THE DARK LORD RETURNS. Dick Cheney has just finished his speech. Good news for Kerry: the Dark Lord is staying on the ticket. It was a deeply negative performance, of course, but also masterful in its way, making Miller's and Romney's tinny attacks look even more ridiculous.

Cheney's attacks on Kerry were filled with inaccuracies and distortions, of course. Maybe Somerby will catalogue them.

Wow! On CNN, Judy Woodruff just committed truth against Zell Miller, pointing out that Kerry has voted for 16 of 19 defense budgets during his years in the Senate, and that Cheney opposed many of the same appropriations that Kerry voted against. And now Jeff Greenfield is pointing out that Bush himself has occasionally referred to American troops as "occupiers," which had Miller so exercised on the podium. Even Wolf Blitzer is getting into the act.

Miller is sputtering and melting down. He has no idea of how to respond.

Anyway ... enough for tonight. I'll have more to say about Cheney's speech tomorrow.