Great article on the Zell appearance from hell.

John Kerry is a spineless Massachusetts liberal. As president, he would raise taxes on farms, families, puppies, and rainbows. He wants to send our boys into combat barefoot, with sticks. Also he puts razors in Halloween candy. John Kerry wets the bed.

This is the general impression left by Wednesday’s program at the Republican Convention. Until now, the convention has kept up a mask of jolly inclusiveness. Even the first part of last night’s program, “A Land of Opportunity,” stuck mostly to the banal pageantry that made Tuesday such a bore: small business extolled, minorities carefully deployed, etc. But the mask would have to drop sooner or later, and last night down it came–revealing the face of the emperor from Return of the Jedi.

Zell Miller might not be the most disgraceful politician in America, but last night he delivered the most disgraceful piece of political rhetoric in years. Introduced as “the conscience of the Democratic Party,” the former segregationist unleashed half an hour of breathtaking, conscience-free smears. (Miller’s party-bashing is the political equivalent of a man-bites-dog story; by making him the keynote speaker, the convention turned itself into a kind of long-form tabloid.) He could have broken from his party over first principles, more in sorrow than in anger. Instead he stuck with lies, like saying Kerry has vowed to use force only with U.N. approval, and distortions, like treating the loony left as the mainstream Democratic position. This is the kind of intellectual dishonesty that led John McCain to call out Michael Moore three nights ago. (For further dismantling of Miller’s speech, click here.)

The delivery was as repellent as the material, if you can believe it. It was not like Rudy Giuliani’s attack, which skipped from measured to biting to funny. Miller poured forth his hysteria in a rant, his face contorted by rage. Such malevolence, from a United States Senator? A talk-radio host would behave better. The delegates, for their part, ate up every intemperate syllable; where did all the pitchforks come from?

When you make Dick Cheney seem timid, you’ve done something really special. The vice president made the customary attacks on Kerry’s qualifications last night, in his customary style. Like Kerry, he’s a lousy speaker; unlike Kerry, he doesn’t care. The very lack of anything resembling charisma somehow gives him additional gravitas. He could be almost lovable if not for the smug smile he permits himself when the audience mocks Kerry. Last night they made tilting motions with their arms and chanted, “Flip-flop, flip-flop.”

There’s more. Read the whole delightful thing.