The Political Class-- Regardless Of Party-- Knows One Thing Fer Sure: Their Shit Don't Stink

Very different types of political whores

And you'd better not forget it. Some things transcend partisan ID, political party, ideology and the rest, not the least of which is the class solidarity of the stinking Inside the Beltway elite. Alan Grayson didn't say they should all be lined up against a wall and shot; he probably wouldn't even agree with that as an excellent way to help get the country back on a good footing-- especially because there actually are some good one in the lot. But one of those good ones is decidedly not Linda Robertson.

Inside the Beltway hacks-- even some relatively good ones, policy-wise, are all over Grayson for referring to Robertson, a lobbyist recently hired as a public relations operative (or lobbyist) for the Federal Reserve, as "a K Street whore." None of the outraged and offended congressmembers-- who realize a charge like this is an affront to all of their self-proclaimed senses of dignity-- cares to discuss the substance of the claim. But she was, after all, the head of Enron's lobbying office-- a position that defines the word "whore."

The characterization is a little too close for comfort for almost any member of Congress, since so many of them are whores as well, taking immense sums of money from the very corporations on whose interests they are legislating. Hence the outrage over Grayson's plainspoken declaration. Robertson's current job is to paint a rosy picture of an institution, the Fed, at the heart of the near collapse of the American financial structure. A former close associate of Wall Street shill Lawrence Summers and of bankster Robert Rubin, Robertson was already blackballed for a job at Treasury because the Obama Administration was still trying to persuade people (and itself) that they didn't hire lobbyists.

Now, you might ask, are all lobbyists whores? Well, maybe not a lobbyist for the Society for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or a lobbyist for a firm urging the beating of swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks-- but that's not the kind of lobbyist Robertson has ever been. Pure and simple, Grayson hit that nail on the head: she's always been a whore. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) took Grayson's remark quite personally-- and for good reason. Shrieking that Grayson "is out of control"-- one of the reasons why so many Americans love him-- she didn't mention that she sits on the Committee on Natural Resources (and it's subcommittee on water and power) and has solicited immense sums of money (thinly veiled bribes) from forest products companies, oil and gas companies, and electric utilities and, coincidentally, I'm sure, always votes in their interests and against the public interest. And if people start calling lobbyists like Linda Robertson whores, how long before they start realizing that the Honorable Congresswoman from Spokane is also a whore-- as are almost all of her colleagues.

Of course it isn't only corrupt Republicans who found Grayson's candid assessment a little too close for comfort. The king of Democratic Party congressional whores, the Honorable Steny Hoyer, called the remark "inappropriate and unfair." Steny's office once asked me to interview him-- it was when he was running for Majority Leader and noticed I was far from a fan of his rival, Jack Murtha (another corrupt disgrace)-- and only asked I observe one ground rule. "Please don't call him a shill or a whore." Ron Paul's legions, on the other hand, knew exactly what Grayson was talking about. If you don't know about K Street whores, may I suggest you read a fantastic book by Ken Silverstein, Turkmeniscam, the exposé on the relationship between lobbyists and members of Congress and those looking to buy congressional support.

I might add that the Blue America ActBlue page, Getting Grayson's Back, is still open.