Keith Olbermann & Arianna Huffington: Rep Grayson's Anatomy

[Turborama]

Run time: 07:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8AuFoscFgs   Posted on YouTube: October 01, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: October 01, 2009 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 1483

 
Keith Olbermann & Arianna Huffington pick up on his use of the word holocaust but apart from that they both fully back him. Arianna makes a good observation that Grayson is pointing out the RepubliCON's complete lack of empathy.

Adding this as it's a must see BBC documentary from last year that includes a really good interview with Grayson and gives some insight as to where he's coming from...

Daylight Robbery - What Happened to the $23billion?

Panorama investigates claims that as much as $23bn (£11.75bn) may have been lost, stolen or not properly accounted for in Iraq.

When the US goes to war, corporate America goes too.

There are contracts for caterers, tanker drivers, security guards and even interrogators, many of them through companies with links to the White House.

Now more than 70 whistleblower cases threaten to reveal the scandals behind billions of dollars worth of waste, theft and corruption during the Iraq war.

Gagging orders

A total of $23bn (£11.75bn) is under scrutiny.

The US justice department has imposed gagging orders which prevent the real scale of the problem emerging.

But Panorama's Jane Corbin has spoken to some of those involved - with astonishing stories to tell of who got rich and who got burned.

She hears allegations of mismanagement, fraud and waste; tales of contractors chosen for their US government connections without a competitive bidding process; contractors inflating their costs and double counting to increase their profits and billions supposed to be used to rebuild the Iraqi military allegedly ending up in the pockets of some Iraqi government officials.

Even the contract to oversee the expenditure went to a company with no relevant qualification in accounting.

"They are the quintessential war profiteers," said a witness to one of the most notorious companies involved. "They made money out of chaos."

9 minute clip with Grayson's interview: hhttp://www.graysonforcongress.com/videoclip.asp?FileId=55

Full documentary: http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=789547337385191959

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFDmyIPm1kg">Proof that he's following through with his http://www.graysonforcongress.com/default.asp">campaign promises.

[Grassy Knoll]

1. How do they ( Pugs ) expect to win anything in the future if they do nothing

We will rally against you in 2012 , for your teabagging, glenn beckk and the rest of you Obama haters,
The majority of this country think you guys are assholes, we have the young, and we have hispanics,
We don't come out NOW because we won, Faux noise is only high in numbers because they lost.
See you then, you don't have a chance.

[izquierdista]

2. Not a "holocaust" Keith?

Then why did you end with "122 a day"? At what level does callous disregard for profits over humans qualify for the term "holocaust"?

[ipaint]

4. It's a holocaust.

(CNN) -- A freelance cameraman's appendix ruptured and by the time he was admitted to surgery, it was too late. A self-employed mother of two is found dead in bed from undiagnosed heart disease. A 26-year-old aspiring fashion designer collapsed in her bathroom after feeling unusually fatigued for days.

What all three of these people have in common is that they experienced symptoms, but didn't seek care because they were uninsured and they worried about the hospital expense, according to their families. All three died.

Research released this week in the American Journal of Public Health estimates that 45,000 deaths per year in the United States are associated with the lack of health insurance. If a person is uninsured, "it means you're at mortal risk," said one of the authors, Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The researchers examined government health surveys from more than 9,000 people aged 17 to 64, taken from 1986-1994, and then followed up through 2000. They determined that the uninsured have a 40 percent higher risk of death than those with private health insurance as a result of being unable to obtain necessary medical care. The researchers then extrapolated the results to census data from 2005 and calculated there were 44,789 deaths associated with lack of health insurance.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/18/deaths.health.insurance/index.html

The uninsured have been in the tens of millions for 2 decades. Given that the number of deaths has risen over the last 20 years until it reach almost 45,000, conservatively that's at least a quarter million Americans.

[dotymed]

3. I totally understand THE HOLOCAUST

but, America is perpetuating a modern day holocaust on it's
citizens, because of wealth care, not health care. I am sorry
if you can not see it. HOLOCAUST is one of the most horrific
words in our language, and I think it applies here. I hope
that Grayson is not for mandates, we need Universal Health
care or this travesty will not stop.

[alex456]

5. It was an inappropriate word choice

"HOLOCAUST is one of the most horrific words in our language"
The problem, dotymed, is that it is not just a word, but a reference to a specific historical event.

Listen, I support Universal Healthcare/the public option, and it is a TRAGEDY that people are not getting the proper treatment because of cost, but
"holocaust" has an accepted meaning. Already a sensitive topic, add on a Holocaust-denying dictator in the news and the dying off of survivors, this will be seen as untimely and cheapening the memory of the victims. He just added fodder to the conservative radio hosts' complaints about Democrats. This will TURN OFF support of the public option. And Ariana was right, hyperbole isn't necessary: just speak in a way that will gain support from Middle America.

"We need to care about people even after they're born" was simply beautiful though.

[izquierdista]

6. Here's a hypothetical

I'll admit The Holocaust was the biggest tragedy of the 1940s. What is the biggest tragedy of the last 40 years for Americans? Is it Al-Qaida? The price of gasoline? Iraq? VietNam? Almost as many people DIE every year for lack of health insurance as in all of the VietNam war.....or 10 Iraq wars.

If that doesn't convince you, think about this. What the Nazis counted on to do most of the killing in the concentration camps was untreated typhus and typhoid outbreaks; all they had to do was pile up more bodies in the morning. Contrast that with what happens in the United States if you contract typhus or typhoid and you are uninsured. Is there a difference??

[alex456]

7. yes, there is a difference

biggest tragedy of the 1940s...

it was the one of (if not THE) biggest tragedies the Jewish, Romani (though they refer to their suffering as the Porajmos) and many other peoples. The Nazis killed millions of their victims by bullet, gas, beating, starvation and countless other methods. They didn't rely on disease, that's why they had a meeting at Wannsee where they decided on the use of gas chambers and Zyklon B for the Final Solution. Before that, the Einzatsgruppen butchered whole communities by machine gun squads. The Nazis killed 11 civilians (6 mil Jews and 5 mil Poles/Slavs, Homosexuals, Gypsies, the Disabled, etc) in the span of approximately 6 years. Studies have shown that deaths due to lack of insurance is 18,000-45,000 which is horrific but it would take 244 years (of 45000) to equal the Nazi toll.

But an unnecessary death is an unnecessary death, and that is why I am pro-public option and universal healthcare, but it was an INCORRECT word choice. Otherwise, I liked his presentation. So, yes to answer your question read "Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account", there is a difference.

[alex456]

8. but really,

this is why words that are so loaded shouldn't be used when you're trying to get the support of Middle America. One word and phrase (die quickly) will give something for conservative hosts to get pissed off over which takes the focus away from the issue. This forum is for liberals, but if we want healthcare and all the other things we want passed, then we need to get moderates and even conservatives on our side. Derisive language will hurt the country in the end (equal to the teabaggers and joe wilson). I just don't see Grayson winning over anyone but the base with this, unfortunately.

[ipaint]

9. Grayson's jewish.

I don't think he is worried about it and I'm not either. And for once this isn't just about middle america. This is about the working class and the working poor. As one of them I can tell you holocaust is exactly what it is. When you live in fear of death daily knowing your only access to healthcare is the internet and 19th century remedies, when you know folks who have suffered died needlessly from lack of affordable ins. and just about everyone you know is in the same boat and has been for years well before it was fashionable for the middle class to even notice there was problem, it's long overdue that a person like grayson comes along and labels the situation for exactly what it is. These are thousands and thousands of death sentences being handed out yearly by greedy for profit private ins. corporations.

That 45,000 yearly deaths number is now public knowledge thanks to him and hopefully he will keep speaking about the horror too many of us live day to day.

And we don't need moderates or conservatives, the base Grayson is winning over is the majority. That's his point.

[alex456]

10. My main problem wasn't with Grayson

it was with the previous poster actually comparing the two. I know Grayson used "holocaust", not "The Holocaust". My point before that one was how people like Hannity and Levin will spin it and they have, so it should have been swapped for a different word. That was all I (and Keith and Ariana) was saying.

now, when I say moderates and conservatives I'm talking about voters who call their congressmen and who contribute to polling, not the politicians. The media (both conservative and liberal) is right: it is PATHETIC that a majority Democratic congress can't get health reform through. This is mainly because of Blue Dog Democrats who live in states where people are weary of government intervention and believe the vitriol from the likes of Palin and Co. The problem is not with Republicans who want you to "die quickly", but with those Blue Dog Democrats who are worried about reelection and others who are in the pocket of insurance companies. The Republicans can't be blamed when the Democrats have a solid majority in both houses with a Democratic president. Keith Olbermann had a great special comment about these Dems a little while ago and look how well that worked.

But I hope that Grayson's message will change their minds and get the public riled up for the right reasons. I really do.

[izquierdista]

11. Winning over the base

Unfortunately that "base" has people like Kent Conrad, Max Baucus, and my timid Blue Dog congresscritter in it. They need more thunder from the left.

[dotymed]

13. I understand and respect

what you are saying. I will not say anymore about it. It was
an unfortunate word choice. We have so many descriptive words,
that one should only be used in it's proper context.

Peace for us all.  No sarcasm, just understanding.

[ljm2002]

12. Once again, we weaken our position...

...by chiding the man over his use of the word "holocaust".

The rabid right never hesitates to use the word "holocaust" when discussing abortions. This health care fiasco is much more deserving of the word, and frankly I'm glad he used it. Why let the right own the terms? The word has already been used, many times, without reference to the specific meaning of the Nazi holocaust in WWII. Get over it. Let his strong statement stand without picking at it and weakening the overall impact.