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Grayson Explains What It Means To Be A Democrat: 'We Have A Conscience'
Eric Kleefeld | October 12, 2009, 2:09PM
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Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) spoke to the Florida Democratic Party convention this past weekend, and was sure a hit with the party activists.
"I want to say a few words about what it means to be a Democrat," said Grayson. "What it means to be a Democrat. It's very simple: We have a conscience."
"You know, scientists have studied for years this difficult question of why some people have a conscience, and some people don't," Grayson later explained. "Some people are called Democrats, and some people are called Republicans."
Late Update: NRCC spokesman Andy Seré gives us this comment: "Some people are called serious-minded public servants, and other people are called self-obsessed creatures of the fringe who have no business representing 800,000 Central Floridians."
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CT Voter
October 12, 2009 2:26 PM
I'm delighted as the next person that a Democrat isn't backtracking, side-stepping, or otherwise cowing in fear when criticized by a Republican, but this is the same variety of stupid that Republicans used to paint Democrats as unpatriotic.
And it's insulting to the sane Republicans out there.
And to be sure, those sane Republicans aren't speaking out against the crazy, but this seems like pointless demagoguery.
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TaraV
October 12, 2009 2:45 PM in reply to CT Voter
I second that. I've liked so much of what this guy has said since he came on to the scene. Calling the Rs out for not having a plan and for being obstuctionist is all good stuff - and accurate. I have especially liked his constant citing of statistics. This comment, however, paints with far too broad a brush and will not help him win any arguments. He needs to stick to the fact and stay away from the demogoguery.
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docrocktex
October 12, 2009 2:54 PM in reply to TaraV
I disagree. They throw every insult they can hurl at the Dems and we just sit back and take it. Enough is enough people. We always complain about Dems not having a spine, and newsflash this is what having a spine looks like.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 2:57 PM in reply to docrocktex
No, having a spine would be pushing responsible health care legislation through Congress over the politically dead bodies of their opponents.
Ranting demagoguery is not a display of spine, but simply a way to divert attention away from the Democrats' spineless failure to act and at best a weak substitute for that action.
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Donald from Hawaii
October 12, 2009 3:13 PM in reply to Dilirius
Most reasonable people are waiting to see what the final product looks like, before lambasting the Democrats' "spineless failure to act" - especially when health care reform is still in the middle of the legislative process.
This isn't a TV series where everything is neatly resolved within a set time frame, and your impatient denunciations are going to look pretty silly if / when Democrats come forth with a robust reform bill. The Senate Finance Committee is hardly the final arbiter of health care reform, and you're foolish to listen to the media's insistence that such is the case.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 3:34 PM in reply to Donald from Hawaii
== your impatient denunciations are going to look pretty silly ==
Does that mean your patient obsequiousness will look silly if they don't?
The Democrats will have as much spine as public opinion polls allow.
As JohnW1141 points out, vacillating has been an Olympic sport for Democrats on health care, the public option either up or down right in sync with public opinion polls.
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expatjourno2
October 12, 2009 3:47 PM in reply to Dilirius
Grayson isn't ranting. He's quite calmly telling the truth.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 2:59 PM in reply to docrocktex
If demagoguery were evidence of spine, then Bush, Limbaugh, Beck and the majority of the GOP leadership would have the biggest spines in the world.
But they don't.
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Lestatdelc
October 12, 2009 3:11 PM in reply to Dilirius
You seem to be confusing valid observation (which Greyson is making) with demagoguery. It isn't.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 3:17 PM in reply to Lestatdelc
== valid red meat to the partisan crowd ==
I.e., demagoguery.
So, yes, I know the definition of demagoguery and so do you, even if you don't want to admit it, except implicitly.
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expatjourno2
October 12, 2009 3:53 PM in reply to Dilirius
Actually, you just proved don't know the definition of demagoguery.
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JohnW1141
October 12, 2009 3:17 PM in reply to TaraV
Tara,
he's replacing the lost passion into those who have been disappoinetd by the great Democrat vacillators of late.
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expatjourno2
October 12, 2009 3:51 PM in reply to TaraV
He IS sticking to the facts. You obviously have been sleeping under a rock.
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Lestatdelc
October 12, 2009 3:09 PM in reply to CT Voter
He is throwing valid red meat to the partisan crowd at a Dem function. So what?
I hope the GOP is stupid enough to cry about this in the media. Give Greyson another opportunity to point out that the GOP are opposing bringing reasonable health-care reform to everyone, which 100% validates the broad brush points about a lack of conscience by the GOP in this debate.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 3:26 PM in reply to Lestatdelc
== I hope the GOP is stupid enough to cry about this in the media. ==
Yes, let us hope they are as stupid as those on the left who constantly insist on crying about what Limbaugh and Beck have to say.
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expatjourno2
October 12, 2009 3:56 PM in reply to Dilirius
The difference is that Limbaugh and Beck lie and are anti-American. Grayson is just telling the truth. To make the comparison you did just proves you are an ignoranus.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 5:42 PM in reply to expatjourno2
== The difference is that [insert favorite political target] lie and are anti-American. ==
Insert a liberal above and you have the exact same rant that we heard from Bush supporters for 8 years.
How [un]refreshing.
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expatjourno2
October 12, 2009 3:49 PM in reply to CT Voter
Anyone who is still a Republican deserves to be insulted. And unless you claim that living in denial is a mentally healthy condition, none of them are sane.
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KeithL
October 12, 2009 3:51 PM in reply to CT Voter
CT, you should pay attention to the fact that he was speaking to the Florida Democratic Party convention. He may be overdoing his "exposure". I imagine he's enjoying himself hugely. But at this venue, he was entirely justified in his rhetoric.
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Cal Gal
October 12, 2009 4:44 PM in reply to CT Voter
What sane Republicans? And I don't mean Chuck Hagel or someone else no longer in office. I want names of CURRENT Repubican officeholders who have shown even an ounce of a conscience.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 5:42 PM in reply to Cal Gal
See below.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 2:50 PM
Demagoguery is never pointless and Grayson's certainly wasn't.
It may be tasteless and unwise, but it is never pointless.
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CT Voter
October 12, 2009 2:57 PM in reply to Dilirius
What'll get reported is this:
GRAYSON SAID REPUBLICANS LACK A CONSCIENCE. GRAYSON PERSONALLY ATTACKS REPUBLICANS AND SAYS THEY'RE IMMORAL.
What won't get reported? Republicans have no plan, not now, not ever.
As TaraV says, there's plenty of things to attack Republicans on. I don't see the point of using the same personalized poison Republicans have used in ithe past. Sure, it works. But it's going to kill us in the long run.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 3:24 PM in reply to CT Voter
As Lestatdelc points out, it is "red meat" for the base and Limbaugh and Beck have been very effective at motivating their base, which is not a "pointless" exercise, even if we could use a little less of that.
Additionally, it is effective at diverting conservative attention from attacking health care reform and instead concentrating on futile efforts to attack "red meat" political rhetoric intended for and influencing only the partisan ranks of the base.
That is why Limbaugh and Beck have been so successful - liberals waste time combating something they cannot and don't need to.
Maybe conservatives will return the favor in response to Grayson's outbursts.
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CT Voter
October 12, 2009 3:29 PM in reply to Dilirius
Additionally, it is effective at diverting conservative attention from attacking health care reform and instead concentrating on futile efforts to attack "red meat" political rhetoric
This is a great point.
But the fact that this happens isn't cause for celebration, is it?
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 3:37 PM in reply to CT Voter
== But the fact that this happens isn't cause for celebration, is it? ==
Not really, as I noted in posts at 2:50 and 3:24, although it doesn't really add much volume to the extant ocean-like cesspool of political discourse, so in the end it is likely to be a trivial matter.
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rbeats
October 12, 2009 2:59 PM
To those that say it's unfair to say this. You know you are then arguing that Republicans actually do care. They care about profits, over American lives. Why else would Republicans be fighting to keep the status quo in our current barbaric health care system in America?
You either say they have feelings, and point out they enjoy the profits derived from the corspe of Americans, or you say they have no consciences.
I think Garyson was being civil.
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CT Voter
October 12, 2009 3:12 PM in reply to rbeats
Democrats have a conscience and Republicans don't is the same sort of mindless bumpersticker bullshit that served as Republican talking points for so many years. It revs up the base and reduces the political debate to a shouting match of slogans. Incredibly satisfying, perhaps, but it's not going to get us anywhere.
If Grayson wants to say that anyone who opposes health insurance reform lacks a conscience, well, fine. But there are Democrats out there who qualify.
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Donald from Hawaii
October 12, 2009 3:30 PM in reply to CT Voter
Please keep in mind that Rep. Grayson isn't talking to you. Rather, he's specifically appealing to those voters who are obviously affected by the GOP's "mindless bumpersticker bullshit." Those are the people Democrats need to bring into the fold, and he gives us that opportunity.
Now, you and I might disdain such bumpersticker bullshit for all the obvious reasons, but the sad fact of the matter is that sucgh bullshit actually works, and further, it came dangerously close to derailing the entire enterprise this past summer. In that regard, for Rep. Grayson to tailor his intellectual appeals to the likes of you and me, would be simply preaching to the converted.
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fpie
October 12, 2009 6:11 PM in reply to Donald from Hawaii
Just so.
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mans_best_friend
October 12, 2009 4:22 PM in reply to CT Voter
I disagree. This is largely a matter of perception, and the perception the Dems have been trying to advance is that the R's are more interested in partisan politics and moneyed interestes than in advancing a much needed reform that will help the American people. "They have no conscience" and "They don't care about you" is an integral part of this. While it might be simplistic, I think it goes to the heart of the matter.
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CT Voter
October 12, 2009 4:31 PM in reply to mans_best_friend
I can't believe I'm trying to defend Republicans on this, because they haven't really demonstrated that they deserve it, but Grayson's comments are a broad generalization that simply turns the debate into black vs. white. And where, precisely, does that get us?
I appreciate the fact that he was speaking to a partisan audience, but again, where does simplifying something into a meaningless soundbite get us? I know Republicans have done this for years, but is this where the Democrats are headed? They can't come up with catchy statements that stick to the issues, and can only resort to the same verbal kneecapping style as the Freedom Fries crowd? I don't see this as a positive development.
Republicans don't deserve much of a defense on any of this. The reasonable ones (which is, what, all 2 of them, in both chambers of Congress) have stood quiet while the frothers in the party have taken all the attention. But following the lead of Karl Rove et al and painting one party as the party of conscience and the other as not? Again, I don't see this as a positive trend.
The only way Democrats can stand up for themselves is to do this?
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mans_best_friend
October 12, 2009 4:37 PM in reply to CT Voter
Even a complex story needs a headline that catches the essence of the story. That's essentially what this is: a one-liner that tries to catch the essence of the Democrats' criticism of the Republican party. That doesn't make it a substitute for reasoned debate. But they're not mutually exclusive.
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Cal Gal
October 12, 2009 4:47 PM in reply to CT Voter
Again, please point to a Republican who has demonstrated a conscience? And just what they did that so demonstrated it? You can't complain about what Grayson said unless you can show how it wasn't the truth.
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CT Voter
October 12, 2009 4:58 PM in reply to Cal Gal
You seriously believe this catchy shit? Really? That Democrats are the only one's with a conscience, and Republicans lack one? That not one single Republican has a conscience? Really? You truly believe this hyperbole?
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 5:09 PM in reply to Cal Gal
David Iglesias, U.S. Attorney, Republican.
Refused to pursue illegitimate voter fraud cases, despite immense political pressure to do so, lost his job, and spoke out vigorously against the U.S. Attorney purge, even though it might limit any future political ambitions in the party the chose him to first serve.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 5:20 PM in reply to Cal Gal
James B. Comey, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States
Raced to hospital to prevent Al Gonzales and Andrew Card from taking advantage of a sick Ashcroft to obtain DOJ approval of reauthorization of a domestic surveillance program the DOJ had determined was illegal, which, given the viciousness of the Bush White House's response to anyone who stood in their way, put Comey's future career at great risk.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 5:22 PM in reply to Cal Gal
General Colin Powell, Republican.
Among other things, endorsed Obama. True, he has much negative actions to make up for, but that doesn't mean he didn't and doesn't have a conscience and anyone who says he didn't and doesn't is a dishonest fool.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 5:28 PM in reply to Cal Gal
Susan Collins, Republican
One of a handful of senators who spoke against Congressional intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, on the grounds that it was a private family matter.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 5:30 PM in reply to Cal Gal
I'm curious, Cal Gal.
Exactly how many Republicans with a conscience would make painting them with such a broad brush untrue?
Above are 4.
How many more do I need to name?
Ballpark figure, please.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 5:33 PM in reply to Cal Gal
Or are you artificially limiting it to the health care debate, even though neither you nor the original speaker so limited the claim?
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Seafarer
October 12, 2009 3:12 PM
Grayson 2016?
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An Outhouse
October 12, 2009 3:18 PM in reply to Seafarer
Campaign motto:
"Put on some clothes or turn off your TV set"
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mans_best_friend
October 12, 2009 4:08 PM
"Some people are called serious-minded public servants, and other people are called self-obsessed creatures of the fringe ..."
Say, Andy...which of these categories would Michele Bachmann fit into? Just wondering?
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 4:32 PM in reply to mans_best_friend
Bachmann is light years beyond the fringe.
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Dilirius
October 12, 2009 4:33 PM in reply to mans_best_friend
. . . and in the wrong direction from sanity and reason, mind you.
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we r all husseins
October 12, 2009 4:36 PM
I love this bit:
The serious-minded public servants are called Democrats
The self-obsessed creatures of the fringe are called Republicans
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Cal Gal
October 12, 2009 4:42 PM
That does it. I'm sending this guy money. He's the best thing to come along since Howard Dean, who represented the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. Sounds like Grayson is over there with him (and me).
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GK
October 12, 2009 5:03 PM
Many years ago I asked an uncle why he was a Republican. His answer: Because I believe in more money for less people.
That's it, folks. That's what Republicans believe in. And they prove it year in and year out by promoting policies that put as much wealth as possible into the fewest possible hands. Which pretty much leaves about 95% of us to fend for ourselves.
If Republicans truly had a conscience, they would occasionally provide evidence of it by championing policies that help others, rather then just themselves.
Representative Grayson is just telling the truth. And sometimes the truth hurts. But as Grayson said, America doesn't care about Republicans' feelings.
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breakspear
October 12, 2009 5:20 PM
GOP lapdog said: "...and other people are called self-obsessed creatures of the fringe who have no business representing 800,000 Central Floridians."
What's funny about this line, is that on election day in 2008 clearly a majority of Florida voters in this district went for a 'self-obsessed creature of the fringe' - Alan Grayson, and rejected a boring, do-nothing, GOP incumbent. Either that or the voters traded one for another. In any event, it seems like this 'self-obsessed creature of the fringe' is doing quite well in his district and has hit a cord with some of his constituents. Seems to be working, GOP lapdog. And for you to comment on Rep Grayson means hes getting to you. Ha, love it.
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Richardxx
October 12, 2009 7:17 PM
Andy Seré of the NRCC might as well have bluntly said "Ouch! You got us!"
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pvel
October 12, 2009 10:45 PM
I am a Democrat who is tired of Democrats like Harry Reid conceding every issue without a fight. For me Rep. Grayson is an inspiration.
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