A rare word from Zell Miller: ‘I had a late life conversion’
Buford, Ga. – There was no mistaking the man who walked through the glass doors of the hotel complex on the shores of Lake Lanier.
The trademark shock of white hair remains neatly groomed. The hawk-like nose still juts out over a tight jaw. The eyes are clear and bright. But the stride is gone. Zell Miller walks gingerly now, always with a cane.
The former governor and U.S. senator describes himself as an 80-year-old man with 100-year-old legs. “I very, very seldom go anywhere,” Miller said in an interview.
Former governor and U.S. senator Zell Miller autographs copies of his 2005 book "A Deficit of Decency" at a Buford fundraiser for 9th District congressional candidate Doug Collins on Friday/SPECIAL
In fact, Miller’s appearance on Friday was a rare return to a world he once commanded. He’d come down from the hills of Young Harris as the featured attraction at a fundraiser for state Rep. Doug Collins of Gainesville, now a Republican candidate in the 9th District congressional race.
His grandson, Bryan Miller, is Collins’ campaign manager. “Of course, he brought his grandfather with him, but I would have been there anyway,” the former governor said. “My grandmother was a Collins out of Union County. And I was impressed by what a good legislator [Doug Collins] made. “I felt I had a mountain relationship with him.”
Miller’s abrupt disappearance from the scene has been one of the greatest vanishing acts in Georgia political history. At the tail end of his U.S. Senate years, still in the shadows of 9/11, Miller broke lifelong ties with many of his Democratic friends and endorsed the re-election of President George W. Bush.
Miller, who had given the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 1992, played the same role for Republicans in 2004 – damning Democrat John Kerry for his alleged plans to fight world terrorism with “spitballs.”
The last glimpse that most Georgians had of Miller was his vein-popping, post-speech interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. “I wished we lived in the day when you could challenge a person to a duel,” Miller snapped that day.
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The combative Miller left Washington without regret only a few months later. Since then, he’s made a few brief appearances here and there. A handful of candidates like Collins, mostly Republicans, have captured his still highly valued endorsement. Miller recently lent his name to Newt Gingrich’s presidential run.
But the interviews and public speeches became part of a life left behind.
“I don’t hear from anybody much,” Miller said. “I stay away from the limelight and politics and all that.”
One reason has been his health. “About three years ago, I got shingles. I broke out from my toes – big blisters all the way up to my hip. And it left me somewhat disabled, and I had two big falls. I fell down a flight of 13 stairs, all the way down them. Broke five ribs, two of them very badly, collapsed a lung, and pushed my heart over to the middle of my body more,” the former governor said.
“That really crippled me up. And then about two months later, I fell again and broke my back. And so I have really been stove up, as we say in the mountains.”
Until now, he has kept his constant pain a private matter. He’s had a small electronic device implanted in his back. “When the pain gets so bad I just can’t stand it, I’ve got a little remote – like a TV remote. I can mash that, and it kind of blurs the pain some,” he said.
The former governor credits his wife Shirley for keeping him on track.
He reads the Journal-Constitution every day, delivered via his Kindle. He keeps a sharper eye on Atlanta than Washington. “I love state government. I pay close attention to how Nathan [Deal] is doing. And I’m thinking he’s making an excellent governor. I knew he would,” he said.
Miller, who served as governor when a Democratic City Hall and a Democratic state Capitol operated in utterly separate worlds, is fascinated by the working relationship between Deal, a Republican, and Mayor Kasim Reed, a Democrat.
As governor, Miller’s greatest achievement was the creation of a state lottery and the HOPE scholarship that it funds. But he has no problem with the Republican Legislature’s recent decision to “de-couple” HOPE scholarship payments from college tuition rates. No longer does one fully cover the other.
“I don’t think they had any other choice. We knew back in the ‘90s that there would be adjustments. This came as no surprise,” Miller said. Nor did he blink at the decision by state lottery officials to approve the sale of tickets through the Internet.
“I’m okay with that. In fact, we wrote the lottery law so you could do that,” he said. But as for that plan to create a casino with machines operated by the Georgia Lottery Corporation, Miller said he’ll let others decide that.
It is tempting to write that Miller, one of the most confrontational politicians ever to haunt the Capitol, has mellowed. And it is true that Miller is interested in rebuilding some of those bridges that have been burned over the years.
But it would be more accurate to say that Miller has turned inward. At times, he is his own harshest critic. Take that 2004 televised confrontation with Matthews.
“That was terrible. I embarrassed myself. I’d rather it had not happened,” Miller said. “But Chris Matthews is not one of my favorite people.”
For those who have tracked Miller’s career, one of the greatest unanswered questions has been the source of his last rightward turn. What sparked not only his admiration for President Bush, but turned him into a strict opponent of abortion and a harsh critic of this nation’s social mores?
Religion, Miller said. “I had a conversion. I had a late life conversion. I changed my views on several things. This had to do with my son going blind, and me having to carry him to the doctor with his hand on my shoulder,” Miller said. This was in the early 2000s. His son, Matt, had been a lifelong diabetic.
“I prayed and prayed that they could do something about his sight,” Miller said. The prayers seemed to work. “He can see pretty good out of one eye right now.”
But a bargain struck with God often transforms the petitioner more than the object of any plea. “I changed on a lot of things. Not just abortion, but my whole life in general. I was a pretty rough character in my younger days. I needed to change,” Miller said.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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181 comments Add your comment
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
July 21st, 2012
1:15 pm
The Roman Anti-Christ, from which we escaped to receive America in covenant with G-d, followed us over and has historically been forced to use non-Roman Catholics as their “fronts.”
The Rockefellers were originally Baptist, though many are now Roman Catholic, feeling comfortable with their wealth having gotten away with finance, through papal knight Prescott Bush, of Hitler from their coffers containing the largest cash-flow in history – the collection plate funds of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S., and, with Rome’s other agents, fraudulently creating the Federal Reserve scam, in spite of JFK’s EO11,110 ending it “for a time.”
Draft-dodging, pervert and serial adulterer Gingrich, though now a papist, was not when the Roman Catholic DuPont family brought him to the national stage, enriched by Rome’s sending them over here to “divide and conquer” liberal, whig, Jeffersonian America on Rome’s behalf by selling arms and munitions to both the North and South after we had made trade with Rome’s “Wall Street of slavery” illegal.
The L-rd works in mysterious ways.
Zell is but one of Rome’s and Satan’s more recent “fronts.” May he be accursed, for he is neither man nor Georgian.
Kris
July 21st, 2012
1:16 pm
Oh heck yawl he just come down from da hills to teach these young corrupt whippier snappers how to zig zag and flip flop at the same time …do a little dance… take a little dough.
Yey another record for GA to be proud of.
Regulators closed two metro Atlanta banks on Friday
Eighty-two Georgia banks have now failed since mid-2008, more than in any other state.
Thank you Zig Zag!
Vote the crooks out?
If it is a question on the Ballot be safe VOTE NO!
Centrist
July 21st, 2012
1:19 pm
Despite what many minority left wing liberals say here about Zell Miller, he went from a mediocre Lt. Governor, to a very popular Governor and U.S. Senator. As pointed out above by Ken Stallings, the remnants of the Democratic Party in Georgia moved to the far left and Miller and the majority of the electorate did not.
Lynn
July 21st, 2012
1:31 pm
Those who know some of the illegal and frankly immoral things this man did in his own political fiefdom know the true Zell. The late in life conversion is from a man who purposely ruined others and now wants forgiveness for the lives he destroyed.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
July 21st, 2012
1:36 pm
Read the coiner of the terms “right” and “left,” Thomas Carlyle’s “History of the French Revolution:”
The Roman Anti-Christ’s “king and pope” caesaropapism is the “Cote Droit.”
The Left is the sovereignty of the People manifest in American Exceptionalism, now usurped by the Rockefeller-Bush CIA/FBI/Fed Fifth Column of the Roman Anti-Christ.
Try reading Our Founder and Prophet’s writings. Mr. Jefferson was anointed by the same Deity yet ruling this Creation, despite Rome’s satanic efforts to overthrow the divine order with the help of white-trash like Zell Miller, Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton, Winthrop Rockefeller’s Arkansas white-trash yard-baby.
Cokefloat
July 21st, 2012
1:42 pm
Centrist: you said: “…he went from a mediocre Lt. Governor, to a very popular Governor and U.S. Senator. As pointed out above by Ken Stallings, the remnants of the Democratic Party in Georgia moved to the far left and Miller and the majority of the electorate did not.” Being popular doesn’t automatically mean good… and in fact, that leftward movement of the Democratic party coincided with the rightward movement of the GOP, something I remember well because while Zell was apparently moving away from the party who’d been electing him (without admitting it), I was moving away from the party I’d worked for through several elections. If you want to understand more about those shifts, Google “Nixon’s Southern Strategy” and the Dixiecrats. People like Zell are now political indicators: if he endorses somebody, I would know not to vote for that person.
Baron Dekalb
July 21st, 2012
1:45 pm
He wasted our money making and giving away those stupid “Classical music for babies” CDs…
Newtewt.
July 21st, 2012
1:53 pm
Pell Mell Zell wind-vane has finally rusted to the Right.
yuzeyurbrane
July 21st, 2012
2:00 pm
zig zag zell. the total narcissist has a lot of sins to atone for since his psychotic flip. he has hurt a lot of people.
Mike
July 21st, 2012
2:12 pm
When Miller was governor I visited his office and left a hand-written note on his desk. He wrote back (also hand-written) and I found that quite admirable that he would do that. It was a different time in which you could just walk into his office (which had two rooms), sit down and ask to speak with the governor. This was before the internet was about to boom (It was 1994 when I visited his office and I was in-between job interviews that day for teaching).
Zell Miller did a lot for Georgia’s teachers. He took us from being paid typical low wages (common in Southern states) to being the highest-paid teachers in all of the Southeast. We still (even after recent pay cuts) make about a third more than the surrounding states, including Florida).
The HOPE Scholarship still surprise my friends from other states when they learn that millions of gone to college tuition-free. Sure, it’s weaker than it used to be, but it worked, and so did the Pre-K program.
I agree with many of Zell Miller’s conservative beliefs, but I think he was too extreme in his blind support for George W. Bush (as were many people). He was wise enough to realize that Bush was a poor president who couldn’t manage the federal budget and who had no rational approach to foreign policy or domestic tax policy.
Sure, the Democrats are out of control on many social programs and social issues, but Bill Clinton’s administration was leaps and bounds more successful in every area than Bush Jr.s. I’m surprised Zell was so willing to look the other way when Bush over-hyped the dangers faced by our country.
Our nation is still in a slump created by W’s failed administration, and I would think a man as educated as Miller would admit it.
pb
July 21st, 2012
2:15 pm
Old Zig Zag has totally flipped to the other side. A big time Republican. (Maybe he was one all the way along, but he was too scared he would lose to show it.) Never forget that speech at 2004 Republican convention; his face contorting and almost losing it about John Kerry. What a guy. Sorry he is crippled and hurting, but it was time he went away.
Mike
July 21st, 2012
2:15 pm
I botched the above. I meant to spell a little more carefully (too big of a hurry) and I meant to say that Miller was NOT wise enough to see that George W. Bush was a poor president.
jj
July 21st, 2012
2:15 pm
He was a phony 20 years ago, and he’s even a bigger phony now.
Mike
July 21st, 2012
2:18 pm
A historical note: The North Georgia mountains have traditionally been Republican. During the Civil War there were a ton of Republicans up there, and flying the rebel flag (common now in the hills) was not at all common for a long time. That’s a recent thing.
Slavery was rare in the North Georgia mountains, and to this day is about 99% white in several counties. Zell Miller has always been a bit against the grain, even when a Democrat from the North Georgia mountains.
Although people call him Zig Zag Zell, the effect of the parties switching is just as much to blame for his nickname. Remember, Democrats started the KKK after Republicans freed the slaves. Something to consider.
dave pittman
July 21st, 2012
2:19 pm
i have lived in young harris for 10 years and go to the same church as zell. he and shirley are fine folks, and very humble and personable. zell has slowed down, and it is hard to watch….but….his mind is still as sharp as ever.
keep an eye on zell’s grandson, bryan. he is very bright and personable. he has been involved in politics for several years–started in high school. he has a very high hurdle to jump, but i think he can be “zell junioir” one day. stay tuned.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
July 21st, 2012
2:26 pm
“zell junioir [sic]” ?
A traitor against the People, Georgia, America and G-d, too?
The curse comes not without cause.
KrystalsBalls
July 21st, 2012
2:33 pm
@Karma
For a second I felt bad about feeling the way I felt about this caustic old man as I read the article, but you stressed my sentiments exactly. I remember how repulsed I was by just the very bitter person he seemed to be during the mid 2000s. You truly are what they say you are. LOL.
Vote no Tsplost
July 21st, 2012
2:33 pm
I Really enjoyed this, wish I could have been a fly on the wall. I always liked Zell.
I loved the part where he asked Chris, if he was going to shut, not talk over him, and let him answer the question..
Auntie Christ
July 21st, 2012
2:38 pm
Zell came to Atlanta as a new legislator wearing a K Mart suit and carrying a cardboard suitcase. His first duties were polishing axe handles for his mentor lester mad axe, and handing them out to the old seggies coming to pay their respects to the master.
Zig zag zell was the most appropriate moniker to ever be bestowed on a politician. His forte was keeping his finger in the wind and taking positions accordingly. He epitomizes what is worst in Ga politics, the cronyism, graft, demagoguery and lack of principles that has marked this state forever.
Like all Ga pols, he learned very quickly how to make govrnment work, work for him that is.
KrystalsBalls
July 21st, 2012
2:40 pm
Mike says: “Remember, Democrats started the KKK after Republicans freed the slaves. Something to consider”
Yeah, and I used to be a Floridian and now I’m a Georgian. Get it? Of course you don’t or you would not have made the stupid statement you did trying the make the stupid point you did. I won’t challenge you to go further with your point in an HONEST manner and explain the SWITCHING of the DIXIEcrat to modern day Republican party. That would be too much like right.
Stone Wall Jacka$$
July 21st, 2012
2:45 pm
So Bobby, God doesn’t favor liberals and their GRAND THEFT SCHEME OF TAKING MONEY AWAY From those that earn it and distributing it to those that have not worked for it. My bible clearly states I have free will to help my fellow brother and sister regardless of political affiliation, race, creed, nationality, etc however liberal always are willing to spend others people’s money for the good of the POOR. You teach a man to fish, quit giving him my darn fish!!!!!
marsh
July 21st, 2012
2:52 pm
If we actually used spitballs instead of Shock & Awe the World would be a better place.
KrystalsBalls
July 21st, 2012
2:58 pm
“…my bible clearly states I have free will to help my fellow brother or sister regardless of political affiliation, race, creed…”
Yeah, but because you are likely a selfishly sh1ttee person (conclusion drawn from your expressed sentiments), you would never be moved to actually exercise that will… because you are a hard person. And oh yea… your “bible” is a joke too. Fabricated by men for the purpose of oppresing other men. God, yes. YOUR “bible”, no.
Joseph Pretto
July 21st, 2012
3:02 pm
Bush has offered to give his eu—-
DannyX
July 21st, 2012
3:07 pm
“GRAND THEFT SCHEME OF TAKING MONEY AWAY”
Great stuff Stone Wall. Jesus was all about advocating for the rich, he never defended the poor.
From the New Republican Bible: Jesus said “…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a poor man to enter the kingdom of God.”
All hail the rich!
marsh
July 21st, 2012
3:24 pm
jesus was a libtard.
lugnut
July 21st, 2012
3:26 pm
Well, I was a bit unsure of what exactly I thought of Zell, but seeing that all the liberal pukes hate his butt makes for a good argument to hold the man in high esteem. Done.
Cokefloat
July 21st, 2012
3:30 pm
Just wondering, Jacka$$ (great spelling for your name, by the way) — do you feel good about taking MY tax money to pay for Bush’s war against Iraq? Because I very much don’t mind paying taxes to care for those who have been downsized, or got old against their will, or with life-threatening illnesses — but man, do I resent my taxes being used to kill people and make the 1% even richer! But then, I used to be a Republican and now I’m a Democrat. Figures.
Holy Guacamole
July 21st, 2012
3:32 pm
I haven’t read Zell Miller’s book as of yet but it seems to me that given the current political situation in Washington, it certainly has the right title “A Deficit of Decency”.
Maybe Zell had a late life conversion after reading Ecc 10:2. Maybe others on this blog should read it too.
Refugee
July 21st, 2012
3:34 pm
Oh lugnut, you and all the other nuts worship at the Zell Miller is God Church. Always have and will.
So any mealy-mouthed “bit unsure of what exactly I thought of Zell” is laughably insincere.
Cokefloat
July 21st, 2012
3:38 pm
Really, Holy Guac? Are you saying that Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament supersedes the Sermon on the Mount, and the Golden Rule? And well, I suppose, that verse supplants the entire New Testament and the message of Jesus to love our brothers. But to be honest, I really don’t think the Preacher meant that to be political advice. Not that many years before the modern Republican party with people like Michelle Bachmann and Newt Gringrich, to say nothing like Zell Miller.
Holy Guacamole
July 21st, 2012
4:15 pm
ok, Cokefloat. Are you saying the the New Testament supercedes the Old Testament? Is it not really one book? Jesus never did anything to invalidate the Old Testament. In fact, his coming fulfilled over 108 Old Testament Biblical prophesies. And, he said that he came to fulfill the law.
Cokefloat
July 21st, 2012
4:25 pm
Guac: if I read your first post right — you were actually interpreting a verse from the Old Testament to be political advice for today’s world of right-left politics! You do realize, don’t you, that those words were not written as political advice? I know a lot of Republicans apparently believe that God is a registered card-carrying member of their party, but believe me, He isn’t. In fact, that is the source of too many of today’s problems: folks actually believing that “God plus me” equals a majority politically speaking. It doesn’t, not even when that one is a member of the Tea Party.
Cokefloat
July 21st, 2012
4:27 pm
Forgot, Guac, to answer your question: no, the New Testament doesn’t supersede the Old… but neither does one verse from the Old invalidate what Jesus taught.
Centrist
July 21st, 2012
4:30 pm
That ambush interview by liberal Chris Mathews shows why the populace has so little respect for the journalist profession. Miller handled it about the best way he could.
Holy Guacamole
July 21st, 2012
4:32 pm
Cokefloat – the Ecc verse was meant as a joke. Of course it doesn’t mean today’s political landscape. But, I still stand by saying that Zell’s book being a good descriptor of today’s political landscape.
Also, those on here who accuse Southerner’s of using the Bible to justify slavery need to know that that is a misinterpretation of it as well. It very well may have happened but it was wrong if if did.
Holy Guacamole
July 21st, 2012
4:34 pm
Also Cokefloat, you are right, God doesn’t choose sides….we do.
Cokefloat
July 21st, 2012
4:38 pm
Okay, Guac: you’ve extended an olive branch and I happily accept it! And furthermore (I cannot I did this) — I apologize for not recognizing a joke. The problem with words on the internet, and our not knowing one another really, is that we don’t recognize most forms of humor. So, I accept your olive branch and raise you one white feather from a dove.
SBinF
July 21st, 2012
4:41 pm
What, did he challenge someone to a duel?
Cokefloat
July 21st, 2012
4:43 pm
And btw, Guac: about Southerners using the Bible to justify slavery: one advantage of being old as the hills is that a lot of stuff written in history, you can actually remember when that wasn’t history yet! I remember when I was growing up hearing that kind of thing said, by the same grandmother who also explained that the KKK had a lot of good about it, apparently because her papa and brothers were members.That’d do it: anything my saintly ancestors did has got to be a good thing because I am a southerner.
DannyX
July 21st, 2012
4:48 pm
“Miller handled it about the best way he could.”
“Centrist,” then why in the world would Zell say this, “That was terrible. I embarrassed myself. I’d rather it had not happened,”
Embarrassing himself was the best way to handle it??????????????? Are you nuts?
hiram
July 21st, 2012
4:51 pm
Centrist
July 21st, 2012
4:30 pm
“That ambush interview by liberal Chris Mathews shows why the populace has so little respect for the journalist profession. Miller handled it about the best way he could.”
Centrust,
Your populace isn’t my populace, but you are representative of the majority of Georgia’s populace, but thank God, there’s populaces in 49 more states.
To sane people, Miller looked like a raving lunatic at the Republican Convention.
BTW, This post really isn’t directed at you Centrust, since I know you don’t read my post.
Holy Guacamole
July 21st, 2012
4:52 pm
Cokefloat, I have a little age on me as well and I don’t doubt for a moment that what you are saying is true.
However, I have two observations. First, ignorance was much more wide spread due to a vastly less educated populace (not talking bad about your granny – LOL). And second, I am careful with “history” because there are a lot of people vested in re-writing it to suit their political agenda. I guess that the most recently prominent example is Iran’s leader claiming that the Holocaust never happened..That is precisely why Eisenhower invited the press after the war to provide a record of what did happen because he said, “some day some son of a b will say that this never happened”.
Holy Guacamole
July 21st, 2012
4:54 pm
Well, it seems that this blog has been reduced to kindergarten name calling and I have better things to do (almost anything).
Elmo C. Groga
July 21st, 2012
4:55 pm
I knew him well. He stopped in a crosswalk once, years later, to acknowledge me. A prince of a man; an absolute prince.
hiram
July 21st, 2012
5:12 pm
Holy Guacamole
July 21st, 2012
4:54 pm
“Well, it seems that this blog has been reduced to kindergarten name calling and I have better things to do (almost anything).”
What just happened to this blog is what happens in the real world when you follow Ann Rand’s policy of deregulation. If you want total chaos and mayhem, just deregulate everything, and it will go the way of this blog.
Cokefloat
July 21st, 2012
5:14 pm
Guac: ironically my grandmother was extremely well-educated although it was strictly DIY… and I got a lot of my liberal thinking directly from her. Her HUGE blind spot was her family, meaning the one she grew up in: it was composed completely of perfect people, and every other family in that entire corner of Georgia was inferior to them. It taught me to be very leery of us-them beliefs, so I guess that was a benefit to me. Eisenhower was the major reason I was a Republican — when he was running the first time for president, I was out there trying to pass out literature and buttons to a town full of people who believed he was the Devil incarnate! One of my favorite things to do, late at night when I can’t think of anything else, is Googling quotes by Ike. He was a wise man, and a good one.
UGATCA
July 21st, 2012
5:19 pm
@Un Educated: I hate it for you, but I am not some rich kid who wanted to drive a new car to school. I bought a used car at 16 and worked 30 plus hours a week in high school to pay for it. I am from a rural town in south GA – there was one red light in our COUNTY – and I had to put myself through college. Even with working, additional scholarships AND Hope, 6 years after graduating from UGA I still owe over $22,000 in student loans. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like if I hadn’t had HOPE. Plenty of my classmates from that same small town (and many nearby) also used HOPE to pay their way through school. Some went further afield, like I did. However, many of them were quite content to stay local, get their secondary education (some college and some vocational training) and be near their families. Without the HOPE program most of these people would not have been able to get ANY higher education. So you should get your facts straight and know some of those people you want to use as your example – I AM one of those people and I can promise we don’t agree with you.
barb
July 21st, 2012
5:21 pm
Ken, you are on target. Zell Miller didn’t change—-the Democratic Party did. No longer is that party for the people. They seem to love the left-leaning liberals and the Hollywood sort, none of whom are living in the real world. And that real world consists of people wanting decent jobs, decent homes and good schools and colleges for their children, openly express love of country and respect for our flag, among other values. How sad that we have let the current leaders AND Wall Street define us. (And I am a registered Democrat. I don’t intend to change my party affiliation—let the Democratic Party change back to what it once was).
cinque
July 21st, 2012
5:30 pm
Why should “Zig Zag Zell” appear in public or have anything to say now? He has “achieved” his purpose in life, i.e., financial security for him,his family and future generations. He put on quite a show at the Republican Convention just to promote his book. He came a long at the right time, he would have never made it as a Confederate General during the civil war. Can you imagine a “Miller Charge” (Pickett Charge)? Please! He would have been too much of a coward! But with his quick tongue and genuine southern humor, he would have convinced some one else that it was their civic duty to lead the charge. It is fine with me if he never appears in public or anywhere ELSE!!!!!!!