Reaction to Zell Miller's Convention Speech

I didn't see it, but I might try to catch it on C-Span's website because it sounds pretty interesting. Here is the transcript from All American Patriots. Update: I've seen it now. The tone of this reaction may have been inappropriately measured.

It's going to be a pretty easy one to duck out of for the Republicans. They'll be able to disavow him and point out that Zell Miller isn't even from their party if it gets too rough, but I don't think it will get too rough because people love caricature. The damnable effect of caricature is that when permitted as real commentary it tends to become the actual view or at least influence the perception of reality in the direction suggested by the caricature. This makes subsequent judgments less objective and further from reality. Interprestortion. I just coined that. I think it describes what is going on here. Interpretation is necessary. There is a fine line between interpretation and distortion. Making it easy for people who are trying to make a judgment about where something lies, Zell Miller chose to cross the line into distortion and straddle the line between distortion and lies.

I did catch most of Vice President Cheney's speech. Cheney was, with the exception of a few lines that I will let go because it is a party convention, safely in the realm of interpretation by my judgment. The two zingers (paraphrasing: America sees two Kerrys just as he sees two Americas; Kerry said he wants to fight a more sensitive war on terror as if Kerry thinks al-Qaeda would be impressed with our softer side) were notable. The first one because it is quite clever and the second because it is one of the distortions in a mostly interpretive speech and tries to take away one of the definitions of 'sensitive' (Having quick or intense perception or sensation [OED 3b] as in this citation by P. G. Wodehouse "Living by his wits had developed in Percy highly sensitive powers of observation." ) and distort it only to an emotional term (Very susceptible or responsive to emotional, artistic, etc., impressions, possessing delicate or tender feelings, having sensibility; [OED 3a]). One of the reasons that Kerry has to explain himself and is being painted as indecisive is because he uses words that are perfectly appropriate and oftentimes preferable, but happen to be less used. To have quick or intense perception or sensation in the war on terror would be a decided improvement. Admittedly Kerry has sausage-finger dexterity with connotation.

Links to a handful of reactions at The Washington Monthly's Blog

Imperial President: Opposing Bush becomes unpatriotic

But the important thing isn't the falsity of the charges, which Republicans continue to repeat despite press reports debunking them. The important thing is that the GOP is trying to quash criticism of the president simply because it's criticism of the president. The election is becoming a referendum on democracy.

In a democracy, the commander in chief works for you. You hire him when you elect him. You watch him do the job. If he makes good decisions and serves your interests, you rehire him. If he doesn't, you fire him by voting for his opponent in the next election.

Not every country works this way. In some countries, the commander in chief builds a propaganda apparatus that equates him with the military and the nation. If you object that he's making bad decisions and disserving the national interest, you're accused of weakening the nation, undermining its security, sabotaging the commander in chief, and serving a foreign power—the very charges Miller leveled tonight against Bush's critics.

Funny from Talking Points Memo which also has some good links to follow for more commentary

"Our tribe will attack their tribe. And then we will kill their men, make their livestock our own and take their women to mate."

This, I'm told, is from the draft version of Zell Miller's speech, before word came down that Zell really shouldn't hold back.