Frankly, Congressman, I am Shocked and Appalled

To risk thrice redundancy on the blog, I'd like to re-re-make Dave (and certain segments of Dan's) point--with a video. Let me set the scene first: Florida Congressman Alan Grayson faces off against about as diverse a round-table as the Situation Room can muster: Wolf Former AIPAC Employee and Jeopardy Failure Blitzer, an readily and sensibly offended Gloria Borger, an innocuous Joe Johns, the Good Kind of Mexican (Cuban) Alex Castellanos, and straight over the tubes of this modern internet, the dessicated corpse that was once James Carville. Grayson yesterday made the point in a speech before Congress that, for all the allowances the Republicans ceded on the health-care front, they have basically adopted the stance that it would be better for America's sick to die and die quickly.

The following 10 minutes feature two separate arguments: the first forwarded by Grayson who points out that the Republicans have offered nothing substantive over the course of this unnecessarily protracted debate, and the second put forth by every other mindless idiot on the program, who continously marvel with poorly suppressed giddiness and much mock indignation as to whether Grayson ought to apologize to the Republicans, and isn't he just as bad as Joe Wilson, and shouldn't we all be ashamed that America has come to a point where people can be so mean to one another when arguing about who gets to go to the doctor in this country. Would you say those nasty things to Eric Cantor's face, Congressman? Would you say that to his weeping mother?

On display are many of familiar embarrassments characteristic of CNN specifically and TV News in general: the obsession with political neutrality, the constant drawing of false equivalencies, the masturbatory infatuation with scandal and, as Carville himself ejaculates across the airwaves, "Good TV" over substantive debate. And then once again, like we may all be tired of reading and writing about by now, that infuriating show of disappointment at the debasement of our national discourse.

Can you all imagine? Grayson called the deliberate heel-grinding of the Republicans tantamount of criminal negligence! But hey, at least he hasn't brained any members of the opposition with a walking cane yet. We've come a long way, baby.

And now, the video: