Crossposted at Daily Kos
This guy is a TRUTH MACHINE!
This is another absolute beaut from the CongressmanWithGUTS, Alan Grayson (BIG D-FL08).
In a hearing on the Republican Witch Hunt over ACORN (pardon to any witches), Alan Grayson SCHOOLS the Republicans on the committee and achieved classic EPIC WIN!
Watch
A partial transcript and more below the fold.
Here is the MONEY QUOTE, and the full transcript (transcribed by ear) can be found below.
Grayson “. . . . We are trampling on people’s Constitutional rights. And I think it’s unfortunate that the mania that exists on the other side of the aisle regarding this one organization, and we know why that mania exists, it’s because they’ve registered an awful lot of Democrats, continues to distort and waste the time of this committee and many other committees here in Congress. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!:
Now here is the transcript.
WARNING! Pwnage is of EPIC Proportions. It is advised that you DO NOT HOLD YOUR COFFEE AND SIP IT during the watching of this video or reading of this transcript!
Chairman: “Mr. Grayson is recognized.”Grayson: “Thank you. I’d like to ask the gentleman from Georgia a few questions, and I’ll yeild to him for the purpose of having answers to these questions. Um, Does the gentleman from Georgia know what a bill of Attainder is?”
Broun (R-GA) “A bill of, the answer’s yes, in fact it’s been very explicitly described by the court’s.”
Grayson: “What is it?”
Looooooooooooooong pause while Broun looksthrough notes for an answer
Broun: “The courts have applied a two pronged test. Number one, whether specific individuals or entities are affected by the staute, Number two, when the legislation affects a Quote “Punishment” End quote, on those individuals, it serves no legitamate regulatory purpose. ”
Grayson: “What, um, does the Constitution says about
Bills of Attainder?”Broun: “Oh, I suggest that this is not a Bill of Attainder. It’s, um, certainly does focus on a specific entity, but it does not inflict punishment by any means. In fact. . . ”
Grayson: “Will the gentleman from Georgia explain what the Constitution says about Bills of Attainder?”
Outside Voice/another Republican: “Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield for a second? The gentleman from Florida?”
Grayson: “No. I’d like an answer to my question.”
Outside Voice/another Republican: “Well, frankly, I can’t wait to see the discussion when it comes to . . . . ”
Grayson: “I did NOT yeild, and I’d like an answer fron the gentleman from Georgia to my question, I. . .”
Chairman: “Li, Li, Listen, let’s get back to all the time, is Mister, the gentleman from Florida, who will yeild to the gentleman from Georgia, will . . .”
Grayson: “Right. What does the Constitution say about Bills of Attainder? It’s a simple question.”
Broun: “The Constitution says “Congress shall pass no Bills of Attainder” but this is not one . . . ”
Grayson: “Alright, now, would you agree with me that it is UnConstitutional to single out one or more persons without the benefit of trial?”
Broun: “Uh, no sir, there is a two pronged test, this is not a Bill of Attainder, it is . . . ”
Grayson: “Alright, well, when I, when I said, I’ll reclaim my time. I just quoted William Rehnquist writing the book “The Supreme Court”, he wrote that book and said “You can not single out on or more persons without the benefit of a trial.” Will the gentleman agree that Bills of Attainder are contrary to every principle of sound legislation?”
Broun: “The two main criteria which courts would like to look, in order to determine whether legislation is a Bill of Attainder, one is whether a specific individual/entity is affected by the statute, number two, whether the legislation affects a punishment on the individuals . . . ”
Grayson: “Will the gentleman please tell me whether you agree or not that Bills of Attainder are contrary to every principle of sound legislation?”
Broun: “Bills of Attainder are UnConstitutional.”
Grayson: “AND contrary to every principle of sound legislation, is that correct?”
Broun: “That’s correct.”
Grayson: “Alright. And you know who said that?”
Broun: “Tell me.”
Grayson: “James Madison in the Federalist papers.”
“Now, do you, does the gentleman agree that the Bill of Attainder clause was intended not as a narrow or technical provision, but rather as an implementation of the separation of powers, and a general safeguard against legislative exercise of the judicial function, or more simply, trial by legislature. Wil the gentleman agree with me on that.”
Outside Republican: “Will the Gentleman yield?”
Grayson: “No.”
Laughter throughout the committee room , then silence. . .
Outside Representative: “Um, the, the, will the gentleman restate the question?”
Grayson: “The question is, will the gentleman from Georgia agree with me that the Bill of Attainder clause was intended not as a narrow or technical provision, but rather as an implementation of the separation of powers, and a general safeguard against legislative exercise of the judicial function, or more simply, trial by legislation. Wil the gentleman agree to that?”
Broun: “No, sir, I will not, and I ask counsel to help us with this, I think all this is determination of the court and I’d like to appeal to Mr. Sensenberner (wingnut who’s name I refuse to spell correctly)
Grayson: “Well, I’m sorry, but it’s my time, not yours or Mr. Sensenberner’s, so I will reclaim my time, and I will point out that what you just you would NOT agree to is from a Supreme Court case called the United States V Brown, something I would expect you might know about, given your name.”
Outside voice: “Will the gentleman yield?”Grayson: “No.”
One voice laughs
Grayson: “Uh, listen, we, we are trampling on people’s Constitutional rights. And I think it’s unfortunate that the mania that exists on the other side of the aisle regarding this one organization, and we know why that mania exists, it’s because they’ve registered an awful lot of Democrats, continues to distort and waste the time of this committee and many other committees here in Congress. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I yield my remaining 5 seconds”
This is a calm, calculated TOTAL DISMANTLING and SCHOOLING of EPIC proprtions. No yelling, no charts, just pure unadulterated WIN, and on one of the biggest Deather, Psycho talking Wingnuts in Congress.
Just WOW!
Donate to Alan Grayson (Dem with GUTS-FL08) here with Act Blue
Three times he wouldn’t yield. Six times Alan Grayson demanded the answer to his question will Dr. Deather Paul Broun (WINGNUT R-GA) did everything he could to avoid facing reality and answering the question.
Tough. Smart. Persistant. This is AWESOME, and I wants more of it.
And thanks to CornSyrupAwareness who is also an admin at the The Progressive Electorate.com I can proudly present to you EVEN MORE EPIC WIN courtesy of Representative Alan Grayson (D+GUTS-FL08)
Grayson: Fox and Republicans “The Enemies Of America”
Ed: Congressman it seems you’ve got tremendous reaction from the way you’ve been handling critics. And the White House is starting to go after critics, including Fox News. Do you think this is a good strategy? Does this work? Does this have the potential to continue to gain support?
Alan: Sure, what you do with a bully is you confront a bully and then the bully backs down. And that’s a good description of Fox News. People come on the air, they insult them as they did me. They cut off their mikes as they did me. They shout at them and interrupt them as they did me. And they even curse at them as they did me. Why would anyone think Fox News is some sort of valid news organization when they do something like that. Fox News and the National Enquirer are basically interchangable.
Ed: So the President and the White House going after Fox News you think is a good strategy?
Alan: Sure. It’s either that or ignore them like the rest of America does. There are 307 million Americans in this country. Barely 3 million of them have ever tuned into Fox. That means that 99% of Americans have the good sense to ignore them.
Ed: OK. Now the public policy polling was out there and the question was does President Obama love America. And we were shocked at this. 73% of Republicans say No or They’re Not sure. In your opinion how have we gotten to this point in this country?
Alan: Because Republicans do nothing but vilify their enemies and nothing else. All they do is try and distract people from issues of healthcare, issues of jobs, issues of energy independence. They’ve got nothing. And because of this the party of No is well on their way to becoming the party of nobody.
Ed: Well in the Senate today, this is Lamar Alexander the Senator from Tennessee comparing President Obama to the crook Richard Nixon.
Alexander: As any veteran of the Nixon administration can tell you , we’ve been down this road before and it didn’t end well. The only reason I mention this is because I have an uneasy feeling only 10 months in we’re seeing the same kind of animus in the Obama administration.
Gregg: I take it the Senator from Tennessee is saying that this administration is Nixofying the White House
Ed: Nixofying the White House? What should be the proper response to that Congressman?
Alan: Fox News and their Republican Collaborators are the enemy of America. They’re the enemy of anybody who cares about healthcare in this country. The enemy of anybody that cares about educating their children. The enemy of everybody who wants energy independence or anything good for this country. And certainly the enemy of peace. They are the enemy.
There is even more videos in CornSyrupAwareness’s diary if you want to indulge. Really, really good stuff there.
I hope whatever Representative Grayson has is Contagious, and spreads to the Senate QUICK. Bold Progressives, Democrats with GUTS like Grayson, Rep. Anthony Weiner and Debbie Wasserman-Shultz and Senators Sherrod Brown and Independant Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders represent an Evolution in the Democratic Party. Like the Ents of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Progressives are waking up, and finding that they are strong.
Give it up for Representative Alan Grayson (BIG D-FL08). If the GOP is a LIE FACTORY than Alan Grayson is a TRUTH MACHINE!
Cheers,
MoT
Also crossposted at The Progressive Electorate.com
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How do you dharmaniacs like Dem Apples!
W00T W00T!
the man is brilliant. And kudoes to you too, MoT, for all the great diaries you have posted here and a t GOS.
Question. What was Sensenbrenner’s motion? It got cut off at the end. Was it to close discussion for a vote or strike the last conversation from the record?
I thought he might be a one-hit-wonder. Oh Noez! I was wrong!
Someone dug in his past and found he was going after Iraq contractors back in 03, if I remember correctly. I’m starting to like him a lot.
Since he likes you so much, please tell him to be safe and stay out of small planes. I’d wish his brand of ‘tellin’ it like it is’ was contagious!
Yell louder, Grayson!
just saw the diary at GOS. genius.
name the dead. name them. omg.
Barb Jones… my first essay on DD March 8 2009 .