Oh my God, I LOVE THIS GUY.
A Democrat with guts and a spine—we need more like him. And you know what? Thank God for YouTube. At the end of this clip you’ll notice that Grayson is speaking to an empty House chamber. Before YouTube, a handful of insomniacs and goo-goo geeks might have caught this speech—and Grayson’s earlier speech—on C-SPAN, in the middle of at night. But most Americans wouldn’t have seen it, and no one would have heard of Grayson, if it weren’t for YouTube. (Via Americablog.)
How did Florida… FLORIDA!!!… spawn somebody this awesome?
Guts and spine for speaking this to an empty room? I’ve given some pretty powerful speeches when I was alone. So what? Give your speech to a room full of Congressmen and women since they’re the ones Obama keeps saying has to take the lead on anything. Pretty speeches don’t make you a good person.
How does Grayson’s Ass taste, Dan?
He speaks the truth and they try to paint him as an extremist.
“Before YouTube, a handful of insomniacs and goo-goo geeks might have caught this speech—and Grayson’s earlier speech—on C-SPAN, in the middle of at night. But most Americans wouldn’t have seen it, and no one would have heard of Grayson, if it weren’t for YouTube.”
Dan, who cares? The American people don’t need to be convinced that we need single payer. The American people don’t need to be convinced that Republicans are against health care reform. All this speech does is give idiot Democratic Party worshippers an opportunity to rave about how wonderful this Democrat is at giving speeches at the same time as his party, who happen to hold the presidency and a majority in Congress and were given a mandate for change last November, continues with business as usual.
neato
more TALK from the Democraps.
I like him!! Thanks for that clip!!
He’s terrific. Last time he went on AC360 right after and faced down all the pundits. Awesome.
To paraphrase Michele, I have never been prouder of my state.
(even though I don’t live there anymore and would never think of moving back!)
This man has balls of steel and I love him!
As was mentioned elsewhere, it’s easy to be brave when you play to an empty house.
Give him the stage at the next DNC, and then maybe we’ll talk.
Oh, and while I’m not an O. Snowe fan, she *did* vote against her party and for the Franken amendment (like 9 other Republicans out of 40). I’ll give her that.
Is there a fan club we can join?
Nice! Really makes me dislike Florida less.
woohoo! thats my parent’s and grandparent’s congressman! go mt. dora!
his point is completely valid: obama’s “bipartisanship” rhetoric is all just window dressing for getting 1 senator, snowe, to cross the aisle. that’s it. ONE senator from a tiny state.
Woo hoo! Great speech, glad I saw it, don’t care if it was to an empty room. I just like it when people say stuff that needs to be said.
Send him money!
@16 Done! And a letter of thanks.
It doesn’t matter how many people are in the room. What matters is giving an address in the room itself – which then becomes part of the congressional record.
I will second that it is great that YouTube makes it possible for more people to see speeches like this. But more importantly it is vital that speeches like this be made so that they can be part of the record.
Here’s the transcript from DailyKOS for those of us without, y’know, sound at work:
“Madame Speaker, I have words for Democrats and Republicans tonight.”
“Let’s start with the Democrats”
“We as a party have spent the last six months, the greatest minds in our party, dwelling on the question, the unbelievably consuming question of how to get Olympia Snowe to vote on health care reform. I want to remind us all that Olympia Snowe was not elected President last year. Olympia Snowe has no veto power in the Senate. Olympia Snowe represents a state with one half of one percent of America’s population.”
“What America wants is health care reform. America doesn’t care if it gets 51 votes in the Senate or 60 votes in the Senate or 83 votes in the Senate, in fact America doesn’t even care about that, it doesn’t care about that at all. What America cares about is this; there are over 1 million Americans who go broke every single year trying to pay their health care bills. America cares a lot about that. America cares about the fact that there are 44,780 Americans who die every single year on account of not having health care, that’s 122 every day. America sure cares a lot about that. America cares about the fact that if you have a pre-existing condition, even if you have health insurance, it’s not covered. America cares about that a lot. America cares about the fact that you can get all the health care you need as long as you don’t need any. America cares about that a lot. But America does not care about procedures, processes, personalities, America doesn’t care about that at all.”
“So we have to remember that as Democrats, we have to remember that what’s at stake here is life and death, enormous amounts of money, and people are counting upon us to move ahead. America understands what’s good for America. America cares about health care, America cares about jobs, America cares about education, about energy independance, America does not care about processes politicians or personalities or anything like that.”
“And I have a few words for my Republican friends tonight as well. I guess I do have some Republican friends.”
“Let me say this; last week I held up this report here and I pointed out that in America there are 44,789 Americans that die every year according to this Harvard report published in this peer reviewed journal because they have no health insurance. That’s an extra 44,789 Americans who die who’s lives could be saved, and their response was to ask me for an apology.”
“To ask me for an apology?”
“That’s right. To ask ME for an apology!”
“Well, I’m telling you this; I will not apologize. I will not apologize. I will not apologize for a simple reason; America doesn’t care about your feelings. I violated no rules by pulling this report to America’s attention, I think a lot of people didn’t know about it beforehand. But America DOES care about health care in America.”
“And if you’re against it, then get out of the way. Just get out of the way. You can lead, you can follow or you can get out of the way. And I’m telling you now to get out of the way.”
“American understands that there is one party in this country that is favor of health care reform and one party that is against it, and they know why.”
“They understand that if Barack Obama were somehow able to cure hunger in the world the Republicans would blame him for overpopulation”
“They understand that if Barack Obama could somehow bring about world peace they would blame him for destroying the defense industry.”
“In fact, they understand that if Barack Obama has a BLT sandwhich tommorrow for lunch, they will try to ban bacon.”
“But that’s not what America wants, America wants solutions to it’s problems and that begins with health care, and that’s what I’m speaking for tonight.”
“I yield back the balance of my time”
This guy’s my political hero right now – so awesome. Kick ass *now*, Democrats, because there’s no certainty that you’ll be in any position to kick ass after the next elections!
Why aren’t all the democrat more like this guy, damn it!
“America knows that if Barack Obama has a BLT sandwich, Republicans will try to ban bacon” Priceless!
how the hell did this guy get elected in florida?
breetfu@7:
As a resident of Mount Dora, Florida and a member of the district Mr. Grayson represents, I will have to say I am very proud of his speech. This behavior is political suicide, though, because unless he sticks a provision in a bill legalizing meth labs in his district there’s pretty much no way he’s going to get re-elected. This is a very conservative area and he won’t have the benefit of riding the president’s coattails come Fall 2010. Sad.
Oh and finally, while I really don’t feel the need (or desire) to defend my state or district, the smug location elitism is annoying.
23ftw
The more folk-hero Grayson becomes the sweeter for the GOP and the bigger the story when his ass gets canned in 2010.
And, regardless of what he does or says, his ass is canned in 2010.
His was a fluke election in a conservative district where the Republican self-destructed.
Grayson knows he has nothing to lose anyway and maybe he can swing a gig as a commentator on MSNBC if he is outrageous enough.
Sorry, Democraps- Grayson didn’t grow a pair- he is just auditioning for the role of Liberal Glen Beck….
you may think he is strong….but this is still all talk……do you see action?….I see a man throwing a tantrum…
@25
Standing up to the bullshit is “action.” Speaking to try and influence the outcome is “action.” And it is a hell of a lot better than those who are just sitting on their hands and doing nothing. Plus I suggest you look up “tantrum” in the dictionary.
Thank you for posting this.
Before reading some of the comments here, I thought the Republican butt-hurt meter was pegged at the top, but apparently there’s a lot more headroom than I thought.
You lost.
Get over it.
GO GRAYSON!
“Republican plan for healthcare reform: Don’t get sick. If you do get sick, die quickly.”
You said it, Dan: brains and a spine.
nicely done.
and while it was just a speech… we need more of that for now. we need more people voicing their opinion that they want real health care reform. democrats are confusing me by their inability to accomplish a few of the main goals of reform, and i’m starting to wonder who they are really representing.
coverage for all
changes to pre-existing conditions policies
rising costs
now do it! figure it out! it’s your job.
“They understand that if Barack Obama were somehow able to cure hunger in the world the Republicans would blame him for overpopulation”
“They understand that if Barack Obama could somehow bring about world peace they would blame him for destroying the defense industry.”
“In fact, they understand that if Barack Obama has a BLT sandwhich tommorrow for lunch, they will try to ban bacon.”
We should add:
“They understand that if a Senate Democrat finally…FINALLY stands on principle, even if doing so might be ‘political suicide’, they will say it doesn’t matter because the room wasn’t full of people, or that it doesn’t matter because the actual legislation hasn’t been passed.”
Jesus some of you people are complete tools. You’re never flippin’ satisfied.
One more thing.
People complain about congressmen not doing their job, then when they do it people worry about whether the person will get re-elected.
Regarding it being ‘political suicide’, I find it hard to believe that if Grayson is seen as being one of the people who really pushed this thing over the top – and there’s a considerable chance of that right now – that he will be out of work for long.
GO Grayson GO!
Simply…Thank you!
What an awesome guy. He knows his stuff and is so down to Earth. He really cares about the American people. I wish he represented my state.
It might of been a empty room but this lion is making the
rounds, finally giving us democrats someone we can believe in. good for him.
Thank you Jesus…I was wondering if someone out there remembered the hard work we did to get our people elected to work for us. I never got so immersed in Politics like I did this time, only because I did have “the audacity of Hope”. Alan Grayson, I will be with you and for you as long as you are for US. You are an honorable man, and my prayers will forever include your name, so you could stay healthy, strong and consistent with your beliefs and principles. Keep the fight going…I’ll help get the “soldiers” you need. God Bless America!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s about time a Democrat showed the guts to clearly and firmly articulate the health care focus. It’s about time a Democrat publicly stood up for President Obama and forcefully declared that no matter what the President did or say, the Republicans would respond with negativity. It’s about time a Democratically responsible congressman spoke the truth about health care and the President and refuses to apologizes for his beliefs and the manner in which he exclaims his position. Democrats – please take a page out of Rep. Grayson’s book and go forth as a TEAM.
I love Alan Grayson because he is absolutely right, and President Obama is the right president for the 21st century and I love them both….we need to make change because that is what the American wanted, they wanted change…we should do that…I am a proud Democrat from Florida..Republicans are un-American….Democrats are Pro=America…period.
Finally a Democrat with some guts! I wish he was a Congressman from Utah, because we could really use someone like him.
Rep Grayson, thank you for your comments. Saw it on MSNBC, and I hope you continue in your talks and bring others reps. on board to also speak of just what all Americans are thinking. GOP is clearly furthering their image every day of being hateful, bitter and stubborn. You’re right Mr. Grayson-America doesn’t care about all the bickering, they just WANT HEALTHCARE. I encourage more Americans to watch MSNBC and get all the REAL facts.
Awesome. Just awesome. We need more congressmen like him that are more interested in doing the right thing than getting reelected.
Last week I sent Alan Grayson a letter, snail mail; attention must be paid. Mr. Grayson is an example of what, for so long, has been the dream, the hope for a new reinvigorated Democratic Party!
Let’s keep it up!
EdieB1984
You’re right Mr. Grayson, Americans care about healthcare REFORM. But, the Democrats are CRAMMING a total new system – not REFORMing the current. Two questions……
1. Why didn’t you guys fix the problems of the current system instead of ramrodding a whole new health care infrastructure? American’s would be happy with that.
2. Where the hell is the transparency? Why are the deliberations taking place behind closed doors? If Americans want your brand of healthcare, why can’t these Americans watch with “delight”?