I have always believed that the best way to debate is to do so in an intelligent manner free of rhetoric that has nothing to do with the topic and is completely based on politics.
But in Congressman Alan Grayson's case, I am not only giving him a pass, but I am standing up with him to say the same thing.
The Democrats have a health care plan. We want to make health insurance more affordable, make health care and the quality of care better and provide insurance to those that don't have it or aren't offered it.
The Republican plan, as Grayson said, is die quickly.
You might remember that when the resolution of disapproval was voted on for Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) after his "You Lie!" outburst directed toward President Barack Obama, the Republicans said that the resolution was a distraction that was taking time away from discussing critical issues.
Of course, whenever the Republicans stand up on the House floor to discuss critical issues, we get something like this:
So when Congressman Grayson stood on the House floor and spoke the truth, the Republicans pounced.
Here is the original video from Grayson's remarks on the floor of the House, just as a refresher:
This is the bottom line: If you can, as Congressman King from Iowa did, blatantly lie on the floor of the House and defame the President of the United States, then I see nothing wrong with what Grayson did. Regardless of King's actions, I see what Grayson did as necessary.
Too often, we have folded as a movement and tried to play it soft, avoiding conflict and instead trying to take the high ground. The high ground works some of the time, but not all of it. We took the high ground in the 1990s when we were discussing health care reform. We let the right-wing frame the debate and scare everyone into believing that universal health care would be bad for them and that it would lead to a poorly managed government-run system.
But aside from how Grayson helps progressives, he also helps the Democratic Party. We have too many Democrats that want to cave to the Republicans and to special interests. Grayson's only special interests, it would appear, are his constituents and the American people. He wants health care reform yesterday. He is fighting for his district, but also for those who are without insurance (a portion of the population I believe has been pushed aside in a debate that consists of a lot of people WITH insurance telling everyone how they want reform to look like).
A friend asked me a long time ago why the Republicans/conservatives have so many popular pundits on television (Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck) and on other mediums. I thought it was a rather easy question to ask: They dumb it down.
No offense to Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann, as I am a huge fan of both, but they are two highly educated individuals whose shows reflect that. Not only do you get factual information, but you get thoughtful and thorough analysis. You don't get that from Fox News or most conservative pundits. All you get is a lot of hot air. You get soundbytes that their listeners or viewers can repeat to the masses. Those talking points aren't necessarily true, but they are easy to repeat. "Socialized medicine." "Death panels." All it takes, in terms of a conservative talking point, is one or two words.
So when Grayson stood on the House floor and said that the Republican health care plan was "Die Quickly", he did us a favor. While I believe it is necessary to have an intelligent debate (and the merits of such a debate are known), I also believe that if we are going to engage in a firefight with the conservatives, we better bring some fire. Grayson supplied us with a good line that is worth repeating over and over again.
The Republican Party's health care plan: Die quickly.
The Republican Party's health care plan: Die quickly.
The Republican Party's health care plan: Die quickly.
Health care reform is one of the most important things we will accomplish in any of our lifetimes. We need this. Our country needs this. The Republicans have been nothing but obstructionists and finally, someone in Congress (Congressman Grayson) called them on it.
And he did so on the floor of the United States House of Representatives.
If you weren't fired up now, you should be. Alan Grayson just gave us our halftime pep talk. Now let's get the job done.