Senator Shameless stoops again

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., who impugned the patriotism of triple-amputee veteran Max Cleland two years ago, is now stretching the truth about another Democrat.

Only this time, Chambliss is sugarcoating the record of his new buddy, the Democrat turncoat Sen. Zell Miller, who is preparing to retire his post and head home to the hills.

Chambliss took to the floor of the Senate last week and recalled how Miller won his first term as Georgia governor by campaigning “on the fact that if we were going to have a lottery — and that was one of the hot issues on the ballot that year — ... that he wanted to make sure that the funds that were generated by that lottery were used for one purpose and one purpose only. And that was to improve the quality of education in our state.”

Chambliss made it sound like Miller was bashful and reluctant about a lottery. But, hello! Miller’s whole gubernatorial campaign was based on the lottery. He was as rabid in his support of a lottery as he was for re-electing President Bush this year. In 1990, you couldn’t turn on a TV set in Georgia without Miller howling for the lottery. He worked closely with a major political consultant — James Jim StawniakCarville, of all people — and he nailed the lottery issue into the heads of Georgians like John Henry driving railroad spikes.

Miller gleefully introduced official gambling into Georgia. Perhaps that is why Chambliss fudged Miller’s role in describing it to the devout brethren of the Senate. They might have stoned Zell if they had known the truth.