Rep. Alan Grayson: Self-Proclaimed Progressive Hero
Josh is flagging the Alan Grayson/Teaparty shenanigans on the front page. Sounds pretty fishy.
But I have my own bill of particulars about Grayson. He writes this about America's nonstop wars while supporting Israel's nonstop wars. If he has ever expressed a single word of compassion for Palestinians, I haven't been able to find it. And he says that on Israel issues, his "go to" guy is AIPAC's executive director, Howard Kohr.
Yes, maverick Grayson, is about as progressive and open-minded on Middle East issues as... Eric Cantor. On Iran, Gaza, West Bank, Netanyahu, Palestinians, the occupation, the lobby itself, Grayson is, uh, less than courageous.
I know he's from Florida but no other Florida Democrat goes so far left on America's misguided foreign policy and then go so far right on Israel's. Alan Grayson's stance on foreign policy is as if Dennis Kucinich, a consistent dove, was a Greater Croatia man on former Yugoslavia issues and we were supposed to give him a pass because (1) he's a Croatian-American and (2) he's from Ohio.
Here's Max Blumenthal on Grayson. It's from Dec. 2009. His positions have stayed the same since.
In the interests of equal time, here is Grayson's own website which calls him the "Congressman With Guts."
Well, okay, then!
I was shocked and then disappointed in his behavior, as well as Weiner's, on the flotilla massacre.
June 22, 2010 8:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
MJ, always the first dog to start barking.
June 22, 2010 9:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the thing, though... So Weiner and Grayson are extremists on Israel. They're right about most everything else. On one hand people here have no problems telling me to learn to love Obama's centrism because it's the best we're going to get. Ideological purity, I'm told, is an immature thing for me to even ask for. But then... Ah, you see?
June 22, 2010 9:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
No, I don't see. But I'm interested.
June 22, 2010 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
What I mean is... yeah... nobody represents any of us totally. Grayson and Weiner are far from progressive on Israel but they're way left on everything else. Obama is to the right of my on a lot of stuff. I'll always believe its good to criticize where you disagree and to argue your point but nobody will ever be perfect and wonderful. I'm sure there are people out there who would handle Israel exactly as I would like it but who will also cut my Social Security benefits. I guess I'd never tell people what trade offs to make. Well, I might suggest but I won't demand.
June 22, 2010 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shorter Grayson: Do what I say, not what I do.
This is my basic beef with limosine liberals: As long as the perpetrator is the "other"--say, the Sudanese Government--the universal principles of human rights apply. But when the perpetrator is a friend, suddenly, "it's complicated." And if the perpetrator is your own government, then the bashing is relatively risk free. But basking "friends," well, that comes with a pricetag.
When I was in college opposing Apartheid was a really big deal. We had lots of Young Conservatives who would say, "It's complicated. South Africa was surrounded by lots of murderous regimes. It's an outpost of "Western Civilization" in a backward continent....."
On my God. Allan Greyson was in the Young Conservatives!
June 22, 2010 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think about this sort of thing with Grayson and Weiner, and I have to ask myself the inflammatory, even somewhat paranoid (maybe?) but definitely suspicious question: "Who's playing me for a fool?" Inflammatory, because it irritates me to have to look at this again.
Supporting the slaughter of human beings is not what a human being does. Justifying the slaughter of human beings is not what a human being does. Explaining the slaughter of human beings, with an emotive slant toward identifying with and understanding that slaughter, thereby making one's self comfortable with that slaughter: that is not what a human being does.
I don't see this leading me anywhere but believing that neither are anywhere near the left; that they are fundamentally pinned to something worse, in a way, than an extreme rightwing ideology.
June 22, 2010 9:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Funny, because what I see is the Left giving Weiner, Grayson and others a free pass on things like this yet when Obama expresses his views/policies that don't fit perfectly with your ideology, he gets berated all throughout the Liberal blogosphere. Not a day goes by where someone isn't calling him a centrist, conservative or a republican in disguise. Weiner and Grayson? meh, that's just a one time thing - sure, right.
Rather than look at this is as an opportunity to complain that you are being bashed by Obama supporters, you should take this as a warning. These two have been crowned as Liberal heroes so before anyone starts printing up Grayson/Weiner 2012 flyers, make sure you understand that their views will not always line up with the Left's. That they swung so far to the right (relatively speaking) on this issue should make you wonder what other surprises they have knocking around in their brains. I don't want to wake up one morning and find that the Left feels betrayed by President Grayson because of his right-leaning position on a certain issue. You saw it coming. Their position on Israel is a red flag for those on the Left that demand purity.
And of course, I'll be there to defend Grayson against the purity trolls.
June 22, 2010 11:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I think this is right. All of the commenters running around here saying "if only [insert name of latest darling of the Left] had been elected, then things would be completely different" are engaging in wishful thinking.
Of course, once that darling had to deal with the competing interests that demanded action of one type or another on a given issue, they would end up making many of the same compromises that Obama is vilifed for on a daily (hourly?) basis.
Bottom line is, if you are naive enough to expect perfection from your leaders, you're bound to be disappointed.
June 23, 2010 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Seems very weird to me that Josh would go after Grayson so enthusiastically. And it didn't seem to me that it was just a great story... it seemed like a nothing comment and it felt so awkward to me.
Sort of like a witch hunt. Like saying... I don't like what this person said so I am going to put every feeler out to find something fishy about him.
I would be surprised if Grayson "is" what TPM is fishing for. And if the Israel flotilla issue can't be covered objectively here, I will not feel comfortable getting "unbiased" and "real" journalism here any longer. I hope I am just uninformed about the facts.
June 22, 2010 5:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I respect your opinion.
"That a lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies, That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright, But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight."
Many people often let their emotions direct them.
June 28, 2010 2:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's a pleasure to see a Liberal who does not believe that the left must be pro Palestinian and anti-Israel. I hope he keeps up his attacks on the Republican party that wants to destroy our country.
September 1, 2010 5:13 PM | Reply | Permalink