Of course I was outraged by Rep. Roy Blunt’s ‘monkey joke’ at the Value Voters Summit last Friday. But then I watched the rest of his speech, which hasn’t received much attention yet. It’s even worse.
Don’t believe me?
After the monkey joke, Blunt proclaims in his speech that he’s opposed to any government reform of healthcare, no matter what – "even if it really worked," he says.
You read that right. He’s against it even if it provides quality, affordable healthcare to all Americans. Is there any other way to interpret "if it really worked"?
This is the most open and direct statement by any Republican I’ve seen yet opposing even PERFECT healthcare reform.
Why would anyone be against that? Especially since Blunt himself admits he is alive today only because of government healthcare?
And then he followed that up by insisting that he’s proudly in favor of, of all things, discrimination.
I know. What? Why the hell – ?
The head-spinning answers and Blunt’s actual quotes below the fold:
First, his healthcare remarks.
Remember, this is coming from the GOP frontman for healthcare reform. Roy Blunt was the GOP Majority Whip. He is the chairman of the House Republican Health Care Solutions Group. He is supposedly writing the GOP version of a healthcare reform bill, which we will never see.
So why is he against government involvement in healthcare? Because, he said, it might make the American people feel "dependent" on government.
To Roy Blunt, it’s better to have no healthcare at all than to have dependable, affordable healthcare that the government helped you to get, because having that might make you feel dependent.
Yes, he’s openly saying that if you get cancer (like he did in 2002), it would be better not to see a doctor at all than to see a doctor whom the government helped you to pay.
And then you would die, of course. Because statistics tell us that untreated cancer almost always kills you.
But even dying like that would be better than getting life-saving healthcare that was paid for even partly by the government, says Roy Blunt. Because if the government helped pay for your healthcare and you survived cancer, like he did, then as you went about the rest of your long life, you might feel "dependent" on the government. To Blunt, that’s worse than death. Really.
Here’s exactly what he said:
"Government-run healthcare fundamentally changes more than anything else you could do, unless you just totally took over everything in the country. If you want to fundamentally change the relationship between people and their government, the place you do that most easily is healthcare.
"If you become dependent on the government for your healthcare, your relationship with the government is never the same again. And that’s as good a reason as any not to be for it, even if it really worked.
"... We’re not for government changing that relationship with you and government forever."
Wow.
Roy Blunt himself is alive to say this only because he received government healthcare for cancer just a few years ago. In 2002, he had his cancerous left kidney removed at Bethesda Naval Hospital. In 2003, he had prostate-cancer surgery at Bethesda, too. Afterwards, he told reporters that he had received the very best care, and that he was alive because his cancer was caught in early stages thanks to good doctors and regular check-ups -- the kind of care you get only with good insurance.
But, but (sputtering) – Bethesda Naval Hospital is government-owned and government-run.
Blunt seems to be telling us that he has become dependent on government healthcare, and his relationship with the government has "changed forever." He must feel (ick) dependent. Imagine the torment he must be going through, the hellish agony of getting good healthcare and then living for several more years in perfect health while feeling (ugh) dependent on government. That poor guy.
And now for his comments in favor of discrimination.
Yes, in his speech Roy Blunt openly proclaimed a ringing defense of discrimination. He’s for it. Seriously.
And – bonus – there’s no guesswork involved here, no dog whistle, no trying to answer Rachel Maddow’s great question, "Who’s the monkey in Washington supposed to be?"
Nope, Roy Blunt came right out in favor of discrimination.
He brought up the topic by mentioning the Employee Non-Discrimination Act, which he described as:
"One that Barney Frank has, where you couldn’t discriminate against employees for any real, any, any reason – not sexual preference, other reasons."
At that point, someone in the crowd boos, and Blunt nods along with their disgust. Then he says:
"Now, before I came to Congress, I spent four years as the president of Southwest Baptist University, where of course hiring was an important part of how we, we, we decided how that school would, would look."
That’s right, he’s actually defending hiring discrimination because of the way it can make a campus look. What, he wouldn’t want it to look too dark, maybe? Or too female? Is there any other way to discriminate based on looks, other than race and gender? Oh right, I guess someone might "look" gay, mincing around that macho he-man Roy Blunt.
Then he defends discrimination because it’s so important in religion. In fact, for Blunt it seems to be the whole point of religion:
"If you can’t discriminate, as is often argued here in Washington, except maybe with the Theology professor, then the Christian elementary school or the Christian high school, or the Jewish community center or the Moslem food bank all just become a high school, a community center, and a food bank.
"Being able to discriminate in hiring if you’re a religious institution is the difference in being a religious institution and not being a religious institution."
The crowd cheers and applauds. They agree with Blunt that only those jerks "in Washington" often argue against discrimination.
Watch Blunt's whole 19-minute speech for yourself here, if you have a strong stomach. The monkey joke is at the beginning. The part about being against government healthcare "even if it really worked" starts at 6:10. The part in favor of discrimination starts at 15:07.
Please don’t let Roy Blunt get elected to the U.S. Senate. Donate hereto his Democratic opponent, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. The latest polls showed them tied.