Break Out Your Brickbats

Just gimme some old time populist politics.

The state of the economy has finally caused folks to express some populist outrage. Thousands marched against the big banks in Chicago over the past couple of days, and Senate leaders are assuring a public option with a wink. Someone's been calling the switchboard.

A disturbing aspect of this is that Ron Paul Revolutionaries, Glen Beck 912-ers, and people of that ilk are in common-cause with a lot of people on the left especially with regard to monetary policy. Alex Jones calls this, "breaking the left/right paradigm." The difference is that the neo-libertarians on the right have a more, "what freedom is in it for me"-kind of attitude, whereas the left believes in political and economic justice.

However, there has not been a flamboyant fire-brand like Alan Grayson in the public eye since maybe Adam Clayton Powell, but certainly since the Kingfish. He keeps getting under the skin of conservatives by not being a weak blind salamander. I have taken huge portions of the following AP story from Huffpo because I thought the uninitiated should have a taste of what somebody who believes he's right (and probably is) looks like when they stand up to power:

WASHINGTON — The Florida Democrat who said Republicans want sick people to "die quickly" is again facing criticism for his rhetoric – this time for calling a senior Federal Reserve adviser a "K Street whore" in a radio interview.

Rep. Alan Grayson hurled the insult at Linda Robertson last month on the Alex Jones Show, a syndicated talk radio program, while discussing the Fed's resistance to stronger congressional oversight. Robertson is a former Enron lobbyist and Clinton administration adviser who was hired by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke this summer to help with congressional relations.

Grayson took exception to Robertson's role, saying she has criticized congressional efforts to increase oversight.

"Here I am the only member of Congress who actually worked as an economist, and this lobbyist, this K Street whore, is trying to teach me about economics," he said.

Grayson never identified Robertson by name, saying he couldn't remember her name, but he made clear whom he was referring to from her background and job.

His spokesman, Todd Jurkowski, defended the insult Tuesday.

"She had the audacity to attack a congressman who used to be an economist," he said. "She's a career lobbyist who used to work for Enron and advocates for whatever she gets paid to promote."

Grayson, a liberal firebrand, drew strong criticism last month for saying that Republicans were ignoring sick people who die without health insurance, and that the GOP's health care plan amounted to wanting people to "die quickly" when they get sick.

He stood by the comments, leveraging the attention to do a series of national television appearances in which he ridiculed Republicans as "knuckle-dragging Neanderthals." He boasted that the attention has helped fill his campaign coffers.

Grayson did apologize for later likening the deaths of Americans without health coverage to a "holocaust." He then set up a Web site called "Names of the Dead," inviting people to list the names of loved ones who have died for lack of health care.

Andy Sere, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, called Grayson "a vile and vulgar man."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/27/grayson-calls-linda-rober_n_335447.html