Is He Zell T. Agnew or Spiro T. Miller?

I decided to stay in last night--easy enough. Monday I was out pretty late and paid the price. So I spent the evening channel surfing my lame cable package--nothing much, unless you're into religious stuff--so C-Span substituted for background music while I read the usual websites.

You know, if Zell Miller was in Louisiana, and began to holler about some sort of State issue with the kind of vitriol I saw last night, I'd immediately wonder who had photographs (and negatives) of Zell doing what. You could be certain that he'd violated the Louisiana Rule of Politics or something equally horrible.

Here's the transcript.

I'll admit cracking a smile when he claimed "the terrorists," who "were certainly listening to the hearings," were "smiling like mules eating briars." How will that translate into Arabic?

Zell was doing nothing so much as his best imitation of Richard Nixon's ultimate insurance policy, Spiro T. Agnew. Agnew was, if you can actually believe this, a meaner, darker version of the Trickster, and so appalling that I'm sure many of Nixon's enemies actually prayed for his good health, lest Agnew become the ultimate Accidency.

Agnew became the cultural values point person for Nixon, spewing about the press, the radiclibs, etc. etc., until the matter of his corruption came to light. He eventually pleaded "no contest" to charges of bribery, and faded from view, at least until Zell decided to resurrect his ghost for last night's speech.

I was a young child when Agnew, Nixon, and the rest of the crew walked the plank. I remember a lot of that stuff (yeah, we actually HAD television in those days, as well as newspapers), but a child's perspective isn't exactly extensive. However, it really seems as if the same kind of garbage is being recycled again, as the Bush administration looks more and more like Nixon redux (minus the fact that Dick was forced to accede to certain initiatives, which make him look relatively less conservative in retrospect). About the only difference is that the underlying (pun intended) issues involve the very structure of government. Even Nixon realized that lying and coverups were wrong. The process of government was still considered far too important for blowing away the rules, at least publicly. Bush and his team are gambling that the general public, having been through the wringer, are too concerned with daily life--paying the bills, trying to raise the kids if they have kids, etc. etc.--to worry about the government anymore. They're banking on ignorance, apathy, and acquiescence. And upwards of 30 to 40 percent of the electorate seems to be ready to allow the country to slide into corporate statism (used to be called fascism).

The good news is that 30 to 40 percent of the electorate is rightly appalled by this slide. This election cycle will determine where the remaining folks stand. Zell is praying they drink Bush's Kool-Aid: last night's 'oratory,' which is hardly the word but will have to do, was the exhortation to take a big gulp.

I just wonder what Bush has on Zell that makes him such an ardent disciple.