ot too long ago a man named Zell Miller, who just this week had his final fleeting moments of fame as the featured speaker at the Republican convention, said the following about the Democratic challenger..In calling Sen. Kerry"one of this nation's authentic heroes...and greatest leaders - and a good friend", he said that John Kerry "worked to strengthen our military, reform public education, boost the economy and protect the environment." Either the Georgia Senator, who got the job when the incumbent died, is a perspicacious judge of the candidate's ability...or a bloody liar. You know which is which. And the Republicans know as well, but it works well for them and suits their cause, as does the continuing energy and time- consuming series of commercials by the Swift Boat crewmen who have so many ties with the Oval office. But that's how they work; let others do the dirty work with slashing attacks and have the leader attempt to be above the fray.
This convention and the whole campaign is attempting to portray Mr. Kerry as a closet leftist. Mr.Bush attempting to clothe himself in centrist clothing is nonsensical...about as inaccurate as the Republicans trying so hard this week to cloak one of the most conservative presidents of modern times in the dress of moderation. They know that they already have the right wing vote (they have nowhere else to go), so they put in prime time the more moderating images of Sen. John McCain and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Guess what, if the Republicans win you get no Arnold or John McCain, you get John Ashcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz etc...and George W. Bush.
One example of the misdirecting we are hearing from the GOP, in contrast to Bill Clinton's ambitious attempt to reform health care, which would have increased federal control, Kerry's plan is more modest and has government picking up the bills for the sickest of patients and the least able to afford. That's not the way the White House tells it; you'd swear that Kerry was aiming to turn ours into a system of socialized medicine.
Again, this week's most conservative speaker is a sham and not even a Republican. Democrat Zell Miller of Georgia was the man who gave the keynote address for the Democrats when they nominated Bill Clinton in 1992.
Final note...The Twins! Barbara and Jenna were awful and out of place even at that convention. Did the Bush daughters write that trite and tasteless material? Word has it that Karen Hughes, that most trusted of presidential aides, wrote the speech. I'll take the maturity of the Kerry daughters and the reserved approach of Chelsea Clinton any time. As one critic wrote in the New York Times, "the only way the speech could have been more lame was if they had been triplets." But you know something, I don't care at all about the children of public figures!
Soon the conventions will be behind us and, God willing, the Kerry/Edwards ticket will be able to tell us more, inspire a greater following...do a better job of campaigning, or we'll likely end up with four more years of...declining employment...other wars...more ultra conservative judges on the Supreme Court...greater influence of the Neocons...more people living below the poverty line...a further decline in respect for the United States, the greatest nation in the world...and more.