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As featured on p. 218 of "Bloggers on the Bus," under the name "a MyDD blogger."

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

What's That Expression?

Something about being able to dish it out but not being able to take it?

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) warned Americans that "Republicans want you to die quickly" during an after-hours House floor speech Tuesday night.

His remarks, which drew angry and immediate calls for an apology from Republicans, were highlighted by a sign reading "The Republican Health Care Plan: Die Quickly."

Veteran Tennessee Republican Jimmy Duncan abandoned customary reticence to chastise Grayson.

"That is about the most mean-spirited partisan statement that I've ever heard made on this floor, and I, for one, don't appreciate it," Duncan said.

"It's fully appropriate that the gentleman return to the floor and apologize," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, another Tennessee Republican.




Alan Grayson is not the guy over which to throw a hissy fit. Or at least, he won't back down. He just doesn't care. Matt Taibbi had a run-in with him before he entered Congress. I'm somewhat amazed he's a Democrat, given how he won't be walked over.

A political party is like a team. They have stars, and they have role players. Grayson is a role player - a bomb-thrower, simply put. Republicans have lots and lots of bomb-throwers, who relish the spotlight and just say crazier and crazier things every time you put a microphone in front of them. When someone lobs a verbal grenade back at them, you'd think from their reaction that the person broke the space-time continuum. They simply never expect a Democrat to give as good as they get. And so they become the dainty guardians of the discourse all of a sudden.

Well, tough. Politics ain't beanbag, as they say. The cable nets may take umbrage - that's their job - but nobody will point out what Grayson said that was actually wrong. Republicans don't want to expand access to health care, and they have voted to eliminate Medicare. Roughly translated, that pretty much does mean "don't get sick, and if you do, die quickly." Let's not pretend that Republicans haven't said all this and worse on the House floor.

Good for Grayson. He should do one of these little comedy routines every week.

...here's a conservative columnist calling for a military coup to "resolve the Obama problem." I invite you to compare and contrast.

...Igor Volsky proves Grayson's point in some slightly more clinical language.

...Ryan Grim points out the number of times Republican bomb-throwers have said that the Democratic health care plan would kill people.

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