Wednesday, October 28, 2009

He Called a Lobbyist a Whore! There’s a difference?

I understand that Alan Grayson has apologized to Linda Robertson for calling her a K street whore.

alan-grayson Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) -- the man best known for saying that the Republican health care plan is for Americans who get to "die quickly," and for calling former Vice President Dick Cheney a vampire with blood dripping from his teeth -- may have gone a bit too far in one of his latest rhetorical excesses, calling lobbyist Linda Robertson, who used to advise Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, a "K Street whore."

The comments were made a month ago, when Grayson appeared on the radio show of right-wing talker Alex Jones, and was just discovered and circulated by the NRCC. "Here I am, the only Member of Congress who actually worked as an economist. And she's, this lobbyist, this K Street whore, is trying to teach me about economics," said Grayson.

Grayson spokesman Todd Jurkowski stood by the Congressman's comments, telling the Orlando Sentinel in an e-mail: "She attacked the Congressman and his efforts to promote a Republican bill to audit the Federal Reserve. She actually questioned his understanding of the difference between fiscal and monetary policy. This is [a] person who used to be the chief lobbyist for Enron attacking the intelligence and motives of a Congressman who used to be an economist."…

Inserted from <TPM>

Given her background, I don’t find the comment unjustified.

Linda-Robertson And then, unlike any other members of Congress, worked for several years as an economist. So last month when Enron's head lobbyist, Linda Robertson, reborn as the Fed's head lobbyist, attacked congressmen pushing for an audit of the Fed-- primarily Grayson and Ron Paul-- as ignorant of the difference between monetary policy and fiscal policy, Grayson reacted by pointing out that Robertson has a long and well-known career as a "K Street whore." She shills for whoever pays her. When it was Enron, she helped them steal billions of dollars from taxpayers and rate-payers and now that it's the Fed, she is crawling around DC starting whispering campaigns about members of Congress who are demanding the audit that the Fed dreads more than anything. Her problem, of course, is that more than half the members of Congress have signed on to the bill calling for the audit. So she's going after Ron Paul and Alan Grayson, the two who are pushing this the hardest… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

Now when I consider what it is that a K Street lobbyist does for a living and how it is, in some ways, similar to what a whore does for a living, I find upon further consideration Alan Grayson should apologize, but not to any lobbyist… to all the whores he defamed with this comparison.

8 comments:

Kevin said...

I am happy that I voted for Grayson. I had voted for his predecessor, but when Ric Keller broke his term limit promise and ran again, as well as the his increasingly complacent role in the GOP (although he made some decisions that bucked the party that I was happy about), I decided to make a change, and was enthused about Grayson's engagement of the Washington Elite.

Now that he is in office, I hope he does not fall into party subservience, and I was partially disappointed about his apology. He is just shooting from the hip, telling it like it is, in such George W. fashion, but it seems that just irritates the right.

Jack Jodell said...

I have far less trouble with what Mr. Grayson says than with the steady flood of lies coming out of the mouths of Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Jon Kyl, Eric Cantor, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Gretchen Carlson, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin, and Rush Limbaugh. Grayson may be a bit of a loose cannon at times, but at least he's firing on the right people, and I support him wholeheartedly in that!

Randal Graves said...

As long as keeps shooting and continues to wound the puppet masters, I can live with the subsequent, half-assed apology theatre.

Holte Ender said...

I like this guy Grayson, no good politician, and there very few of them, should go through his political life without having to apologize for his choice of language, as long as he's not sorry for the sentiment.

Kentucky Rain said...

This is all the Blubberbaugh talkers have? I'm all for Grayson and agree that his comments were justified.

TomCat said...

Could it be thet Republicans just like a little Whine with their Tea Bags?

Thanks all.

rjs said...

from making light: He used sarcasm; he knew all the tricks

TomCat said...

Good point RJ. Thanks.