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
ByteMe
July 21st, 2012
11:10 am
Nice, Jim. Sounds like you had a good conversation with him.
jconservative
July 21st, 2012
11:19 am
Very good column.
I met Zell back in the mid 1960’s and thought he was one of the more liberal people I had every met.
marsh
July 21st, 2012
11:21 am
That ole timey religion sure is bile.
Todd
July 21st, 2012
11:22 am
Zell had a dang sharp knife and wounded many people needlessly. Glad he has changed.
GaBlue
July 21st, 2012
11:24 am
Well, bless his lil’ ol’ heart.
Bobby
July 21st, 2012
11:27 am
But Zell Miller OPPOSED the Hope Scholarship and the Georgia lottery the day before it was voted on as the tied had turned and he thought it would fail. He flip flops as much as any politician and takes credit for things he does not deserve. Too bad he has become a mean spirited bigot in his old age.
George Corley Wallace
July 21st, 2012
11:30 am
Sounds sorta like me
Bobby
July 21st, 2012
11:30 am
And if Zell actually read his Bible he would have found God does not favor conservatives over any other group. Like a lot of people who don’t read the Bible in its entirety he has fallen victim to misinterpretation. No doubt he would support segregation and slavery today if he was Governor based on his misapplication of Holy Scripture.
steverino
July 21st, 2012
11:33 am
Quite simply, “Zig Zag Zell” finally found the proper direction to ‘zig’ to, and he stayed there.
Mike In Dunwoody
July 21st, 2012
11:33 am
Faith certainly has its place but Governor Miller’s complete 180 was astonishing, stunning–and quite appalling. The man had made pursuing policies of fairness and equality his life’s work and then all of a sudden he hitches his trailer to the machine that stole a national election?
Politically, there was nothing to gain for Miller by switching coats, which made his abrupt Democratic departure all the more bizarre.
The governor certainly deserves respect but I think he soiled what should have been a tremendous legacy by needlessly aligning himself with people who never understood the meaning of democracy.
Bonannie
July 21st, 2012
11:35 am
Zell Miller was a Great Governor and politician. Thanks for catching us up with the man behind HOPE and the lottery. Miller used admirable foresight in working toward long term goals and was what Georgia needed at the time. We’ve gone forward considerably as a state because of his actions. Reckon I’ll say some prayers for Zell living at peace and comfortably for the rest of his days.
born with a tan
July 21st, 2012
11:38 am
TRADER.
Not So Quick, Steverino
July 21st, 2012
11:39 am
That’s Zell, alright. Still ziggin’ and a-zaggin’! Norman Underwood gave him the most apt nickname in Georgia politics since Gene Talmadge was tagged as “The Wild Man from Sugar Creek.”
Bill Clements
July 21st, 2012
11:39 am
Governor Zell Miller did wonders for neighborhood schools and Georgia Scholars – no one has come close to his achievements for schools and students in Georgia ! I applaud him for his leadership and vision.
Garvin
July 21st, 2012
11:39 am
Another man faces death and finds his path in life wanting.
Uncle Herman
July 21st, 2012
11:42 am
God is Love, He doesn’t love ugly. So it took you eighty years to figure that out?
Look before I leap...
July 21st, 2012
11:48 am
What little respect I had for Miller after he endorsed the meatball from Crawford, evaporated completely when he endorsed Nathan Deal.
Miller credits God for giving his son some of his sight back, yet God’s response to Miller’s new found faith was to give him shingles and throw him down a flight of steps.
liblab
July 21st, 2012
11:50 am
I wish no man ill, but Zell Miller was a horse’s patoot, and the evil that men do lives after them.
Doug
July 21st, 2012
11:52 am
He was Lester Maddox’s top aide for goodness sake. He has not changed. He only masqueraded as a moderate to get elected. He is now and has always been a man without a center.
Randy
July 21st, 2012
12:02 pm
I’d like to meet Zell Miller so that I could thank him for helping me put my kids through college!!!! No other politician has done anything so tangible to help my family.
Karma to you, Zell
July 21st, 2012
12:03 pm
Karma is one heck of a buuga-bear…Zell was a mean spirited B-tard in his final years in political office. Chickens now come home to roost…blind son, what the bling does that have to do with a conversion, Zell? If anything you should have realized the error of your ways. And now, even with the shingles, broken back, etc. you still supporting people who hang on to religion, yet have very un-christian like ways.
Hillarious
July 21st, 2012
12:06 pm
I like him now.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
July 21st, 2012
12:10 pm
The sins of the fathers are visited on the sons to the third and fourth generation.
The curse causeless shall not come.
Miller gave the Lottery, openly run by Organized Crime out of Mob-ruled Rhode Island, whose “fronts” have openly “skimmed” hundreds of millions of dollars in the Big Game more than a half-dozen times, and George W. Bush committed 9/11, a homosexual, draft-dodging psychopath whose father assassinated John and Martin to send us to die as papal catspaw in Vietnam; whose grandfather was Hitler’s banker; and whose family has fronted the Vatican banker Rockefellers since they built what is now Roman Catholic “Big Oil” on murder and arson in 1870’s Cleveland, Ohio.
“Great” legacy, Zell. You got the shingles for good reason. Payback is tough, isn’t it?
liblab
July 21st, 2012
12:13 pm
There is no crime with a man dressing up as goat and living free within a wild herd. It’s not evil. I think goats and men should be able to marry if they want to.
Hilton
July 21st, 2012
12:15 pm
I liked him at first, then he obviously fell for all those harmful, hateful, and uncaring republican policies
He learned NOTHING from the bible.
Lost all respect for him.
The Swan Song
July 21st, 2012
12:16 pm
Zig Zag Zell,
Unfortunately it is true……….
What you do to others, will come back to you too someday-
Trevor
July 21st, 2012
12:19 pm
Love how republicans claim christianity for their stance on MOST issues. It is not christianity that republicans cherish, but modern American christianity. True christianity, the one espoused by Jesus, caring for the less fortunate, exhibiting charity to all types of people, honoring God over worldly matters, are more expressed by liberal values than modern conservatives hold. Poor Zell obviously likes the beliefs that can be summarized and handed to him, instead of actually learning something for himself.
Dirty Dawg
July 21st, 2012
12:21 pm
Memories of Zelll…being proud to hear him say that ‘Any time is the right time to do the right thing.’ (To a group at the Georgia World Congress Center in response to a challenge of why he tried – even though he failed – to get the Confederate battle flag off the State flag.)…being ashamed that he had ‘converted’ to a right-wing, hate-filled, approach to politics and life…and laughing at him scurrying out the back door of a ‘party’ with his long-time, female (er) assistant, upon the news that his ‘long-time’ wife was walking in the front. Damn you Zell…you coulda been somebody..instead you became a recluseful bum.
RTD
July 21st, 2012
12:23 pm
I wish Sen. Miller well. He is a good man and a fine public servant. It is also quite enjoyable to watch a “journalist” like Chris Matthews get called out for his unprofessional conduct and one sided views.
zeke
July 21st, 2012
12:25 pm
my last physical the doctor advised i get the shingles shot and i did…..you older folks need to consider it
This is Mrs. Norman Maine
July 21st, 2012
12:25 pm
He acted like a horse’s butt during his Chris Matthews interview and then justifies it at the end as Chris not being one of his favorite people. yeah, that’s some conversion he had there.
Thank God, he’s through embarassing Georgia on the national stage.
Patriot
July 21st, 2012
12:26 pm
Bobby,
You’re an idiot.
Patriot
TheBigCat
July 21st, 2012
12:31 pm
Bobby: Where does the Bible support slavery or segregation? Just curious you narrow minded liberal.
hiram
July 21st, 2012
12:32 pm
Zell’s building of the four lane from Atlanta destroyed the North Georgia Mountains, ecologically and culturally. The mountain terminology he references has been lost in the sea of malcontented,rude and demanding halfbacks who now dominate the inhabitants. But, it’s pretty much what you can expect in “Union” County.
Ken Stallings
July 21st, 2012
12:37 pm
Zell Miller didn’t change. The Democratic party on the national stage is what changed around him. Miller is a man who fundamentally believes in the rights of the individual, which means he champions liberty. Today the DNC and the liberals running the DNC ship, no longer place their faith in liberty to raise society. Instead, through a combination of impatience and outright arrogance, liberals today believe in naked federal government power to coerce and shape the change they demand, and are clearly as a small group quite willing to force upon others against their expressed will.
So much for liberty!
So much for individual self-determination!
Sometimes, you will even hear a liberal openly ridicule such values and philosophies! They will spew venom upon the concepts as being nothing more than a smokescreen which supposed tyrants use to subjugate the so-called masses. But these liberals utter a pied piper’s screed. They preach a gospel of sainthood that is founded upon a bedrock of userption of liberty.
Miller saw through all of this and it offended him as it does myself. He said it most clear that he did not leave the Democratic party but that the Democratic party left him, and in the process, left a whole vast segment of American society.
In this 2012 national election, America stands on the precipace of a crossroads. One path returns us to the cherished founding values of this nation (freedom and liberty), which while incomplete when the Founding Fathers first drafted it on paper, was eventually achieved through vast bloodshed and sacrifice. The other path places America on the path of abandoning liberty with a social contract where citizens sign away their liberties in return for some fuzzy promise of government entitlement and patronage.
It is clear the second path is a path to ruin and national bankruptcy. But, that is merely one lesser part of the outcome. Fewer people fully appreciate the starker and more sinister outcome. Liberty is more important that prosperity, and the two are in fact distinct concepts. One should never trade liberty for prosperity, and one hopes most Americans still see it that way today and vote Obama and his socialist cronies out of government.
Patrick Henry famously said, “Give me liberty, or give me death!” Tragically, after receiving the blessings of liberty for hundreds of years, too many Americans today are quite willing to replace this sacred mantra with another newer one: “Trade my liberty, and give me patronage!” Perhaps the most evil of justifications is some presumption of entitlement to what others have earned — that somehow their success was achieved corruptly and therefore society has a duty to take from it and give to others. When the transfer happens voluntarily it is given a saintly label of charity. When it is done with coercion, it is theft. When it is done with coercion orchestrated by government, it is given the most evil of labels: tyranny!
If we are able to restore America to the path of freedom and liberty, our next social challenge is to ween the existing patronage class off government patronage and get them firmly back upon the path of liberty and self-determination. It will not only preserve our republic, but just as importantly give so many more Americans an honest chance at real and lasting success.
Un Educated
July 21st, 2012
12:38 pm
He cut driver’s ed requirements claiming he’s beef up math and science. He did neither, and then supported the GOP attacks on ‘government schools’ and teachers. After the teen driver death rate became such an obvious problem, Georgia then added some laws for the little speed demons–keeping the car from being full.
And HOPE–well, it became an effective tool to fund rich kids with means being able to have a new car when they go to UGA. Class warfare, as rural schools don’t have the AP classes that the rich schools do. Way to fake us out, Zig Zag.
Oh, and how many great jobs has the four lane to home, Georgia Highway 515, aka the Appalachian Development Highway brought? Walmarts with Chinese crap?
hiram
July 21st, 2012
12:41 pm
@bobby
Zell is from a Georgia county(Union), that supported Lincoln’s views during the Civil War. They carried on guerilla warfare against the CSA.
Winston
July 21st, 2012
12:43 pm
TheBigCat , July 21st, 2012, 12:31 pm said:
“Bobby: Where does the Bible support slavery or segregation? Just curious you narrow minded liberal.”
Don’t know your Bible too well, do you Cat?
However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way. (Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT)
If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him. If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. But the slave may plainly declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.’ If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever. (Exodus 21:2-6 NLT)
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5 NLT)
just sayin'
July 21st, 2012
12:53 pm
Hey, “born with a tan,” what is Zell “trading?” Impressive intelligence you have.
Devildog
July 21st, 2012
12:53 pm
Semper Fi, Zell. From one old Marine to another. Wish you could be our governor again.
Robert
July 21st, 2012
1:03 pm
Mike in Dunwoody, it is the Democratic Party, that believes that voters don’t need ID’s, that tries to steal elections.
Get real.
Hopper
July 21st, 2012
1:03 pm
I regret his illnesses and health issues but deplore his conversion politics. Hope he feels better, but hope his way of thinking becomes more open-minded and accepting.
Truth Squad
July 21st, 2012
1:04 pm
When I was a kid I remember watching Miller debate that Matt guy. I do not remember his exact words, but he destroyed modern Republican economic philosophy completely using simple down-home language. I think every modern politician should be given the tape of that debate (or a transcript if one exists).
I will always believe that his anger at the Democratic Party stems from not being Al Gore’s VP pick. He carried a lot of water for Clinton/Gore campaign and expected to be rewarded. The sad truth is that Miller would have been a better choice than Lieberman, or Gore, if we’re being honest. This is why he refuses to officially switch to the Republican Party.
Down deep, he is still the same guy. That he doesn’t want to leave this earth a Republican or Independent should tell folks something. He’s just riding the current Republican wave in the state. When Georgia reverts back to it’s dark purple roots, he’ll zig on home again. Just you watch.Zell don’t ever to be associated with the losing side.
Penny
July 21st, 2012
1:06 pm
I had a late life conversion into being a huge Zell Miller fan. He is a true statesman and patriot. I’m just so sorry we couldn’t have had him in Washington for longer….and I’m really sorry about his health struggles. He is one of the “greats” in my book. Wish him the very best!
True Grit
July 21st, 2012
1:06 pm
You’re right, Patriot. Bobby is a total idiot. Trevor, too. But Dirty Dawg, you fall into the imbecile category. Please don’t use the word ‘dawg’ in your title. You obviously didn’t attend college, much less a university as great as UGA. Is that all the liberal side can throw out at a conservative or Christian…’You’re a hater?’ You’ve learned well the politics of division. If you would take the time to do some research and learning, instead of regurgitating your old, tired liberal talking points, you would realize conservatives give more, care more, and work harder than any of the entitlement mentality purveyors you support. Zell Miller believed in an America of personal responsibility and accountability. 99% of you who are showing hatred for Zell Miller are doing so out of ignorance. Your comments tell me one thing. You never knew Zell Miller. I do and I know he is one of the finest and most honest citizens our state has ever produced.
liblab
July 21st, 2012
1:07 pm
Bobby…
The Bible has long been used to justify slavery. In fact, the Southern Baptist Church was founded on the Biblical belief in slavery:
”in 1844, the national Baptist General Convention for Foreign Missions refused to license slaveowning missionaries. One year later, that refusal led to the split between the northern and southern Baptists. The southern Baptists were absolutely convinced that the Bible taught that God had divinely sanctioned slavery. As early as 1823, Richard Furman, a leader of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, a slaveholder, and for whom Furman University is named, stated in a famous address to the Governor of South Carolina, “The right of holding slaves is clearly established by the Holy Scriptures, both by precept and example.” [See Exposition of The Views of the Baptists, Relative To The Coloured Population In The United States]. The next year, in 1845, those firmly convicted defenders of slavery formed their own separate Baptist denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention.”
Check Leviticus 25:44 which says that it’s OK to have slaves, as long as you import them. And Timothy 6:1, which says that slaves should respect their masters. (Yes, massa. No, massa.) I’m sure there are other verses but those seem pretty obvious.
I remember being taught when I was growing up that Simon of Cyrene, who carried Jesus’ cross on the way to Calvary, was black; and if having black people tote and carry was good enough for Jesus, it was OK for everyone. Seriously.
dre
July 21st, 2012
1:07 pm
great article about one of the best leaders in the country to never become president. Unfortunately, he thinks Nathan Deal is doing a good job. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all.
Penny
July 21st, 2012
1:13 pm
Chris Matthews is the most disgusting person alive. No need for Senator Miller to regret his response. The guy is HORRIBLE>
Refugee
July 21st, 2012
1:14 pm
Remind me again why I am so happy to be a refugee from Jawja and the South.
LOL
JON
July 21st, 2012
1:15 pm
Poor Zell… Heard he hit his head real bad; you can tell by his remarks about what a great job that crook Nathan Dealer is doing.
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!!!!!!!
Last Man Standing
July 21st, 2012
5:45 pm
I disliked Zell Miller until after he was appointed U.S. Senator. It was while a U.S. Senator that Miller came to terms with the realities of life and the true beliefs of the democrat party. Miller, an American veteran, could no longer square his love of country with the communist intent of the democrat party. He made the only choice available to him.
I wish him well.
alan
July 21st, 2012
5:51 pm
Several years ago, Jane Fonda made a statement regarding children going hungry in Georgia (this took place when she was married to Ted Turner and had a charitable foundation).
Gov. Miler went beserk like a rabid dog on steroids. This really did appeal to his base. But the fact of the matter was that children in Georgia was going to bed hungry regardless of what he said. That showed me the man he was. Just because you don’t like someone doesn’t change facts.
He should have went ahead and joined the Republican party.
BRW
July 21st, 2012
6:00 pm
“TRADER”
Do you mean TRAITOR? Or am I missing something professor?
Stumpy
July 21st, 2012
6:05 pm
@Ken Stallings (12:37) Amen to you Sir, this nation is over-filled with those who think the govt owes them something for free.
Wilbur
July 21st, 2012
6:15 pm
There is no hatred like leftie hatred.
fire eater
July 21st, 2012
6:32 pm
Zell Miller will be remembered long after most of his contemporaries are long forgotten…he was the last Democrat that ever got a vote from me.
Rockerbabe
July 21st, 2012
6:41 pm
Maybe he should just stay away; he couldn’t make it as a republican, so he reinvented himself as a democrat. What a shame, but then being a traitor always is. He sold out the democratic base that gave him lots of opportunities and he is now selling out women. He can take his Benedict Arnold ways and go back to the GA hills where he came from. His brand of politics-one that is not trustworthy in anyway is not needed in today’s political environment.
Serious Robuck
July 21st, 2012
7:18 pm
I remember his “I have promises to keep” speech when he was sworn in as Lt. Governor as one of the most impressive I’ve ever heard. I thought he was a great governor, maybe one of our best. He left behind a judiciary statewide that was incredibly talented. But when Barnes put him in the Senate, I think he had a stroke or got into bad koolaid. When he spoke at the GOP convention in 2004, he had gone absolutely nuts. He should keep out of the limelight. He’s crazy.
Serious Robuck
July 21st, 2012
7:22 pm
LMS, glad to see you back. Hope you’re well. You’re wrong as usual here, but I’m still glad you’re back. SR
Serious Robuck
July 21st, 2012
7:24 pm
barb, do you think Mitt Romney lives in the real world? Get a life, gurl.
Centrist
July 21st, 2012
7:30 pm
@ Serious Robuck – Are you a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type, or manic? One polite post followed by a slam at posters whose politics you don’t agree:
Serious Robuck
July 21st, 2012
7:22 pm
LMS, glad to see you back. Hope you’re well. You’re wrong as usual here, but I’m still glad you’re back. SR
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Serious Robuck
July 21st, 2012
7:24 pm
barb, do you think Mitt Romney lives in the real world? Get a life, gurl.
Here we go!
July 21st, 2012
8:00 pm
Zig zag was named that for a reason. My husband was a marine and was shamed by the actions of
Miller, which runs so contrary to the ways of marines. Our son was one of the first to go into Iraq looking for WMD. What a freaking joke. I went to millers office begging him to stop his support for bush on this issue. I don’t wish people I’ll will, but you know, karma is a biatch!,,,,
raleturn
July 21st, 2012
8:00 pm
I LOVED the way when Culver Kidd “Da Boss Man” of Milledgeville Ga pissed Miller off and when Miller became Governor he begin to strip every government job “Da Boss Man” had brought to Milledgeville including Central State Hospital and all those prisons the Baldwin County area has.
sparta_bubba
July 21st, 2012
8:09 pm
Crazy Zell makes a great Republican. He’s a first class hypocrit like most true Republicans.
flagger
July 21st, 2012
8:24 pm
Bobby… u r a complete idiot.
Sissy Saxby
July 21st, 2012
8:32 pm
He has a heart?
romegaguy
July 21st, 2012
9:13 pm
Zell thinks he and Doug Collins have had a mountain relationship? I hear banjo music
hiram
July 21st, 2012
9:16 pm
@ serious robuck
I thought you were on Centrust’s’ no read list?
Goes Around; Comes Around
July 21st, 2012
9:39 pm
Given Zell’s lifestyle the last few years, I can only conclude God is giving him his just rewards early.
Contractor
July 21st, 2012
9:48 pm
Half the comments on here are pathetic. Real big of those making fun of religion. That’s like making fun of the fat or nerdy kid. May sound funny to you, but it really is the insecurities and lack I intelligent within yourselves that make you act out in such a pathetic manner. Most Liberals are pro everything, EXCEPT anything Repiblicans are, and then it is straight hate that fuels your vocal cords. Head some of your own advice and be sympathetic to all forms of life, just like you accuse Tepublicans of not doing, not just entitlement programs. Grow a set and quit using religion as a broken crutch to try and gain some kind of laugh at the expense of your moronic selves.
MysteryMoves
July 21st, 2012
9:53 pm
I’m sorry that the Zell coward didn’t slide off the ledge of earth. I hope Zell has many more years of suffering and reflection.
Kris
July 21st, 2012
10:10 pm
Now that Zig ZAg has found the lord, he should return all the money that rightfully belongs o the citizens of Georgia, make a full confession to the FBI as to what he knows about sonnyboy and dirty deal’s dirty dealings.
Just saying……….
Vote no on ts-pLOST
Ronnie Raygun
July 21st, 2012
10:15 pm
Nobody can respect a sellout like Zell. I hope all of that Murdoch money you made carrying water for the fascists keeps you warm at night. You’ll be plenty warm soon enough.
lilstevieM
July 21st, 2012
10:23 pm
I always heard that Christian charity came from the heart and from the individual giver..not from govt confiscated taxes. One should give of one’s own accord not via DC vote buying schemes. To hear some on here, massive govt deficit spending = Christian love….kind of a convenient way to avoid personal actions.
one final comment: Will Jones…wow man…just wow…thats some amazing stuff….Just say no to drugs man…just say no.
Harris Young
July 21st, 2012
10:26 pm
Bad things happen to bad people Zell. You should have thought about that decades ago and maybe you’d be in better shape today.
Uncle Tom
July 21st, 2012
10:27 pm
Southern history is overflowing with examples of politicians who start off trying to behave themselves and help the masses, and in their old age they turn into reactionary demagogues. Zell fits in perfectly. He’s changed from Abraham LIncoln to John C. Calhoun/Lester Maddox.
Look before I leap...
July 21st, 2012
10:33 pm
@Contractor:
I usually ignore obviously illiterate posts but when someone posits that those with whom they disagree lack intelligence and are morons, I just have to ask:
What in the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s name were you doing during your spelling and grammar lessons?
double
July 21st, 2012
10:47 pm
I had not thought of LMS in a long time.Then along comes meebo,and reminds me of him.
double
July 21st, 2012
11:02 pm
I suppose Zig/Zag invented the lottery.
Other than teacher pay,and bank failure,where do we lead?
hiram
July 21st, 2012
11:19 pm
I have seen only positve comments about Zell’s lottery scam, which was from the beginning, a ruthless plan to extract money from Georgia’s most vulnerable inhabitants. How many children of compulsive gamblers have gone without, to fund the politically connected cartel’s padded payroll and expenses? Don’t the recepients of the meager amount left over realize that it is dirty money?
TrishaDishaWarEagle
July 21st, 2012
11:27 pm
You left wing buffoons can’t even spell TRAITOR (it’s not Trader!)
TrishaDishaWarEagle
July 21st, 2012
11:29 pm
@Goes around..
I guess god paid the Kennedy clan back with interest then:)
Contractor
July 21st, 2012
11:37 pm
Look before I leap…,
I apologize for the errors as I was typing on my phone. I can assure you that my liter array, grammatical, and all other skills are well above the level shown on this blog. I’d be willing to lay my skills on the line and embarrass you any day.
hiram
July 21st, 2012
11:39 pm
Gambling is about the most creative way to raise revenue that the small time cons and flim flam men, who run the state, can come up with. They don’t care that they are robbing Peter to pay Paul, because their intent is to rob Paul.
WD
July 21st, 2012
11:42 pm
@ 11:48…no that was the Devil trying to get him back. I didn’t like
Zell till around 2002. Glad his son is better and my prayers are for both. Also the USA we need it.
hiram
July 21st, 2012
11:44 pm
@ contractor
You do seem to have excellent liter array skills…
Bojack
July 21st, 2012
11:45 pm
Uncle Tom what a stupid statement. Completely false.
Look before I leap...
July 22nd, 2012
12:52 am
@Contractor
You are of course, most welcome to try.
Good luck!
Just one question though; by “liter array”, do you by chance mean the stash of moonshine stored in your cellar?
ask 'em
July 22nd, 2012
2:04 am
Ask anybody in State government; Zell was a S.O.B.
Ask any parent; Zell is a hero for having created HOPE.
Uncle Billy
July 22nd, 2012
2:13 am
I have been out in the great Northwest for awhile and forgotten the idiocy which reigns here. Does anyone remember that Zell was Lester Maddox’s Chief of Staff? He has had more sudden conversions than Mott Romney!
Buckhead Boy
July 22nd, 2012
4:36 am
Some topics should not be spoken of in polite society, and Zell Miller is one of those. Hence, I must abstain.
TrishaDishaWarEagle
July 22nd, 2012
4:44 am
Maybe zell evolved..like choom’s pandering..i mean evolution,on gay marriage
Any movement from vile progressive marxist crap and deviant personal practices to free market capitalism and conventional values, is definitely evolution.
Dirty Dawg
July 22nd, 2012
4:50 am
Sorry to be so long in gettin back to you true grit…been busy being imbecilic I guess. Man you’ve got the Repug taking points down pat. Tell me is there some place you go to find them or do ‘you people’ get em sent to you? As for hate, as they say, if hate were a people conservatives would be China. As for Zell, next time you see him ask if his wife ever did ‘nail him’ on his girl friend that he kept on the State payroll all those years? But then if you really do know Zell you must already know the answer to that. As for using ‘dawg’, trust me I’ve come to appreciate that many of my fellow alums have gone over to the ‘darkside’, but I’ve earned the right to use it and will for just as long as I please. Oh yeah, one more thing…you can kiss my, er, grits.
lexi
July 22nd, 2012
5:00 am
It is rib splitting funny to see liberals, who overlooked Zell’s spiritual connections to Lester Maddox when Zell was one of them, hissy-fit like jilted school girls now that Zell has seen the true light.
Gambling Man
July 22nd, 2012
6:48 am
Semper Fi………………GUV
Gambling Man
July 22nd, 2012
6:53 am
Cant we just all get a Loan!
Cats hav fleas 2
July 22nd, 2012
7:43 am
This thread confirms it….liberals are NUTS!
A Liberal in ATL
July 22nd, 2012
8:06 am
He converted from a reasonable, normal, regular kind of guy to a raving lunatic. LUNATIC!
Mark
July 22nd, 2012
8:09 am
A class act.
A Liberal in ATL
July 22nd, 2012
8:13 am
Just a couple of words for the embarrassment that is trisha: shut up.
Simeon Namore
July 22nd, 2012
8:22 am
Don’t make fun of the retarded, it’s not polite.
amazing
July 22nd, 2012
9:05 am
Its amazing how people re-write the Bible and History to suit their own needs and political preferences.
Jo
July 22nd, 2012
9:12 am
Zell is one of the reasons why Georgia is not a great state on so many levels and cannot be until we have thinkers and people who care about healthcare and education for people. I am glad that he possibly has mellowed……but its too late for the ill he did to so many.
Holy Guacamole
July 22nd, 2012
9:19 am
An amazing prediction written nearly 50 years ago. Some of you are old enough to remember Paul Harvey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJc8Mzg0C-c&feature=player_embedded
Interesting…….
ClassAction
July 22nd, 2012
9:25 am
The liberal critics never mind being reckless with the truth. We all have our flaws. Hope Zell lives out his life in peaceful, contented enjoyment, sustained by his faith.
Look before I leap...
July 22nd, 2012
9:40 am
@ Holy Guac
Note that the version you link to was actually from 1996.
It was adapted from an earlier essay from 1964.
Harvey’s prediction powers are not as amazing as you think.
Shine
July 22nd, 2012
9:43 am
He’s a literal kook.
Rhett Butler
July 22nd, 2012
9:46 am
Frankly, my dear, I dont’ give a damn.
Devildog
July 22nd, 2012
9:52 am
Mediocre Lt. Gov. ? Zell spearheaded Georgia’s concealed carry law. He’s a hero. Just another ole Marine sergeant doing his job.
cliff
July 22nd, 2012
9:53 am
One of the finest men Ive ever known. Id follow him down a rabbit hole any day for any reason. True American!
Wrongfully Convicted
July 22nd, 2012
9:55 am
Zell needs to help undo the horrible acts him and WAYNE GARNER did in the 90,s to prisoner,s in Georgia. They ordered numerous beatings on inmates just like the one.s continuing today. Georgia needs to come out of the dark ages and stop neglecting education, the elderly and enslaving prisoners! WHERE IS THE US ATTORNEY GENERAL?
Love the Democracy
July 22nd, 2012
9:55 am
Miller is a turncoat, an opportunist and a traitor to all those people who toiled and invested in him because he represented their causes. Not only did he abandon the Democratic Party, he stuck a knife deeply in its back. No wonder he supports Deal. Deal did the same thing to the party that cultivated him.
detritusUSA
July 22nd, 2012
10:02 am
zig zag Zell. Karma is tough isn’t it? Good thing you and your family are wealthy, and also have your government pensions and health care to take care of you. That stuff you got when you were a Democrat, and had a heart. Once you got it, you turned republican and said screw everybody else, I’ve got mine. Live long Zell.
Billie Edwards
July 22nd, 2012
10:18 am
Ward and I have always loved and admired Zell Miller. There is no way to please all the people all the time and I think he did enough to right a wrong that he might have made. If he didn’t do any more than the Hope Scholarship and the Lottery , we all should know how this state has benefited from these 2 things.alone.. He came to Taylor County and dedicated a bridge that was named for my husband by the DOT. He loved this state and her people. Why not give him the respect he deserves!
Centrist
July 22nd, 2012
10:26 am
Billie Edwards posted about Zell Miller “He loved this state and her people. Why not give him the respect he deserves!”
This is a very liberal blog website with many frustrated socialists and malcontents who do not even slightly represent the vast majority of Georgians (a few posted here) who do respect Zell Miller.
At Long Last
July 22nd, 2012
10:38 am
Zell has outlived the dead serial child molester, who died of cancer, he helped protect along with Judge Gail Flake and former DeKalb Sheriff Pat Jarvis. I went to the FBI about this and they did nothing. Later, I was told by Children of the Underground founder, Billie Faye Yager, that Zell was going to have me “prosecuted” by the FBI for saying “bad” things about him. Karma is real.
hiram
July 22nd, 2012
11:20 am
centrust said:
“This is a very liberal blog website with many frustrated socialists and malcontents who do not even slightly represent the vast majority of Georgians (a few posted here) who do respect Zell Miller.”
Unfortunately, centrust does represent the majority of registered voters in Georgia, who, like him, are apparently incapable of analytical thinking. They are programmed from birth to follow the herd, and never question the authority of those doing the herding. Gerogia’s insipid herd has been branded with an R, and they will follow the R brand where ever it takes them – even over a cliff.
double
July 22nd, 2012
11:21 am
Zell makes rare public apperance-Just not rare enough.
DannyX
July 22nd, 2012
11:31 am
Hopefully Zell is well enough to give another speech at the Republican convention. The speech would probably go something like this…
“We need a Mormon President with magic underwear! A man with a silver spoon. A president who is unafraid to ship more jobs off to China. A president that understands the American way of evading taxes using foreign bank accounts. A man who will make the Bank of the Cayman Islands the official bank of the USA. A president who understands profits over people. A president that can lie without flinching. A president who understands that Jesus loves the rich and hates the poor. America, Mitt shares your values, you must vote for Romney!”
John Haeger
July 22nd, 2012
12:06 pm
Good that Zell has repented. But his legacy lingers on in Carol Hunstein, the jurist who never grew out of constituency advocacy. Take a look at her “ink-is-never-dry-on a divorce order” opinion opposing “finality” in Williams v Williams. Can’t find it on line ? Not surprising. You’ll probably have to look in the printed opinions of the Ga Supreme Court.
Or take a look at how Carol led Georgia into Federal contract fraud, claiming to be a qualified grantee for Federal Financial Participation in State Programs of Child Support Administration when Carol’s 3 Commissions each declined to comply with Federal Regulations, leaving the state unqualified to apply. But that’s Women’s Law as promulgated by Carol.
Too bad Zell can’t rethink that appointment.
Huge Bullbone
July 22nd, 2012
12:18 pm
I have read all 170 posts on this article and have had both an education on Zell and Georgia politics during his time AND a lot of really good laughs. I have NEVER enjoyed reading comments from such a diverse group of folks and their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs as much. I even picked up a new term: Teapublicans. I now believe old Zig Zag has a lot in common with one of my personal favorites “The Turtle Man” on cable TV. How bout dem dawgs?
Miss Georgia
July 22nd, 2012
12:19 pm
Zell, with all his recent illnesses and falls, is paying for all the wrong he’s done in this life. Too bad, he’s too old and senile to see it.
TrishaDishaWarEagle
July 22nd, 2012
12:35 pm
@A Libtard in ATL
hmm..shut up? nah..But I will give you props for self identifying as a liberal in Atlanta..that makes you about as popular as the HIV virus in a gay bath house…but far less potent.
Avery Bundren
July 22nd, 2012
12:56 pm
Zell Miller was always an irascible, thin-skinned, paranoid politician. I have never liked him as I always saw him as a self-aggrandizing opportunist. His public performance during his years in the US Senate definitely fed the red-neck, good ol’ boy image that Georgia too often exudes. I do not wish him ill, but I cannot say I wish him well.
Larry
July 22nd, 2012
1:36 pm
Ken Stallings,
You and I have had our differences on sports related things, but today you are welcome at my dinner table.
Larry
Joesnopy
July 22nd, 2012
1:45 pm
People it is all about the money for Zell. He sold millions of dollars worth of books when he switched to the GOP side. I said it then and I see now I was right. He did the same tham Newt, Palin, Cain and all the other GOP except for Ron Paul did when they ran for President on the GOP side. They ran to sell books.
Rotunda $haquonda 0bama
July 22nd, 2012
1:56 pm
To hell with Zell. To hell with commie lib democrats.
Kris
July 22nd, 2012
2:18 pm
Thank you zig zag, for setting the stage for Georgia to be last in education.
Hope is all but gone gone . The governor (term used lightly) Let the Board of regents and the colleges run rapid with tuition cost and salary raises for the presidents and vice presidents. Passing to cost to students in forms such as
The tuition increase is bad but the additional fee’s ($20 to pay by credit card $30 Debit, $200 Institutional Fee . $50 for lawnmower gas , $45 to wash the presidents car etc
Yet 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.
Gave too mant Graves/Rigers loans
Thank you Zig Zag!
Vote the crooks out?
If it is a question on the Ballot be safe VOTE NO!
Kris
July 22nd, 2012
2:22 pm
Oops my bad
Gave too many Graves/Rogers loans.
Hugo
July 22nd, 2012
2:42 pm
Seems like people change more on their views and laws when something tragic happens to a family member or close friend. Just saying.
Denver
July 22nd, 2012
2:55 pm
There are sure some vile responses from all these, I’m sure, nice people (not).