Posted on 10/27/2009 9:31:41 AM PDT by markomalley
A spokesman for Rep. Alan Grayson is defending the Florida Democrat’s use of the word “whore” to describe a female official at the Federal Reserve, pointing to a secondary dictionary definition to argue that Grayson meant only that the woman had sold her soul for financial gain.
“The attack was on her professional career, not her personal life,” Grayson spokesman Todd Jurkowski wrote in an e-mail to POLITICO. “The second definition of ‘whore’ in the American Heritage Dictionary is 'A person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain.’
“I think a reasonable person could believe that a person who was paid to promote and defend Enron has 'compromised principles for personal gain.'”
Jurkowski was responding to the outrage – from both sides of the aisle – that came after Republicans circulated a clip Monday of Grayson calling Linda Robertson, an aide to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, a “K Street whore” in a radio interview last month.
Robertson lobbied for Enron, the Clinton Treasury Department and Johns Hopkins University before going to work for Bernanke; Jurkowski said his boss was simply making a point about Robertson’s prior work.
"She had the audacity to attack a congressman who used to be an economist. She's a career lobbyist who used to work for Enron and advocates for whatever she gets paid to promote," Jurkowski said.
The online version of the American Heritage Dictionary actually lists three definitions for the word “whore”: “1. A prostitute. 2. A person considered sexually promiscuous. 3. A person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain.”
It's the second time in recent weeks that a Grayson aide has cited a less-incendiary meaning for a word to try to put out a political fire Grayson lit by using strong language.
In a House floor speech earlier this month, Grayson blamed Republicans for the current state of the health care system, which he referred to as a "holocaust in America."
He was rebuked by the Anti-Defamation League and offered an apology for his remarks, but staff for Grayson, who is Jewish, insisted he was using the small-h "holocaust" rather than the capital-h "Holocaust" that refers to the Nazis’ murder of 6 million Jews.
Several of Grayson's colleagues, including House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) have said his comments about Robertson were uncalled for.
Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) called them "a bit extreme and rather sexist."
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said Monday night that Grayson is "one fry short of a Happy Meal," but changed his tune a bit after speaking to his Florida colleague about the matter.
"Alan Grayson is a friend and an extraordinary member of Congress. No obviously playful comment from me should distract from the important role Rep. Grayson has played in focusing on the true and tragic costs of our broken health care system," Weiner said in a statement e-mailed to POLITICO. "He is a leader and a patriot."
This man belongs in an asylum.
Oops...did I type that out loud???
Calling a woman a whore has one and only one meaning.
He’s a DemonRAT.
Automatic pass for him.
Nothing more to see here, folks.
Oh, puh-leeze. The whole corps of lobbyists are whores, and attempting to deflect the issue because some of them are female is the worst sort of Politically Correct twaddle.
Pot, meet kettle.
The guy is off the reservation and I suspect the dems wish he would shut up. On the other hand, Weiner thinks he’s a patriot and a leader. Wonder if Weiner is willing to follow him over a cliff?
And what in the hell is Grayson doing but making an ass of himself for political gain?! He must think it is doing him some good or else he is a complete dumbass!
I think he is playing to the Kos crowd. He certainly can't be playing to normal everyday people.
what’s the big deal? At least he didn’t call her a “nappy headed” whore
At least he didn't say Makakha (or however you spell it). That would make him a real hero.
Good thing he didn’t say Macaca.
Well, then... by those lights, the whole dimowit party, at least at the federal level, are whores, and so are ABC, NBC, CBS, NYT, WaPo, MSNBC, CNN, et al. Whores. Ho’s...
Grayson has opened a can of worms and they’re crawlin’ out. He has declared open-season on his own kind. That’s gotta be a first since J.B. Iscariot
Funny how Democrats are always breaking out a dictionary to explain to the public what simple words like “whore” and “is” mean. They act rather stupidly if you axe me.
Obama: Grayson an outstanding member of Congress
Actually, the GOP needs a conservative Alan Grayson....this guy can say anything....and nothing happens.
After Grayson’s “GOP tells you to go die” comment....top GOP candidates now refuse to run against him in 2010.
The crazier Grayson gets....the more teflon he becomes.
The GOP right now is a party of wusses.....they whine about Grayson....but refuse to run top candidates against him. The GOP needs to grab its repros and develop some spine
Now who's the whore?
This guy Grayson is just trying to make a name for himself. Most people will see him as foolish, but many will think his boisterousness is a sign of being a “maverick”.
Anyone in favor of the government being in charge of the health care industry is a hater of freedom.
****Oh, puh-leeze. The whole corps of lobbyists are whores, and attempting to deflect the issue because some of them are female is the worst sort of Politically Correct twaddle.**
The Lobbyist’s, The Senators, and the Congressmen are all whores. they are all selling themselves to party, and not the the people who elected them.
Capitol Hill needs to be cleaned out. Cleaned out of it’s lobby’s , it’s Pacs, and it’s present membership.
Vote no incumbents.
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