Zell = BONKERS
ZELL MILLER: Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more of the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And our soldiers don't just see freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home. It has been said truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. [cheers] It is the soldier, not the poet who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom he abuses to burn that flag. [cheers] No one should dare to even think about being the commander in chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home. [cheers] But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking, America is the problem, not the solution. They don't believe there's any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy. It is not their patriotism, it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking. They claimed Carter’s pacifism would lead to peace; they were wrong. They claimed Reagan’s defense buildup would lead to war; they were wrong. And no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. [cheers] Together, Kennedy and Kerry have opposed the very weapons systems that won the cold war and that are now winning the war on terror. Listing all the weapons systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security. But Americans need to know the facts. The B-1 bomber that Senator Kerry opposed dropped 40% of the bombs in the first six months of Enduring Freedom. The B-2 bomber that Senator Kerry opposed delivered air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein’s command posts in Iraq. The F-14-A Tomcats that Senator Kerry opposed shot down Khadafi's Libyan MIGs. The modernized F-14-D delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora. The Apache helicopter that Senator Kerry opposed took out those republican guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War. The F-15 Eagles that Senator Kerry opposed flew cover over our nation's capitol and this very city after 9/11. I could go on and on and on. Against the Patriot missile that shot down Saddam Hussein’s SCUD missiles over Israel. Against the air defense cruiser. Against the Strategic Defense Initiative. Against the Trident missiles. Against. Against. Against. This is the man who wants to be the commander in chief of the US armed forces? [booing] US forces armed with what? Spit balls? [cheers] 20 years of votes can tell you much more about a man than 20 weeks of campaign rhetoric. Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside. [cheers] Senator Kerry has made it clear that he would use military force only if approved by the United Nations. [booing] Kerry would let Paris decide when America needs defending. I want Bush to decide. [cheers] John Kerry, who says he doesn't like outsourcing, wants to outsource our national security. That's the most dangerous outsourcing of all. This politician wants to be leader of the free world. Free for how long? For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak, and more wobbly than any other national figure. [cheers] As a war protester, Kerry blamed our military. As a senator, he voted to weaken our military. And nothing shows that more sadly and more clearly than his vote this year to deny protective armor for our troops in harm's way far away.
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