What the Zell is wrong with you, Miller?

Thank you Ed Kilgore. He finally answered the riddle to me on why Zell decided to out Republican the GOP: he hates Washington. This ol' boy from Georgia feels like he is being talked down to all the time, and doesn't like is more liberal party-mates from the likes of San Francisco.

Kilgore, then-Gov. Miller's federal-state relations director from 1992 to 1994, certainly knows the man of which he speaks when he reviews his book in this month's Blueprint, a rag that let me get a byline or two.

"Sadly, Miller's perverse and premature endorsement of Bush, and his adoption by the right-wing media machine, will all but guarantee that few if any Democrats will pay attention to the nuggets of sound advice he offers his party. Most of the book simply warns Democrats that they cannot remain competitive in the South if they abandon traditional party commitments to mainstream cultural views and to the economic aspirations of the middle class. He repeatedly praises the Democratic Leadership Council for offering the right advice to Democrats, even as he endorses Bush administration positions on economic, fiscal, and foreign policies that the DLC consistently opposes. At a time when centrist Democrats are fighting insidious claims that its positions are no more than Bush Lite, Miller offers Bush Heavy as an alternative."

The real question this book doesn't answer then is, why did Zell become a Senator if every time he went to DC, as Ed claims, he got all tense and defensive? His sense of duty to the party? And since not all democrats are not New Democrats, Zell thought: 'to hell will ya'll' and let the right-wing pander start.

"In the first chapter of A National Party No More, Miller compares himself to Jimmy Stewart's Mr. Smith, and sadly says: 'What I discovered in Washington was truth, and truth did not set me free. It simply made me mad.'

That's vintage Zell, but he's got it backward: He came to Washington and got mad, and his anger has bent him against the real truth, and driven him into the arms of people with little but contempt for his old-fashioned Democratic values. "

Right-Wing Hippocrite of the Week

Louisville anti-porn activist John Riddle was arrested for soliciting a prostitute. He had "a bottle of Viagra in his possession," according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

and Picture of the day It wasn't this year, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I give you this; enjoy

Kerry's bleeding more than Ketchup

MASSACHUSETTS (3/2 primary): Two New Polls Show Dean Leading Kerry

A Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll; conducted 11/19-22 by KRC Communications Research; surveyed 400 likely Dem primary voters; margin of error +/- 4.9% (Boston Globe, 11/23).

WH '04 Dem Primary Matchup
Dean 27%
Kerry 24
Clark 6

Which Do You Agree With?
Kerry's campaign is moving forward, even though he has faced
recent rough spots 46%
Kerry's candidacy is floundering and he should drop out 25

And This One Has Dean Up Nine
A Boston Herald poll; conducted 11/19-21 by RKM Research and Communications; surveyed 424 "probable" Dem primary voters; margin of error +/- 4.8% (Boston Herald, 11/24).

WH '04 Dem Primary Matchup
Dean 33%
Kerry 24
Clark 7
Lieberman 4
Gephardt 3

All of a sudden, Lieberman's tiny lead over Dean in CT doesn't look so bad. I don't care what you say to try and spin this, you are weak, you are in bad shape, you are toast if you are losing your own state in the primary. How can you expect to beat George W. Bush, if you can't even win Massachusetts, Senator? It is like McCain topping Bush in Texas in 2000. Or Bradley beating Gore in Tennessee.

Go back to your mansion on Beacon Hill and listen to the Democratic nominatee's speech from there, because that is as close as your are going to get. Add Kerry going to play dress up ala Bush.