In late September, Florida Congressional Democrat Alan Grayson earned attention and apparently fawning support from the far left by describing the Republican Party's health care plan, as "1. Don't get sick; 2. And if you do get sick, 3. die quickly."
Grayson's supposed apology for these over-the-top remarks on the House Floor -- remarks that would surely have earned him censure and relentless media coverage had he been a Republican criticizing a Democrat -- consisted of saying, as paraphrased by Clay Waters of NewsBusters, that his "remorse was not for Republicans, rather for the dead .... comparing the existing health care system to the Holocaust."
This is from a guy whose party has several go-to health care "experts" and others (e.g., Zeke the Bleak Emanuel, John "Sterilize The Water Supply" Holdren) who advocate what Sarah Palin correctly characterized as "death panels."
Little did we know that in September, Grayson made himself a House ogre with his floor remarks, he hurled a grievously sexist and offensive insult at a senior Federal Reserve adviser. Wait until you see what he called Linda Robertson on the apparently syndicated but apparently lightly heeded Alex Jones show (relevant audio begins at about 0:35 of the 1:43 YouTube video; Warning - Objectionable language follows):
And here I am, the only member of Congress who actually worked as an economist. This lobbyist, this K Street whore, is trying to teach me about economics.
It's important to note, as seen at the video's 1:30 mark, that Grayson's original instinct was to defend what he said through his spokesman:
The attack was on her professional career, not her personal life. She's a career lobbyist who used to work for Enron and advocates for whatever she gets paid to promote.
It should also go without saying that it's reasonable to question the legitimacy of any apology for a comment such as this one occurring roughly a month after it was said -- Ben Evans's Associated Press coverage of Grayson's remark reports that he said it "last month" -- and only then after the public outrage became too hot to handle. That same AP article tells us that Grayson offered what he called a "sincere apology" mere hours after his spokesman defended him.
The AP's Evans also tells us that "A spokeswoman for the Federal Reserve declined to comment." I would have expected at least a little public chivalry out of Ben Bernanke, but no dice. Linda Robertson deserved better from her boss.
The results of this search at the New York Times in "K Street Whore" (not in quotes) indicate that the coverage of Grayson's intense sexism only occurred at the paper's Caucus blog and did not make it into a print edition. Even that item gave equal grief to Grayson and New York Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner, who reacted to Grayson's latest by asking, "Is this news to you that this guy’s one fry short of a Happy Meal?"
Also while the AP did cover the story, its headline ("'Die quickly' Democrat kicks up new controversy") seems like more of a "don't read this" cover-up than a legitimate attempt to communicate what is in the underlying story.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
