theres our buddy vin scully showing guys like caray every damn day how its done if you want to play it straight and perfect.

hell, his dad skip is pretty good at playing it straight.

but i think the problem with chip is that either hes possesed by a demon, or he just plain sucks.

and someone who sucks, you cant really do anything about.

chip caray will never bust with the

had a great time with mark pryor and kyle farnsworth as we checked out the black flag reunion show at the caberet metro across the street last night after the game.

rollins said our names were on the list but thats a show i didnt mind paying real money for.

they totally rocked family man, steve.

and you might say, but thats not fair, tony, chip caray would never in a million years say anything like that.

and id say exactly and fire him, because his grampa would have never seen hootie and the blowfish with eric karros.

and if he did he would have been ashamed, and wouldnta outted grudz or karros either.

harry caray wouldnta been anywhere near hootie and the damn blowfish.

he woulda said blowfish? i might be a drunk but im no perv.

science blog + flagrent + desipio

– crid

when the incumbent the day after his convention only has a ten point lead, he should worry.

especially if he’s not that great in debates.

especially if theres a wherehouse full of splaining he’s going to have to do in those debates (wmd, obl, trying to block the 9/11 commission, national guard records, stem cell research, tax relief for the rich, the unwinable war, the biggest deficit ever, and trying to ban gay marriages through a consitutional amendment just to name a few).

maybe you or i could tap dance around every one of those chinese stars of doom,

but your boy?

he could barely read off the teleprompter last night. although i do give him credit for hablaing in espanol. even if now he’s bullshitting us bilingually. props for being unique.

and i wouldnt be suprised if Joe Republican tells every pollster he runs into or talks on the phone to or emails that he’s gonna vote for Dubya

but will think better of it in the privacy of the voting booth

instead of throwing his vote away to a fucking richbitch fratboy retard who has done nothing for this country except give us all proof that regardless of our individual faults, the possibility truly does exist that we can succeed despite them.

huge and ridiculous as they may be.

in the face of results that scream back fuckup + failure + fraud.

republicans have no problem saying out loud that they will remain loyal to their “values” and traditions and vote for who is obviously the worst. president. ever.

and even though our leader might be the exception, most successful people do not get where they are insisting on acting like dimwitted dumbshits.

america talks shit about clinton but respected him as a president and elected him twice and would have elected him a third time.

likewise, america usually knows what the right choice is in the voting booth.

which is why bush got fewer votes last time and will get fewer votes this time.

only thing an alleged ten or eleven point lead will do at this point is encourage the would-be democrat volunteers to get off their asses and register some of their pot smoking freedom loving saturn driving friends.

which reminds me, i need to start registering people through this blog more.

thank you for the inspiration.

register to vote + already registered? request an absentee ballot so you can vote at home via mail and actually think about what youre doing

Because he stole the heart of his speech on Wednesday from a fucking dirty stupid bullshit email chain deal

Snopes Sez:

Claim: Senator John Kerry “voted to kill every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every weapons systems since 1988.”

Status: False.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004]

Sen. John Kerry

Democrat from Massachusetts

HE says he is strongest

Presidential Candidate on National Defense!

He said Check the Record..

We Did !

Here is what we learned.

He voted to kill the B-1 Bomber

He voted to kill the B-2 Stealth Bomber

He voted to kill the F-14

He voted to kill the F-15 Strike Eagle

He voted to kill the F-16

He voted to kill the AV-8B Harrier Vertical Takeoff and Landing Jet Fighter

He voted to kill the AH-64 Apache Helicopter

He voted to kill the Patriot Anti-Missile System

He voted to kill the Aegis Anti-Aircraft System

He voted to kill the Trident Missile System

He voted to kill the M-1 Abrams Tank

He voted to kill the Bradley Fighting Vehicle

He voted to kill the Tomahawk Cruise Missile

In short, he voted to kill every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every weapons systems since 1988 to include the battle armor for our troops. With Kerry as president our Army will be made up of naked men running around with sticks and clubs.

our boy Zell quoted this almost word for word changing pretty much nothing except for the last line replacing “sticks and clubs” with Spitballs.

Snopes goes on to write that there are many reasons to vote against a bill, let alone the three bills that Kerry voted against that included those weapons.

The three votes cited — regarding S. 3189 (1990), H.R. 5803 (1990), and H.R. 2126 (1995) — were bills covering fiscal year Department of Defense appropriations, all of which Senator Kerry voted against. (Two of those three votes were not technically on defense appropriations per se, but on House-Senate conference committee reports for defense appropriations bills.)

And then they remind us that Dubya’s daddy spoke out against certain weapons in his ’92 state of the union speech.

Two years ago, I began planning cuts in military spending that reflected the changes of the new era. But now, this year, with imperial communism gone, that process can be accelerated. Tonight I can tell you of dramatic changes in our strategic nuclear force. These are actions we are taking on our own because they are the right thing to do. After completing 20 planes for which we have begun procurement, we will shut down further production of the B-2 bombers. We will cancel the small ICBM program. We will cease production of new warheads for our sea-based ballistic missiles. We will stop all new production of the Peacekeeper missile. And we will not purchase any more advanced cruise missiles

ah lovely internet. how were people able to fact check other peoples asses before ye?

think the biggest political bloggers in the blogosphere will touch this one? why would they? they got their alleged bounce. they had a dem do their dirty work against the purple heart winner, and then kicked him to the curb like a bitch. which is no way to treat a guy who just gave your keynote speech, but class isnt really what this administration is about.

and fairness and integrity isnt what gets you 6 million hits a month.

dirt does baby, dirt on your “opponent”.

the truth is for bleeding heart hippies more in love with losing honorably than winning.

plus zell miller to ‘pundits is so last week’s empty beer cans.

this story via Martini Republic + sean bonner + <3 snopes <3

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former President Bill Clinton was admitted to a New York hospital on Friday for heart bypass surgery, a statement from his office said.

“Former President Bill Clinton is being admitted into New York Presbyterian Hospital today and is scheduled to have bypass surgery,” the statement said.

No time frame for the surgery was given.

The 58-year-old former president, a Democrat who served two terms from 1993 to 2001, had gone to Northern Westchester Hospital on Thursday afternoon after experiencing mild chest pain and shortness of breath, his office said.

Initial testing was normal and he spent the night at home in nearby Chappaqua, New York. After additional testing on Friday morning at Westchester Medical Center, doctors advised Clinton should undergo bypass surgery, it said.

Clinton’s wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was traveling in upstate New York on Friday, and his daughter, Chelsea, were to be with him for the operation.

Before heading back to Manhattan, Mrs. Clinton said doctors advised her husband to do the surgery “as soon as he could.”

ABC News reported Clinton was found to have multiple lesions and other television reports said he would undergo a quadruple bypass.

CNN quoted a source close to the former president as saying the surgery could take place as early as Saturday.

Clinton, the 42nd U.S. president, promised at the Democratic National Convention in July to be a “foot soldier” in Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s race against Republican President Bush. He received a rousing welcome from delegates after being introduced by his wife, a Democrat representing New York.

Kerry, campaigning in Ohio, sent Clinton “our best wishes, our prayers, our thoughts” and asked supporters to give Clinton a cheer he would hear “all the way to New York.”

In West Allis, Wisconsin, President Bush said, “We send him our best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery.”

White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said Bush was informed about Clinton’s condition by White House staff while on Air Force One.

Clinton, who had a reputation for having a big appetite and for fighting a weight problem, showed no signs of heart problems during rigorous health examinations that were made public during his presidency.

metafilter thread + kos thread + oliver willis

spoke last night, accepting the nomination of his party to compete against john kerry.

zell miller, the democrat who gave the keynote speech on wednesday to thunderous applause at madison square garden was removed from the list, along with his wife, of attendees in the first family’s box to listen to the president speak on thursday, nbc news reports.

Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for the Bush campaign, said Miller was not in the box because the campaign had scheduled him to do too many television interviews.

There was no explanation, however, for why Miller would be giving multiple interviews during Bush’s acceptance speech, or what channels would snub the president in favor of Miller. Nor was it made clear why Miller’s wife also was not allowed to take her place in the president’s box 24 hours after his deeply personal denunciation of his own party’s nominee.

more republican flip flopping minutes before their big moment? of course not. republicans dont flip flop, they glow.

karisa and i watched the broadcast on cspan and she noticed that as he spoke and reached the end of a sentence successfully, he’d give out a little smile, like a toddler does as he’s learning to walk.

but enough about what we thought. what did the metafilter thinktank conclude? heres a not so random sample:

That dude is awesome.

-techgnollogic at 8:17 PM

“So,” I think to myself, “How long into his speech before he brings up 9/11?”

When I said those words four years ago, none of us could have envisioned what these years would bring. In the heart of this great city, we saw tragedy arrive on a quiet morning.

Oooh, second sentence. Amazing restraint.

-ColdChef at 8:20 PM

To be fair, there are some things my opponent is for he’s proposed more than two trillion dollars in new federal spending so far, and that’s a lot, even for a senator from Massachusetts. To pay for that spending, he is running on a platform of increasing taxes and that’s the kind of promise a politician usually keeps.

Of course, if you go by his speech, Bush will give us all a new house, access to community college, health care, social security, homeland security, and he’ll stay in Iraq forever, if necessary. And apparently, all for free.

-ColdChef at 8:23 PM

My favorite part of the speech was when he talked about the Iraq kid who spelled out “god bless america” with his stump.

-Peter H at 8:29 PM

I watched his speech, I also watched the protesters during his part about beefing up security, I also saw an awful lot of delagates sitting with their arms crossed and a scowl on their faces.

I loved the part where he said, without even a trace of irony, that Kerry is going to spend three quarters of a trillion dollars. Hello? Mr. Largest-Deficit-in-the-History-of-the-World? Time for your reality check.

-fenriq at 8:30 PM

Because the union of a man and woman deserves an honored place in our society, I support the protection of marriage against activist judges.

So, it’s the judges that are messing things up? I thought it was all those queers asking for equal rights. I’m an idiot.

-ColdChef at 8:39 PM

If you say the heart and soul of America is found in Hollywood, I’m afraid you are not the candidate of conservative values.

And now, a few more words from the Governor of California…

(Remember when Kerry said all those times that the heart and soul of America is found in Hollywood? He just kept saying it and saying it. Seems like all he was saying for a few weeks there. I bet he regrets it now.)

-ColdChef at 8:45 PM

em>Because the union of a man and woman deserves an honored place in our society, I support the protection of marriage against activist judges.

But I’m cool with 50% divorce rates and quickie Vegas weddings.

-jalexei at 8:45 PM

This election will also determine how America responds to the continuing danger of terrorism and you know where I stand.

Fucking Pro-terrorism Kerry. I hate him so.

-ColdChef at 8:48 PM

I have learned first-hand that ordering Americans into battle is the hardest decision, even when it is right.

But when it’s wrong? Not that hard.

-psmealey at 8:48 PM

Maybe I’m just in a bad mood, but I figure something like 48% of us will vote for one guy, and 48% will vote for the other and the rest — 4% — are the undecided.

How about those of us who have already chosen — and you know we’re all firm — get to vote now, then those who haven’t decided have to go off somewhere on a small island with the candidates,and their spokes-crazies, and their advertisements and leave the rest of us the heck alone?

Let us know what ya’ll decide.

/modest proposal

-mmahaffie at 8:54 PM

Is anyone better off now than they were four years ago?

Other than Osama bin Laden, that is.

-Sidhedevil at 8:59 PM

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve had it UP TO HERE with the FLIP-FLOPPERS!!!

-_sirmissalot_ at 9:00 PM

I hope that the Log Cabin Republicans will defect en masse. They should. I don’t know how any self-respecting gay person can be a Republican after this.

-Sidhedevil at 9:02 PM

Because of you, women in Afghanistan are no longer shot in a sports stadium.

Excuse me? What in the wild world of sports was that about?

-ColdChef at 9:05 PM

It’s kind of vicious how the Dems basically avoided mentioning GWB for the most part at their convention, whereas the Repubs all but had signs saying “John Kerry Wants To Fuck Your Children In the Ass With A Broken Bottle Because He Is Osama Bin Laden” at theirs

-Pseudoephedrine at 9:07 PM

Today, the government of a free Afghanistan is fighting terror,

Which is the “free” part? The big part where they’re growing opium and selling it for weapons, or the tiny scrap our guy holds with a lot of help from our guns?

Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders

At a rate we dictate in accordance with our election timetable…

And more than three-quarters of al-Qaida’s key members and associates have been detained or killed

According to numbers that only you have access to, and Osama isn’t one of them, and you’ve flip-flopped several times about whether you even want to get him.

All that from one short passage. This speech is like a cheap sweater. Tug on it anywhere and it just unravels completely.

-George_Spiggott at 9:49 PM

Word counts from Bush’s speech:

‘Terror’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘terrorism’: 16

‘Weapons of mass destruction’: 1

‘Osama bin Laden’: 0

‘Iraq’: 13

‘North Korea’: 0

-tapeguy at 9:51 PM

I loved the part of us aggresively spreading our freedoms and our way of life, expanding the frontier of freedom.

I got a hard-on and jumped on the coffee-table and screamed “Freedom’s got a gun, baby!”

-rks404 at 9:54 PM

The debt is relative small by GDP standards, particularly given that we are at war.

As a percentage of GDP, this years projection at -4.5% is the highest since 1992 when it was -4.7%. (1) For some background, since the economy turned around after WWII, there have only been five years with a higher percentage of debt to GDP. That’s right, since 1948, there have only been five years:

1983: -6.0

1984: -4.8

1985: -5.1

1986: -5.0

1992: -4.7

GDP growth has slowed during President Bush’s tenure as well, but the GDP is still growing and it’s not exactly a dramatic slowdown.

Also, if you don’t think federal revenues are actually up since the Bush tax reduction, go wild!

Actually, Paris, the revenues are down consistantly since 2000. Here’s a list of receipts from the GPO, in millions of dollars.

2000: $2,025,218

2001: $1,991,194

2002: $1,853,173

2003: $1,782,342

2004: $1,798,093*

* estimated

Source: Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (-): 1789–2009

Please note their estimates for the next several years support your notion that federal revenues will increase, including a small increase this year and much larger increases for next year. Despite being educated guesses, these numbers are highly susceptible to change.

-sequential at 10:25 PM

Personally, I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t a powerful speech. I think it will affect undecideds. But it lacked very much that hasn’t been said already, in fact mostly already said by people on this website alone.

In all honesty, I’m confused. I don’t get how Bush can talk about being the only defense against terrorism when he refuses to even say “Osama bin Laden.” I don’t get how he can even pretend to promote compassionate conservatism after the hate-fest of Wednesday night. I don’t get how he can cast Iraq favorably, let alone comparing it to Germany- a country that “healed” after it’s major war by a massive division with Communist nuclear tension for over half a century. I don’t get how he can attack the “liberal Hollywood base” of the Democratic Party when not one, but two Hollywoof actors gave prime time speeches at his own convention. I don’t get how he can call Kerry a flip-flopper when he’s changed his own opinion on the WOT twice in the last 72 hours. I don’t get how he can let George Pataki talk of all the promises Bush delivered when he also promised to find bin Laden. I don’t get how several thousand Republicans, delegates of a commitment to a love of their country, can sit there and actually believe the man running against George Bush “hates” the military.

And I just don’t get how people supporting Bush can pretend they do.

-XQUZYPHYR at 10:39 PM

entire thread

metafilter + in search of utopia + the fat guy + ask metafilter + sportsfilter

qualifications:

1. have me linked on your blog

2. tell me the cubs are going to be fine

3. tell me i’m your hero

bored housewife + sanity adrift + sahalie + mad mathias + dirty fez

from Zell Miller

glenn and the boys sure did love them some Zell last night, until Zell started hitting the tv talk shows right after his lil speech.

apparently the spitballer is fine in a huge room of republicans reading from a tellyprompty, but when questioned he seems to crack at the edges and melts down.

witness:

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Judy, speaking of Zell Miller, he is here with us. Zell Miller, who delivered the keynote speech. We want to talk to you later. We’ll be speaking with Tad Divine, a senior Democratic strategist for the Democratic political ticket.

But Senator Miller, you have accused the Democratic presidential nominee of being a flip-flopper, but remember, as you pointed out yourself, 12-years-ago you were here endorsing Bill Clinton and going after the first President Bush. The Democrats are saying, you’ve become a flip-flopper.

SEN. ZELL MILLER (D), GEORGIA: They’ve said a lot of things worse than that. I don’t think I’ve ever used the term flip-flopper of John Kerry. I’ve talked about this atrocious record that he’s had for 20 years in the United States Senate. What a weak record it is on national defense and what a terrible record it is on raising taxes.

BLITZER: But as you well know, they’re been many times over the years, you’ve worked very closely with him and praised him. The Democrats are circulating information that as recently as three years ago, you were praising him.

SEN. ZELL MILLER (D), GEORGIA: That was before 9/11. That was along about maybe 2001, and I’d come to the Senate, been there for about five or six months. This man was a war hero, and I honor war heroes, and I honor John Kerry’s service.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Miller, the Democrats are pointing out that John Kerry voted for 16 of 19 defense budgets that came through Congress while he was in the Senate, and many of these votes that you cited, Dick Cheney also voted against, that they were specific weapons systems.

MILLER: What I was talking about was a period of 19 years in the Senate. I’ve been in the Senate for four years. There’s quite a few years’ difference there. I have gotten documentation on every single one of those votes that I talked about here today. I’ve got more documentation here than the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library put together on that.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: You also were, I would say, almost indignant that anyone would possibly call America military occupiers, not liberators, on at least four occasions. President Bush has referred to the presence of American forces in Iraq as an occupation, and the question is: Are you not selectively choosing words to describe the same situation the president of the United States is describing?

MILLER: I don’t know if the president of the United States uses those words, but I know Senator Kennedy and Senator Kerry have used them on several occasions.

GREENFIELD: Yes. So has President Bush.

MILLER: Well, I don’t know about that.

BLITZER: You know that when the secretary — when the vice president was the secretary of defense he proposed cutting back on the B-2 Bomber, the F-14 Tomcat as well. I covered him at the Pentagon during those years when he was raising serious concerns about those two weapons systems.

MILLER: Look, the record is, as I stated, he voted against, he opposed all of those weapons systems. That, to me, I think shows the kind of priority he has as far as national defense.

Look, John Kerry came back from Vietnam as a young man unsure of whether America was a force for good or evil in the world. He still has that uncertainty about him.

WOODRUFF: You praised him…

GREENFIELD: Then why did you say in 2001 that he strengthened the military? You said that three years ago.

MILLER: Because that was the biographical sketch that they gave me. This young senator — not young senator, but new senator had come up there, and all I knew was that this man had won the Purple Heart three times and won the Silver Star and…

Look, I went back and researched the records, and I looked at these, and I — when I was putting that speech together, I wanted to make sure, whenever I sat down with people like you who would take these talking points from the Democrats and who also have covered politics for years, that I would know exactly what I was talking about, and we don’t have time to go through it on the air, but I can go through every one of those things that were mentioned about where he voted.

He voted against the B-1 Bomber…

BLITZER: A lot of…

MILLER: … on October the 15th, ’90, and on and on.

WOODRUFF: But do you simply reject the idea that Vice President Cheney, as Wolf said and as we know from the record, also voted against some of these systems?

MILLER: I don’t think Cheney voted against these.

BLITZER: No, but he opposed some of them when he was the defense secretary, and sometimes he was overruled by the Congress because he was concerned, he was worried that the defense of the United States could be better served by some other weapons systems, not specifically those. I’m specifically referring to the B-2 and the F-14 Tomcat.

MILLER: I’m talking about John Kerry’s record. I’ll let Dick Cheney, the vice president, answer those charges. He knows what happened in the Department of Defense years ago. I don’t know that.

But I do know, because I’ve looked it up and it’s there for everyone to see, that he voted against those positions as far as those weapons were concerned. He voted against all the weapons that really won the war against Communism, the Cold War and that are now winning the war on terror.

BLITZER: I know you have to move on because you have other things to do, but when you were speaking tonight — and correct me if I’m wrong — you seemed very angry.

MILLER: Me angry?

BLITZER: Yes, sir.

MILLER: No, no. I’m sorry if I gave that appearance. I was very…

BLITZER: But you — you seemed so angry that there are already some suggesting that the appearance could actually backfire from the cause that you’re promoting tonight…

MILLER: I’m sure probably some anchors are saying that.

BLITZER: … and the bottom line…

(LAUGHTER)

MILLER: That’s what anchors do.

BLITZER: The bottom line question is: Why are you still a Democrat?

MILLER: Because I was born a Democrat and because I was…

WOODRUFF: But other people change parties.

MILLER: Well, other people are not Zell Miller. I don’t change parties. I’m going to die a Democrat. I’m going up to the pearly gates, and I’m going to see my maker, and I’m going to see my mama and daddy, and I’m going to say I remained a Democrat, a conservative Democrat.

See, you talk about your voting for all these Republican things. I voted for the conservative proposals. If the Democrats had put any conservative proposals up there, I would have voted with them.

There’s nobody that welcomes a conservative Democrat in the party anymore. There’s no room for us.

BLITZER: Senator Zell Miller, thanks for spending a few moments with us.

MILLER: I know somebody that wrote a book about that.

BLITZER: All right.

WOODRUFF: We appreciate it.

Indeed.

more fucking less fighting + welch’s take on zell + zulieka