Rep. Alan Grayson appeared on Al Sharpton's show to speak the truth about the Tea Party last week. Here's some of what he said:
Rev. Al: Congressman, does the President have the Tea Party on the ropes?
Alan: I think so. I think that ordinary Americans are with the President. They're appalled by the Tea Party's tactics. They come to the President saying, "If you don't let us steal your car, then, we are going to burn down your house." They are appalled by the way the Tea Party cheered on the shutting down of the government, cheered at the fact that we put our credit at risk for a generation to come. And they're appalled by the enormous expense - the fact that this temporary shutdown ended up costing America $24 billion. That's almost $100 for every man, woman, and child in this country. Frankly, they want their money back, and the Tea Party out of their lives. At this point, the Tea Party is no more popular than the Klan.
Then he sent out a fundraising email, which apparently caught the attention of a Politico Republico reporter:
Matt Gorman, rapid response director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, denounced Grayson’s fundraising tactics.
“There’s no excuse for the hateful words and imagery used by Congressman Grayson,” he said in a statement. “House Democrats should swiftly and strongly condemn him and return the money he has raised for them. This hate-filled rhetoric has Americans fed up with Washington.”
Grayson defended the email in a statement Tuesday afternoon, saying the tea party has long used racist and insensitive terms and imagery to refer to African Americans, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and gays.
“[T]here is overwhelming evidence that the Tea Party is the home of bigotry and discrimination in America today, just as the KKK was for an earlier generation,” Grayson said. “If the shoe fits, wear it.”
And hey, let's not forget that just a few days earlier we had Larry Klayman out there with his Confederate flag pals calling for the President to put down his Koran and come out with his hands up. Nothing racist about that.
Or let's talk about the fact that right next to the Grayson article, there's one on Politico covering Ted Cruz claiming that Healthcare.gov was the work of "Ethiopian spammers." Cruz delivered that little joke at the King Street Patriots headquarters, that illustrious parent of True the Vote. Nothing racist about either organization if you think it's totally okay for white people to make sure black people's votes are suppressed.
Tea Party Nation has already cranked up the outrage machine over this, whining and crying about what that liberal Congressman said. Yes, such outrage from a group who routinely refers to the president as a dictator and his presidency as a "regime", who routinely compares him to Hitler and scares all their old folks into believing he's really a Kenyan socialist who wants granny to go off to a death camp. What nonsense.
Listen up, Tea Party and the press who cover them. For far too long you have given this group of racist, bigoted haters cover to keep being bigots and haters by legitimizing them. If one Congressman has the balls to call them what they are, he isn't the problem. Until we clean out the cancerous slime that dwells in the upper rims of hater hell by shining some light on who they really are, the disease will spread.
Alan Grayson should be applauded for speaking the truth rather than being villified for it. Let's stop sugar-coating the truth and start telling it.
