Rep. Alan Grayson: I Will Not Apologize- America Doesn't Care About Your Feelings
By CSPANJunkie Friday Oct 09, 2009 7:00am
October 08, 2009 C-SPAN. Rep. Alan Grayson has a few words for both Democrats and Republicans on health care reform.
Grayson: Maddam Speaker I have words for both Democrats and Republicans tonight. Let's start with the Democrats. We as a party have spent the last six months-- the greatest minds of our party dwelling on the question, the unbelievably consuming question of how to get Olympia Snowe to vote for health care reform. I want to remind us all... Olympia Snowe was not elected president last year. Olympia Snowe has no veto power in the Senate. Olympia Snowe represents a state with one half of one percent of America's population.
What America wants is health care reform. America doesn't care if it gets fifty one votes in the Senate or sixty votes in the Senate, or eighty three votes in the Senate-- in fact America doesn't even care about that. It doesn't care about that at all.
What America cares about is this. There are over one million Americans who go broke every single year trying to pay their health care bill. America cares a lot about that. America cares about the fact that there are forty four thousand seven hundred eighty Americans who die every single year on account of not having health care. That's a hundred and twenty two every day. America sure cares a lot about that.
America cares about the fact that if you have a pre-existing condition even if you have health insurance, it's not covered. America cares about that a lot. America cares about the fact that you can get all the health care you need as long as you don't need any. America cares about that a lot.
But America does not care about procedures, processes, personalities-- America doesn't care about that at all. So we have to remember that as Democrats. We have to remember that's what's at stake here is life and death, enormous amounts of money and people are counting upon us to move ahead. America understands what's good for America.
America cares about health care. America cares about jobs. America cares about education, about energy independence. America does not care about process or politicians, or personalities or anything like that.
And I have a few words for my Republican friends as well. I guess I do have some Republican friends. Let me say this. Last week I held up this report here and I pointed out that in America there's forty four thousand seven hundred eighty nine Americans who die every year according to this Harvard report-- published in a peer reviewed journal-- because they have no health insurance.
That's an extra forty four thousand seven hundred eighty nine Americans who die, whose lives could be saved-- and their response was to ask me for an apology... to ask me for an apology. That's right... to ask me for an apology. Well, I'm telling you this-- I will not apologize. I will not apologize.
I will not apologize for a simple reason. America doesn't care about your feelings. I violated no rules by calling this report to America's attention. I think a lot of people didn't know about it before hand.
But America does care about health care in America and if you're against it, then get out of the way. Just get out of the way. You can lead. You can follow-- or you can get out of the way. And I'm telling you now to get out of the way.
America understands that there's one party in this country that's in favor of health care reform and one party that's against it and they know why.
They understand if Barack Obama were somehow able to cure hunger in the world, the Republicans would blame him for over-population.
They understand that if Barack obama could somehow bring about world peace, they'd blame him for destroying the defense industry.
In fact they understand that if Barack Obama has a BLT sandwich tomorrow for lunch, they will try to ban bacon.
But that's not what America wants. America wants solutions to its problems and that begins with health care. And that's what I'm speaking for tonight.
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It's so refreshing to see democrats like this. This guy is turning into a fuggin hero.
you see that this isn't recent - this is who he is!
I LOVE this guy! Obama may be an orator, but Grayson speaks unvarnished truth. Step up, Democrats, and speak out....
I don't want Grayson to be paranoid, but at the same time he better keep a look out for the enemy lurking.
...would also be a recommendation for him. Seems to be a favored 'accident' for inconvienent truth tellers.
I hope that he's using some of his millions for bodyguards and a private aircraft in an undisclosed location.
with all the Proletariat and has a beer and some nuts on the way....
I saw him flying coach from Orlando on a US Airways flight, but it wasn't the non-stop to National Airport, it went thru Charlotte. Pretty cool for a guy with his bucks...
The Democratic Wing of the American Corporate Party is embarrassed by an actual Democrat outing his corporate owned Blue Dogs. Why are there so few Graysons? Well, he has enough wealth to actually represent his district, instead of his corporate owners.
-of why ALL elections, especially Federal, should be publicly funded. It should be illegal for a candidate to use his/her money or any donated money on campaigns. All should be given the same amount of cash and air-time in the media.
candiates using their own money. Aside from the fact that there would be no legal method to prevent this, some very fine congressman and senators have come to office using primarily their own funds. They don't need corporate donations and if they've a mind to do the right thing, like Rockefeller, nobody can sway them by withholding donations.
...this was one of the reasons the House of Lords in the UK was so strongly progressive and liberal for so long, in contrast to the so-called New Labour. The House of Lords wasn't voted in, so they didn't spend a lot of time or energy campaigning for elections. The House of Lords was made in in the main by wealthy British, so they didn't need corporate money to back them. This freed them, both politically and financially, to follow their ideologies - and one of the reasons Blair's government did their best to dismantle the House of Lords, which over the past thirty or forty years has been in very large part concerned with the benefit and welfare of the ordinary British citizen.
They made him look bad.
Make a run for POTUS in the near future.
He's one of the few to speak rationally about what Americans REALLY care about. Good for him!! I'm cheering him on from the sidelines here... This is a man in a political climate where there are so many whiny babies, little boys pretending to be men, women and men pretending to care as they pocket the corporate lobbyists' cash, and outright assholes!
He'd surely get my vote. Just one piece of advice though: Alan, even if you actually have seen a UFO, don't ever tell anybody about it.
And I will vote for him.
..and provided he's not afraid to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate w's war crimes and torture program, he'd get my vote if he ran for President.
Please Mr. Grayson, do it before American turns into a banana republic!
Are you married?
five little ones.
I cannot heart that man enough!
that should be speaking up like him. This is so fuc*ing idiotic I am begining tom want to pull my hair out.
Harry Reid and Mitch McConell. They remind me of the Slowskys on that TV ad. Get a man like Grayson to lead the party and if we need a speaker, have Barbara Boxer or that lady from Florida.
It's great to hear him speak but it's not going to get him anywhere.
that Grayson and Ron Paul have hooked up to ask that Bernanke not be re-confirmed as head of the Federal Reserve until they get all their questions answered as to an audit etc.
You should read the letter...it's a doozy.
It sure doesn't upset me. The Federal Reserve has consistently been wrong ever since shady dealing enabled it in the first place. I don't agree with many of Ron Paul's views, but this is definitely one I do agree with him on.
shame the room looked so empty
However, it isn't lost on Grayson. He knows the pols aren't listening, but viewers are. He's hip to the blogosphere. It's like getting free air time. And we get to choose what we like and pass it around.
It'll be another two years at least before the GOP figure it out and tweet their friends.
These are speeches when there need not be a quorum present, or anyone present. They ask for permission to revise and extend. This means they might say one thing for the camera, but present something else for the written record. It is an age old practice.
When congress is in session any senator or rep not working in a committee or in a hearing should be in the halls period. For what we pay them and the perks they should at least be forced to sit in congress when there got nothing to do. Tired of congressmen and woman going to other countries or fundraiser or whatever else when they should be in Washington working.
Why do you think it was against the rules for so long for any camera to show anything except the person talking? (I'm actually very surprised that shot got in there.) There's rarely more than a few people listening to any of the speeches you see in Congress. They're all out gladhanding for money instead of actually doing their jobs.
This man may be wealthy, but it sure looks like he has picked up the mantle of the Kennedy legacy, in his fight for the poor and (shrinking) middle classes. And he certainly knows how to make use of the bully pulpit, unlike our current milk-toast go-along-to-get-along Neo-Liberal Corporatist POTUS.
Representative Alan Grayson, your country needs you -- it needs you far more in a national position than the otherwise yeoman service that you provide to your constituents in Florida. If you care to challenge Obama in 2012, I will be happy to support you monetarily as best I can, and with blood, sweat, tears, and shoe-leather to my best ability.
Keep up the great work.
Regards,
David
His wealth gives him the freedom to say what he pleases. No need for him to suck up to corporate interests. That's why Kennedy was able to work for the people's interests for so long, too. There's nothing wrong with a Senator having wealth, per se. It's WHERE the wealth comes from that's an issue, as well as what's done with it. Being wealthy doesn't automatically make one an asshole.
Oops -- a duplicate.
Some kind of recurring C&L server problem, such as what happened last Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday?
Hope not ...
Outstanding! Well done, sir!
Where can I purchase my "Kucinich-Grayson '12" merchandise?
I said the same thing the other day.
This guy is the real deal, man. Too bad it's only one or two people out of the whole lot of them that actually are working for "the people".
Pfizer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KShkhIXdf1Y
"But America does care about health care in America and if you're against it, then get out of the way. Just get out of the way. You can lead. You can follow-- or you can get out of the way. And I'm telling you now to get out of the way."
Lead = Present Ideas
Follow = Back Ideas
Get out of the way = What those members who don't qualify for the above definitions should be doing.
"They understand that if Barack obama could somehow bring about world peace, they'd blame him for destroying the defense industry."
blame starts in 4...3...2...
"The danger of promoting peace is that real, hard working Americans lose their manufacturing jobs right here in the US."
I made that up.
Official Republican response to the Nobel Peace Prize confirms what Grayson said.
its time the dems took off the gloves, and stopped walking on egg shells. its good to hear a dem use this rhetoric to excoriate the rightwing noise machine. i will donate to grayson's re-election. we need more dems with balls....
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:/...
I really like this man. He cuts through the BS and tells it like it is, point blank perid. It is so refreshing to see a Democrat that doesn't care what Republicans think and just speaks directly to the American people. I wish more Democrats would follow his lead and get some balls already.
I actually think they might. They're probably FINALLY starting to see we like our guys and gals to stand up. As proud as we may have been at Kerry taking the high road in 2004, the cons beat him to death with unchallenged lies. This year, Barney Frank got the ball rolling at that town hall meeting, Pelosi has stood firm with a public option and Grayson just keeps on rockin'! Kind of funny that it took a gay guy, a woman and a newbie to show them the light!
Kerry took the high road. A lot of good THAT did.
All Grayson has to do is tell the truth = poison to the Greedy Old Plutocrats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAEdJc3RBg
Not bad for a kid from the Bronx, & Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Grayson
I have to admit, I wasn't really thrilled with Grayson's presentation on 'don't get sick' - mainly because it gave the Republicans an opportunity to play the "APOLOGIZE TO YOUR BETTERS, PEASANT!" card, and the Democrats an opportunity to show what spineless jellyfish they are.
But with this, Grayson nails it. This is why we're here, this is our job, these are the facts.
Nicely done, Congressman.
I thought that at first too - for about ten seconds. Then I remembered that Grayson was rumored to be a bulldog, and he proved it. "Fuck you, I'm not apologizing," was basically his response. And I cheered. FINALLY somebody who understands that the Repugs only power is the fear their opponents talk themselves into.
I like THIS one SO much better!!!
Grayson: "America understands that there's one party in this country that's in favor of health care reform and one party that's against it and they know why."
Me:
bloop, bloop, bloop
has the DNC been hiding this guy and why? This is the kind of Dem I want all our Dem "leaders" to be like.
He is pretty fearless. I like his going after the Dem's courting of Senator Snowe. With the apparent support he is getting, I suppose Grayson can be called the 'Designated Hitman' for the democrats. Go, Alan!
YEAH
Finally a Congressman who has all the backbone of:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n1vtZR16RY&fe...
Damned Straight!
Are you angry or relieved Grayson's not gay?
What Rep. Grayson SHOULD say to the Republicans demanding an apology:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssC77hapv0g
Love this guy.... absolutely love him.....
only one spine in democrats out of so many elected ?
I like when he says "I will not apologize" and "America do not care about that"
He is so true, I hope this spread more and MSM keeps playing this over and over again.
Fear is the enemy.
NO FEAR!
Grayson does not fear the establishment. Grayson does not fear losing (monetary) support. Grayson does not fear losing votes. Grayson does not fear his colleagues.
Without fear, you are free to act – and tell it like it is.
‘bout time for that one spine.
Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Anthony Weiner, Russ Feingold along with the awesome Alan Grayson. I think the left is finally starting to view being agressive and tough as a plus. The right has played that card for years. Maybe the party of the people, the progressives really will become what we hope!
Hey Obama, just quit while you're ahead and hand the helm over to Grayson.
Have Pelosi step down and make Grayson the House Leader.
He'd have way more power and influence than the President would.
Edited because I got my houses backwards.
That's how I'm always finding my ass.
He can beat the Republicans at the hyperbole game. He delivers pertinent statistics that Americans should be concerned about. He exposes the opposition's hypocrisy and ineptitude. And he's not backing down.
Now if we could only clone him....
cloning.
Yet, they all say and do the same thing.
...what he's talking about. He's clearly prepared to debate extemporaneously, as he did on CNN's roundtable Wolf Blitzer "Situation Room" segment a few days ago.
Compare that to the floundering of Betsy McCaughey, appearing with Rep. Anthony Weiner on Dylan Ratigan's MSNBC program the other morning -- her version of debate was an endless whinefest and repetition of lies (at least she didn't bring that 20 pound book with her, and bore everybody by thumbing through it trying to find P. 432).
And can you imagine either Alan Grayson or Anthony Weiner debating someone like Sarah Palin, if the latter is dumb enough to try to run for national office? Biden treated her with kid gloves last fall -- I think Grayson or Weiner would eviscerate Palin.
..but this guy rocks. I think it is especially important that someone call shenanigans on the Snowe-bootlicking - and the idiotic notions that any of us care about how many votes or bipartisan or offended Goopers. Just get it done! Jumping Jesus pissing maple syrup, we just need this to be done, and done right!
Finally a Dem with brass balls!!
politicians. Grayson must have gone out of network.
Are we going to reform the Health and Sickness Industry Conglomerate or Not? And then do a simple freaking VOTE on it.
That would be a start. At least Americans would know where everyone stands on it.
And who to kick out and who to keep.
because you CLEARLY care about getting Americans reformed health care. Harry Reid is so wishy-washy and I hope he loses re-election next year. Sen Durbin would then be Majority Leader and get things done for a change. Dems have needed someone like you for a long time, just standing up and saying things plainly and with feeling. As you've done recently many times. I love the line: "Get out of the way...", how many times have I been yelling at the TV and saying the same thing. Keep these speeches coming because they are gold. You're a star, sir, and your stock is going to keep on rising if you go this way more.
Grayson is someone we need to hear more of.
Repupubtards are in a bit of a jam right now. How can they respond to that?
Well with a lie of course but it will have to be a really big stupid lie. Or will they go infantile? "I'm rubber you're glue if we're not hating on the blacks we're hating on the Jews. No wait that come out wrong. What I meant to say was, you're a big poo poo head. Yeah ha ha told you."
...looking out for people like ME? What's wrong with this man? And how do I get MY congressman to grow a pair?
The first minute was particularly good...
Funny thing, he is one of the wealthiest Dems in congress. But unlike the others he actually made his money by earning it.
It is amazing what a politician can do when it doesn't have to depend on corporate campaign financing. Eh?
He doesn't need to speak out of both sides of the mouth - one side to the corporate interests, and the other to the supposed "constituency". It also helps that he's a mensch.
Substance over PR. Soooo refreshing after the relentlessly hollow "change" BS from Obama.
... it's that Grayson is being brutally honest. And it's refreshing to us because we're so used to politicians selling us horseshit 24/7, from 'bipartisanship' to the abused-wife phenomenon of kowtowing to the Republicans.
this guy to be in a position to run for POTUS.
The Chamber of Commerce would never allow it.
That said : Kucinich/Grayson in 2012!
YES!
http://www.coolfunpics.com/slides/Antique_Toi...
Keep the heat on Alan, you're doing us here in Orlando proud.
The Dems need a firebrand and you're it.
n/t
You might want to change the last paragraph. He said "...that's NOT what America wants..."
I always told my kids "by being right and doing the right thing it means you never have to apologise"....I don't know when I had Alan as my son, but I am proud of his not needing to apologise....
Bravo Son....God Bless You and Your Integrity!
The Geezers....
When is Bill Nelson up for re-election? I say let's make him his primary challenger!
You rock!!!!!!
that man is a true hero and a patriot.
Shit!
Ripping on a senator from the House floor takes big brass ones.
Loving your country means not having to say you're sorry. Nice work congressman.
To his opponents: Take your apology and shove it up your ass.
Alan Grayson For president 2012!
Couldn't we inject some of Grayson's DNA into Harry Reid?
... of serious complications from TISSUE REJECTION.
is bent over - it's possible.
George Orwell rightly said, "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
A system built on lies cannot long endure the spreading of truth. Nor can a system built on lies fight against truth with honest and forthright methods; so other weapons, such as demonization, propaganda, and psychological warfare, are employed.
Those who seek to stop proclamation of the truth would like nothing better than to provoke the adherents of that truth into attempting a violent revolution. They do this through the use of agent provocateurs and propaganda. The most clear example of this is Fox ginning up the kind of angry groups showing up at Town Halls with guns. Shouting down all attempts at having any kind of honest conversation about health care reform. A large part of the people participating in this movement truly have a dislike for Pres. Obama as they say "Obamacare." Tactics such as these are merely tactics coerced by the ruling class to prevent the one thing they cannot defeat...THE TRUTH.
And he could have added ... "If Barak Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize, republicans will call it Affirmative Action."
I love Alan Grayson. For once I feel proud to be from Florida.
I'm from *^%##$ Arizona.
Jon Vyl and John McShame say: Rape is OKAY!
Trent Franks sez: Obama is the ENEMY of HUMANITY.
Cheezis Crust shit on a biscuit.
Maybe not Phoenix's finest here
Sherriff Joe Arpaio would have finished him off.
Be careful there, you might never get to be first lady some day saying stuff like that!
so stay tuned
companies does the "death label" of pre-existing conditions exist. Most other legal systems don't even have it. In the U.S. the dark lords of insurance companies make billions off of a legal fiction that results in death. The true "Death Panels" are the boards of directors of insurance companies.
THANK YOU SIR!
Would you mind loaning out your spinal column so that others in your party could take a graft from it?
... this is RIGHT ON THE MONEY!
AMERICA DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE EGOS IN CONGRESS!
Oh, and the president SHOULD have a BLT sandwich, then at least it would put a stake in all of the "closet Muslim" accusations.
What if it's turkey bacon
Or tofu?
Which is how I have it.
"He's not even a good muslim!"
Can we clone this guy?
At last: A liberal who knows how to fight! I am so happy!
Someone tell Roger Simon to eat a shit sandwich
I wonder if Rahm is chewing Grayson out right now for being correct.
I like that dig at Olympia Snowe. Why should one Republican have, essentially, veto power over legislation that affects the lives of the whole country? She wasn't elected president, her party was trounced at the polls. It's pretty damn foolish of Obama and Rahm to kowtow to one GOP Senator (but it's an improvement, I suppose, they were kowtowing to several just a few months ago), and alienate and belittle progressives in the meantime.
I also like the line at the end about bacon.
This guy is our new voice; not that inspirational social climber Obama. I smell tipping point.
Hey DNC staffer,
You called me last night about health care. Watch this video! Here's the irony: my wife and I have not had health insurance for the last 7 years, but I'll be sending Mr. Grayson a check today.
To the DNC and all Democrats who are about half a hair left of the average GOPer, I only wish I could spit on each and everyone of you individually because this IS a life and death issue. I want two things, I'd be happy with Medicare for all, and if Medicare has issues then fix it.
Every government program will have issues, as does every private business, because unfortunately they are all run by human beings with faults. The GOP thinks the solution is to drain the tub and shoot the baby in the head. Shit, grow up! You implement something, it has problems, and you fix them. When the military has problems we don't get rid of the military. But God forbid some "social program" -- those things for the rest of us -- has a problem and the only solution is to get rid of it or never implement it.
I got called by the DNC a few weeks ago, also. After thanking me for donating (I submitted an online donation to OFA just one day before Senator BHO voted in favor of retroactive telecom immunity), they asked me for more money.
I said, "When President Obama stops catering to Republicans, I'll send more money."
To that, the staffer tried to dither and say that President Obama is trying to negotiate with his opponents and be bipartisan, and I got pissed off and replied, "With all due respect, that's a crock. He was elected with the biggest margin in years. He has a Democratic controlled Congress. But yet he hasn't kept ONE of his campaign promises, and is kowtowing to corporate interests that conflict with the law and with the general welfare of citizens. When he stops acting like a Republican, when he revokes retroactive telecom immunity, when he investigates the authorization of torture in the previous administration, or when he stands up to Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical industries and guarantees affordable, reliable healthcare to everyone in the US, when he does just ONE of those things, then I'll send him more money. It's time to walk the walk. You be sure and tell him that."
In response, the staffer said "thank you, sir," and hung up.
Alan Grayson for President!
If Obama runs again in 2012, he should dump Joe Biden and have Alan Grayson for his running mate. Thereafter, Alan Grayson for President!!
MAN-UP, DEMOCRATS!
for Obama. Grayson would make Obama look so hollow and PR-driven it would not be sustainable.
This guy should be Speaker of the House.Finally a Democrat with balls,guts,vigor,integrity. Let's get our party back to it's truth telling roots!
I am proud to say I live in the district Grayson represents!
I love this guy!
I just sent Mr. Grayson some VISA love. A note to Colorado senators, why do you think i'm sending this guy money and not you guys? Hmmmm.
Health Care, and not Health Insurance, is a life and death issue for a lot of us. If you want my money then don't just vote for it, get up and scream about it!
Good for you...Money is what most of them are about... maybe some others will get the point when people send money to Grayson, and a note to their own reps/senators explaining why their donation went where it did.
I wrote to him when this flap first started even though I'm no where near his district up here in Md.
I begged him to keep it up and to school his fellow Dems on how to have a spine. Their behavior over the last eight years has been solely focused on proving to people that they're not Republicans but they're not really doing anything to stop the Republican agenda.
Even now, on this critical issue with over 40 -thousand- Americans dying each year because they don't have health insurance the Republicans are still controlling the debate. Still controlling he message. We did not put them in power for them to bow down before idiots like Boehner and Limbaugh.
Kick Pelosi out. Grayson for Speaker of the House!
We need this guy in the Senate.
To heck with the Blue Dogs -- I'm supporting the Gray Dogs!
BOOYAH!
FUCK YEAH!!!
I love a man with a spine. I sure hope his constituents realize how lucky they are.
Grayson makes me verklempt.
Again, BRAVO!, Mr. Grayson. I find it interesting that many of the polls I see concerning a Public Option, over fifty percent always seem to be in favor of it. Yet some of the BOZOS in both Houses who are supposedly Our voices in Our Government insist on blocking it. They are supposed to be working for The People and not Big Insurance, Inc. who provide them with 'donations'. Bullsh*t! They're not 'donations', they're BRIBES to keep letting the insurance companies make bigger profits and allow them to continue running our health-care system. The U.S. is said to provide the best medical care in the world, but it seems only some actually have access to it. Even if you have insurance. Yes there are 'death panels'...it's the insurance companies themselves.
Thank you Mr. Grayson, but I fear your words are falling on deaf ears. Our 'elected' officials have quit listening to The People decades ago. Holding public office ceased being a commitment. It's career where Team 'I' is job one.
Wait a minute, does this guy actually speak for those who voted for him? Does he answer to the people, and not the insurance companies? I'm guessing there are a LOT of angry CEO's. Sucks to be them. hahahahahaha
You don't need the Corporations' money.
This guy is going to do just fine raising money from millions of ordinary people.
Rep Grayson tells it like it is. We need to put more like him both in Congress and especially in the Senate.
Watching him speak only further exemplifies what sorry excuses for senators we have in people like Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln.
He's ugly and tough. This is such a pleasure. He reminds me of some guy from the 1940s. He makes no effort to be pretty. This is so refreshing. He's a black and white film character. A throwback. A character actor. An everyman. A nerd. He actually holds back - watch him questioning financial figures and you can see him asking small questions that have huge implications and letting the witness hang himself with his own words. This man is a litigator.
Unfortunately folks he's Jewish, and as a fellow tribe member let me be the first to say that America will not accept a Jew in the Presidency, and as a Jew I really don't want that complication in my life or our national life. Really, can you imagine the carping and who would host the National Christmas Tree? Can you say "war on Christmas?" This is a Christian nation, and don't tell this Jew it ain't, no matter what the Constitution says. Nah, save me the tsuris please. But he could have a long happy career in the Senate, or imagine him as Attorney General. What a type he is. He's a classic.
than a black?! Btw, I don't consider Grayson ugly. Peronally I love it that he looks a little rough-hewn - so da*n refreshing, esp. in light of what we see slickness and a PR-orientation gives us in the person of Obama. I truly think this country is craving realness and a person who is working for the people for a change, instead of some manufactured image.
And yes, I do not think a Jewish President is in my interests as a Jew. Even Obama hasn't changed that... although the election of a black man has certainly caused me to question that belief of mine.... even so, I can't see how a Jewish President would be "good for the Jews"... look I'm not going to NOT vote for the more progressive choice if he happens to be Jewish, but it's trouble we don't need. And my view is probably a very small percent of overall Jewish public opinion, but that's how I see it.
In a chaste manly heterosexual way of course.
...that Representative Grayson would show such utter disrespect for President Olympia Snowe. Is it possible that he doesn't realize that the most important goal of every piece of legislation proposed by Democrats is to achieve legitimacy by getting President Snowe to vote for that legislation? Surely he realizes that sane Americans care much more about getting President Snowe to sign on to a bill, even if it is necessary to gut the bill of any utility whatsoever, than they care about having affordable, high quality health care available to every American. I mean c'mon, Grayson, we're talking about the President of the United States of Maine, who won her position by receiving more that 402,000 votes in 2006. Surely, no one believes that any legislation can be considered legitimate if President Snowe vetoes it.
Clearly, Representative Grayson needs to be recalled for showing such disrespect for our president. And if recall is not an option, then he should resign as a matter of simple decency.
.
PROFITS for COFFERS
. . . . . . . K E E P . . . . . .
. PEOPLE in COFFINS .
.
Stand up for what they believe in.
Stand up for not just THEIR values, but AMERICA'S values.
We voted for Obama for a reason. We voted for what he wanted to do.
We're telling them what we want from healthcare in the polls.
Now, it's bad enough that Republicans are fighting what Americans want. The Democrats ought to not just stand up for OUR goals, but call out the Republicans for fighting those goals. THAT'S anti-American.
Thanks, Allan. Keep speaking for us.
Odd as it sounds, the world understands that this inanity is precisely what the Rethugs would focus on with expensive shouts emanating from those Fox Noise orifices.
His seat is by no means safe (he's pissed off a lot of RWers in his district), and though he may be relatively wealthy, elections ain't cheap.
The rethugs are tasting the medicine they've served to America for too long.
Some flat soda with that...REMFs?
If the public option fails I would vote for Grayson for president in 2012 over Obama. I feel let down. Where is this big fight against the insurance industry that we were promised.
Although I do congratulate Obama for his foreign policy and the winning of the Nobel Prize
In 2012, VP Joe Biden will be 70. Nobody could blame him for opting out of the sidekick role to spend some peaceful years with his family.
Alan Grayson will be 54. Barack Obama will be 51. Obama, from Hawaii with experience in Chicago, and Grayson, from the Bronx with experience in Florida, each of the generation that lived through America at both its best and its worst, each one self-made winners instead of family-dynasty-wanna-be oblivious failures, both strong and forceful, one reserved, and one no-holds-barred outspoken, would make a PERFECT team.
In 2016, President Obama will be both young enough and experienced enough to move on to the world stage, and President-elect Grayson will be both old enough and experienced enough to refrain from punching some a-hole in the nose even when said a-hole thoroughly deserves it.
The only problem I foresee is that the young woman I have in mind for President-elect Grayson's VP in 2016, while she is both brilliant and beautiful -- not in the caribou-barbie sense, but in the sort of way associated with the characters played by Amanda Tapping -- is also from Florida, so one or the other of them would have to pull a Cheney and buy a phony residence out of state. Bah.
But then, Florida is likely to be underwater by 2016, what with the weenie-less twits in congress whining that cars can't be made to meet the engineering standards of HALF A CENTURY AGO for another half a decade, so all Obama and Grayson and the Ms. have to worry about is not getting shot by some wacko who wants to impress some reichwingnut so he can get cornholed by a beckazoid.
I'm in western NC. I admire you people in Orlando for having someone like Grayson representing you. We have Heath Shuler, a "Blue Dog Democrat", which is another name for a Republican who can't get elected as a Republican. We finally got rid of a worthless Charles Taylor (a Republican) only to replace him with a younger version...and now we find that our newer version has ties to the "C Street" religious crowd that Gov. Sanford and Sen. Ensign are/were with. (We can't win!)
BUT...You did win! You got a guy with balls! When Barney Frank came back with his "dining room table" remark to the flake at the meeting, I thought he was the only Dem with balls...and the irony...it takes a gay man to show the rest how to stand up and not take it any more! Now we have a nice Jewish guy giving a little push. Maybe a third one will follow....
"You can lead. You can follow--or you can get out of the way. And I'm telling you to get out of the way!" Damn!!! That's good!!!
Keep him out front.
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