battles

I was going to kick off the day with some talk about empty Chinese apartments for sale but I’ve moved along. Apparently, there are about 200 million vacant.

Slate.com has done me a favor and posted a piece on Rep. Alan Grayson; aside from my mother and her dog, he may be the only thing I love about Florida. In fact, I think he might represent her down there in the 8th District. I have a longer history with Grayson than most after seeing him work a courtroom in the Custer Battles whistleblower/false claims case involving the CPA in Iraq. Grayson represented the whistleblower in the case and made quick and decisive work of Custer Battles. The Eleven had a ‘court date’ back in 2006 where we watched a portion of the trial – particularly a debate on, and then, the closing arguments – at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria. Grayson eventually showed up again in 2008 when running for the House in his adopted home state of Florida. Grayson’s a progressive Democrat who wrassled away the primarily Republican seat during the onslaught of the 2008 elections. Grayson is pretty much what I want to see in Washington from my side of the issues: I may not agree with everything he supports but I do support most of it. And, he just rolls in, kicks some teeth around, and moves on to the next issue. We’ve long wanted a Dem to show that ability and now we have him – hopefully for many, many years. You ask about his elitist background? Well, here it is…it might help. Man, I hate smart people who earn lots of money. Elitists. If you have a problem with his education and successes then I question your judgement.

Of course, the picture above is how we remember him when he ambled into the courtroom way back in 2006. I want him to go back to the beard and cowboy boots but I guess you have to tidy yourself up if you’re going to represent Walt Disney World.