The New York Times says that Zell Miller is President Bush's 'new best friend.'

The Georgia Senator's speech, Richard W. Stephenson writes, has 'touched a chord among voters of all stripes by voicing doubts about Mr. Kerry's record on national security issues.'

Voicing doubts?  Voicing DOUBTS? Mr. Miller beat on Kerry like a gong. He expressed no doubts, sir. Miller's was the voice of absolute confidence in his country, its role in history and its mission for the future. And millions of people heard him and leaped up off their sofas at home and cheered.

No, no, dear New York Times reporter. It was much more than merely a discussion of Kerry's record. Zell Miller stood up and said what many of us have been thinking for years —— damn it, we saved Europe's ass in two World Wars —— we rebuilt Germany and Japan — we won the Cold War —— why do those latte—drinking, nose—ring—wearing, Village—Voice—reading, 'Bush is Hitler' folks keep talking about Amerikka, the evil empire?  He didn't say this in so many words, but we knew that he felt like us and he was mad as hell and wasn't going to take it anymore.

The Democratic Party somewhere in its inner recesses knows that its most prominent spokespersons —— the Hollywood elite, Michael Moore, MoveOn.org  —— are profoundly out of touch with mainstream America. The Dems took care to keep their radical wing out of sight in Boston, but what was the point of that when everybody knows what they've been saying and thinking for years? 

Their convention featured wall—to—wall American flags, and I remember thinking, 'Gosh, who is Katha Pollitt of The Nation going to vote for?' The poor woman wrote that the flag 'stands for jingoism and vengeance and war' and here is her candidate calling that despicable banner, 'Old Glory.'

Then along comes Zell Miller, looking like an angry American eagle, hurling rhetorical thunderbolts. He says what we were feeling and saying to each other. Except he's saying it out loud in prime time.

'...[t]he leaders of my party today,' thundered Miller, and he may as well have been speaking of opinion leaders, as well as leading politicians, 'In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.'
We, Zell's audience, hold that particular truth to be self—evident.

But to the Democrats, '[h]is speech was nothing more than a series of irrational and inconsistent political attacks cobbled together by his Republican handlers.'

The Democrats explained that Miller was attacking his own party just to sell his book, A National Party No More, which came out back in.... oh, almost a year ago. Crafty old bird. So one Democrat says he's a sock puppet, another says his quivering indignation was a calculated pose designed to sell books. So he doesn't know what he's saying. Or he does know, but he doesn't mean it. Also, he's insane.

If he didn't suddenly go crazy this year, the Democrats must have been harboring a crazy person in their ranks for a long time, and it makes you wonder how many other Democrats are crazy. (Well, I don't wonder about James Carville.)

Miller said, 'I can remember when Democrats believed that it was the duty of America to fight for freedom over tyranny.'

The Dems and the journalists responded, 'Did we mention Miller's a racist?'

Vanity Fair's James Wolcott blogged:

The blue eyes of wrath. The gnarled hands gripping the air as if clutching a liberal in a lethal chokehold.

Zell Miller did not disappoint millions of disenfranchised Americans with Confederate flags decorating their basements.....

Well, that makes sense. Because Miller used to work for Lester Maddox, don't forget. (Although the Dems were able to live with this shame up 'til now.) The point is, though, Southerners are racists! And there are millions of them!

Liberals love the common man, the NASCAR dad, the grandma who grows petunias in old tires in front of her trailer, the ones who lost their job when the factory closed, the ones who need [stifled sob] health insurance! 

They love the common man until they need a stereotype to flay somebody with, then that common man becomes an inbred hillbilly redneck. Southerners knows this all too well. So does Zell Miller, and it's one reason why he became disenchanted with his party.

Tune into the McLaughlin Group. Miller is a psychopath. Tune into the Chris Matthews show. Hearty chuckles over Miller. Wacky old coot.

But go to a Bush rally, and, as the New York Times is gracious enough to acknowledge:

'[In West Virginia], as in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio in recent days, [the mention of Zell Miller] brought rousing cheers from the audience.'

Both the Democrat spinmeisters and the opinion leaders of the media explained to us that Miller's speech might, just might, have appealed to the rabid Republican base, but its 'alienating' anger would drive away the moderates and the undecideds.

Ooops.

New York Times, September 6, 2004, and I quote: 'Mr. Bush invoked Mr. Miller's support as a reason Democrats and independents could feel comfortable voting for the Republican ticket...' and Miller's speech 'touched a chord among voters of all stripes.'

Just imagine that. Bush is not afraid to mention Zell Miller and his speech out on the stump, although the combined genius of the press corps has filed and receipted the Georgia senator as a bitter, crazy, racist turncoat who frightens small children.

As if we needed more evidence that our media elite are completely out of touch with their audience. They wince at our hokey patriotism. They cringe at our unsophisticated faith in America. They sigh over our primitive, cartoon conceptions of complex international issues. And if they have to listen to that Lee Greenwood song one more time, they're going to hurl.

The pundits might be well advised to start considering how we feel about them. They have the microphone, but we have the remote.

Lona Manning writes for The American Thinker from Canada