Sheldon Whitehouse Becomes Alan Grayson

WILLIAM A. JACOBSON

DEC 21, 2009 8:37 AM

Sheldon Whitehouse, my Democratic Senator from Rhode Island, has joined the Alan Grayson wing of the Democratic party with a speech so over the top that it is an infuriating embarrassment.

I wasn’t going to post on this. But then I listened to the speech, in which Whitehouse invoked Kristilnacht, the night of broken glass, and threw out dozens of pejoratives against anyone who opposes a government takeover of the health care system.

Those of us who stand for individual liberty and health care freedom have been called malignant vindictive people similar to those who hung blacks from trees and to the Nazis who ran through the streets breaking windows and beating Jews in the streets.

You really need to listen to this speech. It is almost beyond description. I cannot fully convey the full scope of this vile speech. It is scary to see a Senator on the floor of the Senate make such a speech.

The video is here. Whitehouse’s speech starts at about 107 minutes into the video. [added] An excerpt of the video now is available on YouTube — embedded below — but the excerpt doesn’t convey just how outrageous the speech was; you really need to listen to the whole thing to appreciate the wholesale smear of opponents of Democratic health care restructuring plans.

Partial transcripts are available here and here and here. [added] The full transcript is available here.

Sheldon Whitehouse is why Washington has gone so wrong. His arrogant, demeaning attitude as evidenced by this speech is an example of why people are so angry in this country.

We are not racists or Nazis, or a lunatic fringe, Senator Whitehouse, so stop the name calling.

Whitehouse was confronted by a reporter after the speech, and denied calling us racists, and insisted that we listen to the speech. I did listen to the speech, and you are being intellectually dishonest Senator Whitehouse.

What you did was you read from columns and speeches given by other people in which these ugly images were invoked, to leave yourself a way out if confronted with the words. Apparently you didn’t say these things, you merely read the words.

Be man enough to stand by what you said. Don’t call me a racist and Nazi on the floor of the Senate and then deny you said it.

If you are embarrassed by what you said, then apologize, if you have the emotional capacity to do so.

“There will come a day of judgment,” you said. Indeed.

Update: h/t to a commenter for these words from Kevin Dowd (not Maureen) in the NY Times, with his year-end reflection: