Spoken like a true Patriot

Georgia Senator Zell Miller gave a speech on the floor of the US Senate that I hope will be recognized some day as the one that changed this nation. I will include excerpts from it as the whole thing is long. He started by quoting from the book of Amos, ch 8, v11, 'the days will come saith The Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of The Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north to the east, and shall not find it'. Has anyone more accurately described the situation we face in America today? A famine of hearing the words of The Lord. But some will say, but Amos was just an Old Testament prophet... who lived 700 years before Christ.That is true, so how about one of the most influential historians of modern times? [Arnold Toynbee said, of the 22 civilizations recorded in history 19 have failed when they arrived at the point of moral decay where America is now, and that was around 1975--sorry I misplaced exact quote,]

Sen Miller continued, "the desire and will of this Congress to meaningfully do anything about these so-called social issues is non-existent and shamefully disgraceful. The American people are waiting and growing impatient with us.They want something to be done. I am pleased to be a co-sponsor of SJ Res 26 along with Senator Allard [from Colorado] proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage, and S 1558 the Liberties Restoration Act,which declares liberty rights in several ways, including the Pledge of Allegiance and the display of the Ten Commandments. And today I join Senator Shelby and others with the Constitution Restoration Act of 2004, that limits the jurisdiction of federal courts in certain ways. In doing so, I stand shoulder to shoulder not only with my Senate co-sponsors and Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama, but more importantly with our Founding Fathers, in the conception of religious liberty....these Judges who legislate instead of abjudicate, do it without being responsible to one single solitary voter by their actions. Among the signors of The Declaration of Independence was a brilliant young physician from Pennsylvania, named Benjamin Rush.When Rush was elected to that First Continental Congress, his close friend Benjamin Franklin told him, "we need you...we have a great task before us, a task assigned to us by Providence." Today, 228 years later, there is still a great task before us assigned to us by Providence. Our Founding Fathers did not shirk their duty and we can do no less. By the way, Benjamin Rush was once asked a question that has long interested this Senator from Georgia in particular. Dr.Rush was asked, 'are you a democrat or a bureaucrat'? and the good doctor answered, 'I am neither, I am a Christocrat. I believe that He alone who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him. ' That reply of Benjamin Rush is just as true today in the year of Our Lord 2004, as it was in the year of Our Lord 1776....So if I am asked why with all the pressing problems this nation faces today why I am pushing these social issues and taking the Senates' valuable time, I will answer. Because it is of the highest importance... Yes, there's a deficit to be concerned about in this nation, a deficit of decency. So as the sand empties through my hourglass at warp speed, and with my time running out in this Senate and on this earth, I feel compelled to speak out. For I truly believe that at times like these, silence is not golden. It is yellow!"

Wow! What a great speech! I wish I had heard it in person. I feel particularly proud at this moment since I am a native born Georgian educated at the University of Georgia.

Also, I want to thank Forbes magazine for making David Graham "face of the year" for his boldness in spilling the beans on the FDA's move from a public protecting agency to a self-preservation agency and their deals with Big Pharma. I applaud David Graham for taking the risk he has taken in the Vioxx scandal.

Also, I want to thank Reuters photographer Viktor Korotayev for that magnificent photo he took on Sept 2, 2004, of the Russian Police Officer so gently carrying that baby to safety, in the Beslan school tragedy. It is shown in the Reuters' Pictures of the Year 2004 album. It so exemplifies the way the nation should treat babies that I believe it should be the poster photo of the Right to Life movement.