Rachel Maddow Interviews Rep Alan "Straightshooter" Grayson

[Turborama]

Run time: 10:59 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqSMdmIA4pA   Posted on YouTube: October 01, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: October 01, 2009 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 6386

 
More awesomeness from my hero, interviewed by another hero.

Rachel shows how the Republican'ts calling for Grayson to apologize for his classic slamming of their lack of a plan is hypocrisy of the lowest order.

The interview starts at 5:56. "People want a Democrat with guts, they want a Democratic Party with guts", ain't that the truth!

More on his excellent work on getting the "De-fund ACORN" Act to apply to defense contractors that have committed massive fraud against the Government: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x376918

[FourScore]

1. Get ye to the greatest page!

[tomm2thumbs]

2. awesomeness!

[Hoosier]

3. shit yes

Loud and proud.
Fuck those idiots.

[nolabear]

4. THAT was a work of art!

Take that, you knuckle dragging nattering nabobs of negativism! Between him and Michael Moore I'm feeling it!

[intheflow]

5. Neanderthal was another unfortunate word choice, but otherwise ...

Right on, Representative Grayson!! :headbang:

[wroberts189]

7. I disagree.. :) ...that shoe fits them very well. nt

[intheflow]

8. Sure, it's what WE all know to be true.

But it's also flamebait. It will only serve to enrage the neanderthals more, and god knows they're dangerous enough as it is.

[wroberts189]

11. They have declared and are at active war with us....

These bastards are putting Hitler mustaches on Obama pictures. Calling him every bad name in the book.

Calling him a liar at a speech to congress.

Hell we waited years before suggesting bush was like Hitler. And he ACTUALLY WAS. Only he killed and tortured Muslims instead.

It is about time we started playing by the same rules ..like FDR "They only think its hell cause I tell the truth" (paraphrasing) .

Hell all the pubs do is lie and distort and rant in hyperbolic. At least when we say it it has truth to it.

[snake in the grass]

26. I know it's a prevailing term, but...

...it is completely off the mark. The Neanderthals were, contrary to popular belief, quite advanced. They created art, manufactured jewelry, and even buried their dead. On the evolutionary scale, they were more developed than your average GOPler, who has more in common with howler monkeys.

Average Republican Values Voter:

[Turborama]

28. Or, mixing that with a Pinnochio analogy...

Proboscis monkeys...

[snake in the grass]

30. I can see the love for Sarah Palin...

...in his eyes!

;-)

[scarface2004]

10. should have said cretin moron goobers instead!!

neanderthal is too nice!!!!

[wroberts189]

13. I would have used the forbidden word suggested in my sig myself.

But imagine the firestorm... I still would have done it. Called them a bunch of a@s#h@l$es I would. Screw it ..its about time someone did.

[wroberts189]

6. He totally slams them... at last! KNR

[Grassy Knoll]

9. K&R n/t

[Triana]

12. I LIKE that he called them Neanderthals - AGAIN. And...

...Pretentious hypocrisy is the Hallmark of Republicans. It has always been thus. And, there they go again... sheesh. Thanks to Rachel for pointing that out.

I hope he KEEPS calling them that and REFUSES to apologize for ANY of what he said. It's NO WORSE than anything the Pigshits have been tossing at Obama and Dems for MONTHS.

[izquierdista]

14. Rachel, have you turned into a cloth-eared twit?

Yes, you heard it right he said "this holocaust", did you have to ask 3 fucking times, conflating it to "The Holocaust? Have you not learned the difference between a demonstrative adjective and a definite article?

Usually I like Rachel, but this is just plain dumb, jumping on the spineless backpedal bandwagon. Let him loose some fire on the Repubs without dousing it with water right away.

[thunder rising]

16. agreed. she was looking to get a sideways apology.

[bermudat]

19. Ditto

[mzmolly]

23. I'm a huge fan of Rachel, but I didn't care for her asking three times either.

One question on the subject would have tactfully made the point.

[shireen]

24. totally agree.

she could have used the time to discuss substantive health care issues.

[marew]

33. Absolutely correct.

That time could have been used much more productively.

[Enrique]

41. that's what good journalists do

And Maddow is one of the best. :thumbsup:

[lib_wit_it]

49. I don't know if she's ever asked 3 times when a Repug skirted a question. She's usually pretty great

though.

[man4allcats]

15. I love this Grayson guy, and I'd never even heard of him until today!

And yes, the Republicans are Neanderthals. Here, in fact, is a photo of their Number One cave dweller:

[shireen]

25. hey! don't insult Neandertals!

they were a lot smarter than republicans. :D

[javafusion]

17. Grayson: How dare he?

As president of my local chapter, Neanderthals Are People Too (NAPT), I am deeply troubled by the recent upsurge in discriminatory and hurtful portrayals of caveman in general, and neanderthals in particular. It is bad enough that we are marginalized as to our evolutionary progress, and that we are made to look cartoonish in selling car insurance as in The GEICO Cavemen, but equating us to modern republicans is going too far and is beyond the pale. I am demanding that Rep. Grayson issue an immediate and unequivocal apology to every US neanderthal, believe me, there are millions of us. In addition, I appeal to all DUers to be more compassionate toward their caveman brethren. After all, we invented the wheel, discovered the means to light a fire, domesticated women (clubs are handy), and survived long enough for all you hairless apes to appear. So be kind!

[aquart]

71. The wheel? Oh, please.

[bermudat]

18. What's up with the world 'holocaust'? Why did Rachel make a big deal about

him apologizing for saying it? Keith also said it was regrettable. No, saying Obama wants

to destroy America is regrettable, saying dems want to kill grannie, to me that's far worse.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

20. Preventible death by those in power

IS a halocaust. And yes, we DO want a bunch of Democrats with guts. Come on, Rachel...knock it off.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

21. Here's where to donate

http://www.actblue.com/page/graysonapology

[mzmolly]

22. The way I view the holocaust comment is ...

1. Republicans are insinuating that President Obama is a Nazi daily with their absurd rhetoric. I think Grayson used their own so called venom against them with his commentary. When he did so, I immediately thought of the R/W Hitler mustache posters and the death panel BS.

2. The term Holocaust has been used since the 1800's to describe http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/holocaust">"any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life." Granted, this use is not common today given it's taken on new meaning after the horrors committed during WW2.

3. Dems are attempting to address the RW Nazi rhetoric with reason, but Rep. Grayson's biting commentary may be more effective in actually accomplishing this goal?

That said, I do not believe that we should toss around Nazi references lightly, I simply think that Grayson had a method to his so called madness.

So, I say rock on Rep. Grayson! But, don't use the term holocaust (unless you're referencing WW2) again. ;)

Nice post turborama. :hi: K and R.

[marew]

32. Regarding the word holocaust

Does it really matter whether a person is suffering imprisoned and dying in a concentration camp or imprisoned in their own body suffering excruciating pain because they can't afford the medication to give them a bit of relief as they are slowly dying from cancer? Holocaust means excessive loss of life. A death is a death. Suffering is suffering. And I believe that those who have the tattoo on their arm might be the most compassionate of all because they, unlike most of us, actually know what suffering is. I don't think they, those who know what suffering is all about, would argue semantics over principles.

[mzmolly]

35. I too associate the word with senseless, painful death.

The atrocities committed during WW2 are so horrendous one can't envision what that must have been like. But as you say, suffering and death are ugly regardless.

[truedelphi]

36. I think that those of us who understand what the PTB have in store for us

Realize that this is a totally appropriate expression to use.

Did the Jewish people get taken out of their homes and gassed within a few weeks of the tightening screws? No, what happened first is that they were not allowed to work. And they were not allowed to meet in public. (Did you notice the new weaponry used last week in Pittsburgh? What happened to our right to assemble?)

Let's examine that - First the Jewish people were not allowed to work. Well, right now, that happens to be the reality for 17% of us, who have no jobs to get up to go to each morning.

And no, we don't wear any yellow stars, but we live with the very same reality that the Jewish families faced similar to ours - we don't get to eat! And if we are sick, we don't get treated.

Since this is happening to the least desirable of us first - the younger people who are disabled or sick, the older people whose job skills are lacking, et cetera, we fall into a ghetto defined not by our religion or ethnicity but by our monetary situation, physical condition, and age.

Let me repeat my last statement - we fall into a ghetto defined by our monetary situation, physical condition and our age.

And the other thing is, the non-civil methods of the rabid RW Teabaggers, since acceptance of their nasty methods has been condoned all the way up to the higher levels, this ugliness is spreading. Today it is obvious we will not get any sort of meaningful health insurance. Tomorrow (Word used figuratively) there may well be no Social Security checks -the Teabaggers hate that. Already in the Baucus Finance Committee, the Republican members have said they not only want to "reform" the health insurance plan, they want to "reform" Medicare"

And to me it sounds like they mean to phase it out, or further tighten the screws.

It has been my contention for decades that the next Holocaust would not fall upon the Jewish people, but upon the impoverished. And I see nothing in the works of current day America to change that perception.

Right now the FDIC is tightening the screws on the smaller banks across the country - the only ones that even might consider loaning money to the smaller customer. To the Average American.

Those banks will have to come up with three to four years of payments IN ADVANCE to the FDIC. So that will destroy their ability to lend out any monies. What that means is the small business person today who is semi-flourishing - he or she may well be out of business tomorrow. Because their bank will not be able to loan he money.

The screws are tightening. believe me. For simply being homeless, you can be put in jail. And the jails are privatized, so none of that nonsense about prisoners having rights will be followed by Blackwater and the others. With the ten millionth foreclosure occurring just a few weeks ago, the homeless situation is another check we can make on the check list.

None of this paints a pretty picture, and eventually people will understand. Just as the people of Germany eventually understood.

[bobbolink]

38. Homeless people are dying needlessly every day just from being homeless.

Many are victims of hate crimes against homeless people.

And, yes, I consider it a holocaust!

Does it matter?

Would it matter if it happened to me?

There is no magic potion to keep ME safe from these hate crimes, either!

Does it matter?

[truedelphi]

39. For some people, I guess, it would matter if all homeless people were

Jewish. But if all homeless people are not Jewish, then "Nothing to see here, it's not the EXACT SAME THING that happened in Nazi Germany, so please quit whining and check out "Dancing with the Stars" (I hear Delay can shake his fanny quite smoothly there, for a good ol boy.)

Of course you might not have access to a TV set, but once you've decided to be rich via new age thinking, all will be well.

:banghead:

[bobbolink]

40. For 3,000 people, we bombed the shit out of 2 countries.

Wake me when it matters that many more than 3,000 are dying from homelessness.

[truedelphi]

42. Another point - the whole need for the German High Command

To get Jewish people into the ghetto was so that they would be seen as less than human. As long as they lived, however poorly, in their own homes, they still had neighbors who knew them and perhaps would care about what happened to them.

But here, we don't just put people in a ghetto. We have them live out in the streets. Then we make it impossible for the crudest of santitation facilities to be available for them - in San Francisco, it can be hard for anyone out and about who hasn't just purchased an item to use a toilet, let alone a homeless person.

[bobbolink]

43. sigh...IF THEY HAD HOMES THEY WOULDN'T NEED PUBLIC TOILETS!

How fucking hard is that to understand?

We fucking aren't even allowed to be human.


p. 30 In the research of Fisk and her colleagues, people were asked how different social groups are viewed by their society. When asked a series of questions about social warmth and the competency of different social and ethnic groups, the answers clustered around four emotional responses: pity, envy, pride, and disgust. For example, people routinely reach to the homeless with disgust. This is puzzling enough. You might have thought people would pity the homeless, empathize with their position, and feel sorry for them. Not at all. And in a functional MRI study, when study participants were presented with pictures of members from each social and ethnic group, the medial prefrontal cortex--the site that registers the potential for an object's social action--popped for all but one group: the homeless. The homeless maybe seen as human, but not fully so, not as social actors.14
The Empathy Gap by J.D. Trout 2009

Actually, my proposal was that we homeless people be able to escape the tyranny of the US, and be welcomed by European countries who took advantage of the hospitality of the U.S.

[Divine Discontent]

65. as always bobbolink...

thanks for your efforts for the homeless in your actions here, and all the things I'm sure you do.

sincerly,
DD (formerly themartyred)

[inna]

50. brilliant and IMPORTANT post deserving its own thread!

frankly, i'm just scared of the future at this point.

:(

[truedelphi]

56. I would love to make this an OP.

However, I have to consider it carefully. I am sure that depending on what forum it is in, it could be seen as running counter to the entire structure of politeness required here at DU. Some things are sacrosanct, and the theory countering the notion that the "H" word belongs to one chosen group of people is one that perhaps DU is not ready for.

And thanks for your remark.

[Lorien]

55. The Rwandan Holocaust was another contemporary use of the term

what the insurance companies do to increase their profits IS a reckless destruction of life. They don't even think of the lives they take; it's all about getting that extra .02 per share. It's done without malice, perhaps, but the end result is hundreds of thousands dead (if you include those who DO have insurance that won't cover treatments, or whose deductibles are far too high) which isn't any different a result than that of any other holocaust in history.

[truedelphi]

57. Forty thousand a year is FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND in Ten Years

And that is quite a bit of death and dying. Then there are all the people who are allowed to die slowly - their treatments are stalled, or they are offered an inappropriate (but cheaper) treatment. So maybe they don't die right off the bat, but the overall quality of their lives is pathetic.

I remember hearing, probably ten years ago, about doctors dealing with the case of a young boy who'd been in a bad car accident. Some driver hit his bike, and this accident mangled his leg. A certain procedure could have saved the leg, but the insurance company said it was "experimental" though it wasn't and so the kid's leg was amputated.

Ironically the settlement that his parents eventually received from the car insurance of the offending driveer would have covered that procedure. But of course, by then the leg was gone.

[democracy1st]

27. K & R

[TommyPaine]

29. What he perhaps should've said about the 'holocaust' reference:

"It wasn't a reference to 'the' Holocaust, the one with a capital 'H', the one perpetrated by the Nazis during World War II. This is a different kind of 'holocaust', an utterly preventable one which claims tens of thousands of American lives each year. 'Holocaust' can be used in such a sense, or in other ways, such as 'environmental holocaust', referring to mankind's careless demolition of the natural world."

Or something along those lines.

[mzmolly]

37. That would have been a great statement.

:hi:

[polichick]

44. imo it was ridiculous of Maddow to make such a fuss - the word holocaust...

...predates WWII. It is not owned by any group.

[pleah]

51. That is exactly what I was going to say.

Thank you for saying it. :toast:

[Douglas Carpenter]

31. "foot dragging, knuckle dragging - neanderthals"

Far better words to describe the Republicans.

[mikelgb]

34. kick

[robo50]

45. How DARE there be a Democrat in Congress with a spine???? This is

blasphemy, unorthodoxy, why isn't this Democrat kissing health insurer's asses??

I hope you all know satire when you see it. I know a courageous man when I see one.

[geckosfeet]

46. Grayson hits his stride at 9:05 and 10:05.

FYI congressman, I contributed $50 this morning. Enjoy the dinner it buys it you.

[Name removed]

47. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Blacksheep214]

48. Take a Breath! Please?

The right already was using the holocaust mention as the focal point. All Grayson had to do was own his statement including the understandable holocaust reference to project the true scope of this problem. He offered a correction on his word choice. Bad Move!

Instead he tap danced and ducked the question. I sure noticed and I was happy that Rachel has the stones to keep at an evasion. I realize we just finished 8 long years of distract, divert and deny and some have gotten used to it.

[KyleA]

52. Agree totally

What's her fucking problem? It is a Holocaust when thousands die needlessly. Watch Grayson on Ed Schultz, much better than this piece of crap.

[truedelphi]

59. 40,000 dead for ten years is 400,000 people.

That is a Rwanda sized piece of massacre.

And then there are tens of thousands of others, whose quality of life is greatly compromised, all so some insurance exedc can own seven homes.

[DutchLiberal]

61. You are so accustomed to partisan hacks that you don't recognize true journalism when you see it.

That was it, in this clip: one journalist who DOESN'T kiss up to one party or one side of a political debate. She specifically called out the Republicans for their hypocrisy, and then she justly pointed out why Grayson's remarks were poorly worded. Admit it: had it been a Republican who said that the Dem's plan is for people to "die quickly" (which they essentially have done), you would condemn them for it. But because it's a Dem this time, you root for the guy. That's hypocritical.

And with "you", I guess I'm addressing the majority on DU. The mention of "death panels" by the Republicans was despicable, but that doesn't make it okay for "your" side to use the same tactics. let's be consistent here. I applaud Rachel for her honest approach, and I wish more people in the MSM would follow her.

[Krashkopf]

70. KUDOS to Rachel . . .

Holocaust was a stupid word for Grayson to use, plain and simple.

Rachel didn't "fucking bring it up" three times . . . she asked the same straight forward question three times until Grayson finally answered it.

Asking a tough question of a Congressman who she, clearly, agrees with, and not letting him off the hook when he gave "weasal-word" answers, is an example of what a GREAT JOURNALIST Rachel Maddow is turning out to be!

As for Rep. Grayson, I think he is GREAT! We need more "Grayson Democrats," and fewer "Blue Dog 'Democrats'" in Congress!!

[rg123]

53. Holocaust Has Multiple Meanings

1. a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering.
2. a great or complete devastation or destruction, esp. by fire.
3. the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. (or Cambodian Holocaust)
4. any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life.

I think he means the last definition, but she made multiple references to the Third Reich I think to have him on the record
so he could not be attacked as comparing to the Holocaust of the Jews.

[Lorien]

54. I love Rachael, but she's doing what so many in the media do

she's focusing on the "apology" and the use of the term "Holocaust" (which I saw as generic and rhetorical) instead of the big issue: getting the spine free Dems to get meaningful health care reform passed. The focus on the messenger gets us nowhere.

[truedelphi]

60. Agree with your critique.

And we don't know if Grayson's use of Holocaust was with a big H or a small h, do we?

Is there such a need to get apologetic about this?

[DutchLiberal]

62. Actually, Rachel does what no other host in the media does...

Treating both sides the same, and holding them both accountable for their language. She did it with Republicans would talked about "death camps", and she's doing it with a Dem who says Reps want people to "die quickly". It's Rachel who's consistent to her own standards. It's DU which is not.

[sabrina 1]

63. They do want people to die quickly if it costs the insurance

industry to keep them alive. That is why people ARE dying. Where have you been?

The latest scheme on Wall St. is to bet on old people dying quickly after buying up their life-insurance policies. If the DON'T die quickly, investors lose. They are planning, unless we as a nation show enough disgust and outrage which I wouldn't count on, to 'bundle' these policies, as they did the sub-prime mortgages, and sell them to other gamblers, all of whom will bet praying for the quick demise of the sick and the old.

But that's Capitalism and I have zero doubt that if this goes forward, and it looks very possible right now, Republicans will be ready with responses for anyone with a conscience who objects to it.

Rep. Grayson is absolutely correct. These Republicans, funded by the Insurance Industry, are NOT backing the people who elected them, they are rooting for their donors and their donors do not profit if people dare to linger on and do not 'die quickly' as he said.

I would include a few Democrats also, mostly Blue Dogs.

[DutchLiberal]

67. So it's okay to be insulting in Congress as long as you agree with it?

That's the double standard I'm talking about. I'm glad that Rachel adressed it. And it's sad she gets trashed for it. But that's DU: only praise when the host reflects their opinion; trashing when the host says something they don't agree with (see also Bill Maher). No principles.

[sabrina 1]

68. What is okay is to tell the truth about Congress.

For far too long the media has failed to do that. People ARE dying in this country, in huge numbers and that is what is not okay. The priorities in this country have been all wrong. Caring more about being polite to people who are doing wrong just because of their position in government, rather than doing what Grayson has finally done, just tell the truth. We see where having those priorities mixed up has taken this country.

I think what people are criticizing Rachel for is making a big deal over the use of a word which really, considering the point Grayson was making, nearly half a million dead Americans in ten years as a result of not having proper health-care, is simply trivial. In doing so she minimized the real problem. That's not usually her style. She does stay focused on the real issues, so naturally people are wondering why this time, she did not.

What is more important? Getting help for those people, saving lives or worrying that a few people might take offense at the use of a word that was in fact, used accurately in this case?

I hope Rachel is not being intimidated by the DLC comparing her audience to Rush Limbaugh ditto-heads. Such people need to be ignored, swept aside so that adults can finally come in and take care of the real problems.

[Uncle Joe]

58. Maddow put too much focus on the use of a particular word.

Maybe if Grayson had instead used the word Monocaust, Maddow along with most of the corporate media would have spent more time enlightening on or exposing the basis of his argument, but I don't believe the 44,000+ Americans dying annually from lack of health insurance and rescission of their insurance when they needed it most or their families give a rat's ass about the terminology used to describe this greed based national shame and travesty.

[Vickers]

64. Her repeated questioning about the "Holocaust" watered this down.

He obviously meant it in a "reckless destruction of life" context and not a "blond gentlemen in German uniforms killing Jewish people" context.

I've never seen her so obviously (intentionally?) miss the point.

Whatever... I sent him $100.

[Divine Discontent]

66. Me, too. As someone else said about her, where does she not get the broad term of the word, and not

the specific defining "The Holocaust" which he did NOT use. To ask 3 times was embarrassing, and I understand why she did it, he never said, "yes" or "no" the first two times, but goodness, Rachel - he made it clear in polito-speak that he was referencing people dying - and the 3rd time, she could have said what she said and added or do you mean it in the broad sense of the word - just so those who are complaining understand. But, she still shouldn't have asked a third time - it looked stupid and overtook the WHOLE interview!!!! Sheesh... twice was fine, she wanted a yes or no and didn't get it, move on, there was soooo much more to talk about!

Thanks for contributing to him that amount - SO MUCH - I am hurting for $, so I will imagine I split that with you! I will give him $25 when I can probably in a week. He deserves it to stay in office. IMO he hasn't raised as much as he should have COMPARED to what the opponent of Joe Wilson has received in a republican stronghold.

[Sky Masterson]

69. I think it's silly that people bash Rachel for making him answer the question

She asked the question and he should have answered it right away.
If she did the same thing to Joe(you lie)Wilson we would be applauding her.
It wasn't a negative.. Just my 2 cents

[ScottLand]

72. Great work!