9/02/2004 07:03:59 AM|||Nathan Moore|||

Chris Matthews has earned himself a place of contempt in my heart during the GOP convention. USA Today picked up on one of his more ridiculous examples of self aggrandization that I had the dubious pleasure of seeing live

Still, when it comes to luxuriating in the sound of your own voice, even O'Reilly must bow to MSNBC's Chris Matthews. In one of the convention's more bizarre exchanges, Matthews interrupted a Joe Scarborough screed about immigration Tuesday to ask, "Who are your favorite immigrants?" Luckily for a seemingly nonplused Scarborough, he didn't have to answer, as the question was merely an excuse for Matthews to tell us, "Mine are the West Africans." No doubt they were thrilled to hear it.

Then, there was the exchange with Zell Miller last night, that literally had my jaw on the floor. The senator from my home state of Georgia would not tolerate Matthews normal style of asking a series of questions then interrupting every answer. No, Zell instead told Matthews to "shut up" and challenged him to a duel.

Awesome.

And if you didn't see Zell Miller's speech, you missed a treat, and perhaps one of the best convention speeches ever made. Among many parts, I especially liked this one

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us 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 to abuse and burn that flag.
You have to read it like you're angry, from the South, and from the WW2 generation. That's the only way to get close to the feel - the text does it no justice whatsoever. Matthews hammered Miller on this part of the speech, prompting the senator to ask Matthews what he had done to ensure free speech.

The speeches thus far have been outstanding. Really, really awesome. The Democrats have nothing on our party.

UPDATE Video has been unearthed of the Matthews / Miller exchange. Courtesy of Wizbang.

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