# Should Alan Grayson apologize for his "die quickly" remarks?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [October 1, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211 "2009-10-01T05:11:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/121 "2009-10-03T18:42:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> I beg your pardon. They do – because, ever since WWII, we have been building everything in America around the assumption that everyone will have one.
I may have stated that a little too strongly, but ask yourself: Who would die if they didn’t have a car? Yes or no, couldn’t a majority of people make do with public transportation?
Health care OTOH is something that everyone is going to require at some point.
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/122 "2009-10-03T19:22:34Z")
> [@bri1600bv](#):
>
> republicans would say “I wish you well with your life, if you get sick, hope you get well, but it’s none of my business really.”
It’s not the Republicans who are the root problem here. It’s the insurance companies who _don’t_ want people to get well or seek treatment, because that involves paying out money. By opposing health care reform, the Republicans (and some of the Democrats) are simply on their side in this one.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/123 "2009-10-03T19:54:56Z")
> [@bri1600bv](#):
>
> Great, why does the gov’t need to be involved then?
>
> Republican don’t say “don’t get sick and if you do, die quickly”. Republicans aren’t paying for your health care so why would they want you to die?
>
> republicans would say “I wish you well with your life, if you get sick, hope you get well, but it’s none of my business really.”
I am amazed at how many people misunderstand what Grayson was saying. He didn’t say Republicans _want_ people to die quickly. What he said was that was their health care plan. **The reason you should die quickly if you do get sick is so that it doesn’t cost you as much as it would cost if it took a long time to die.**
But I see the spin based on (possibly? probably? willful) misunderstanding is already starting.
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### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/124 "2009-10-03T20:05:44Z")
But that isn’t the Republican health care plan. No more than the Democratic plan for unwanted pregnancies is murder.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/125 "2009-10-03T20:16:33Z")
> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> But that isn’t the Republican health care plan. No more than the Democratic plan for unwanted pregnancies is murder.
How do you know that? Can you give us a cite showing the Republican health care plan?
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/126 "2009-10-03T20:55:42Z")
Confidential. National security reasons. But it’s _great!_
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### Author:  [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/127 "2009-10-03T21:38:56Z")
Tax union health plans is about all I heard.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/128 "2009-10-04T00:09:10Z")
Can Florida have a little credit, here?
He should probably apologise for the holocaust bit, but otherwise no.
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### Author:  [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/129 "2009-10-04T00:11:20Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> They’re Americans, are they not? If they are not our people, whose people are they?
It’s hard to pin down Republicans on finding out precisely what sort of bonds to one another we have. When it’s 9/11 we’re countrymen, when it’s healthcare we’re not. It’s confusing.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/130 "2009-10-04T00:13:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> Can Florida have a little credit, here?
>
> He should probably apologise for the holocaust bit, but otherwise no.
Why do you think he should apologize for using the word holocaust?
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/131 "2009-10-04T00:21:42Z")
Because some people will undoubtedly take it the wrong way (or have already), even though he’s Jewish. Just the “I apologise for any misunderstandings over my choice of words” non-apology the Republicans have been trotting out a lot lately.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/132 "2009-10-04T00:26:10Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> Because some people will undoubtedly take it the wrong way (or have already), even though he’s Jewish. Just the “I apologise for any misunderstandings over my choice of words” non-apology the Republicans have been trotting out a lot lately.
I understand your reasoning, but I don’t think he should apologize at all. I think you might have more of a point if he had said Holocaust, implying that this was another version of directed genocide, but he didn’t. In listening to his use of the word, I found no implied or explicit capitalization of the word, and I’m loathe to ascribe a taboo to an otherwise perfectly useful word.
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### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/133 "2009-10-04T02:56:11Z")
> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> But that isn’t the Republican health care plan. No more than the Democratic plan for unwanted pregnancies is murder.
The Republicans seem to say that Democratic support for the right to choose abortion is support for murder. It seems kinda whiny to characterize the Republican advice to the uninsured to go the the ER and go bankrupt or better yet die quickly is unfair if the level of rhetoric has descended to that level. And it has.
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### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/134 "2009-10-04T03:46:03Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> How do you know that? Can you give us a cite showing the Republican health care plan?
If you aren’t going to follow my previous posts where I’ve talked about previous Republican health care proposals, I feel no need to repeat myself or expand on previous points.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/135 "2009-10-04T03:51:42Z")
So, no, then?
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/136 "2009-10-04T03:55:05Z")
> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> If you aren’t going to follow my previous posts where I’ve talked about previous Republican health care proposals, I feel no need to repeat myself or expand on previous points.
Those were previous plans. What have they got lately? Just more of the same?
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/137 "2009-10-04T04:03:48Z")
Two parts. First, put a cap on all medical malpractice suits at $2500, including lawyers fees, which may not exceed $11/hr. Second, totally defund ACORN and put the money into solid, reliable investment firms, and the interest on the money will buy greens fees for health insurance executives.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/138 "2009-10-04T05:40:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> In listening to his use of the word, I found no implied or explicit capitalization of the word, and I’m loathe to ascribe a taboo to an otherwise perfectly useful word.
It’s not _that_ useful, except in the sense of \*nuclear \_\_\_\_\_\_, \*in which case it’s generally pretty obvious what you’re talking about.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/139 "2009-10-04T05:42:56Z")
Wait a minute. You can’t have a _Princess Bride_ quote-fest without _Holocaust Cloak_.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-alan-grayson-apologize-for-his-die-quickly-remarks/512211/140 "2009-10-04T06:02:30Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> It’s not _that_ useful, except in the sense of \*nuclear \_\_\_\_\_\_, \*in which case it’s generally pretty obvious what you’re talking about.
It’s also useful for describing
> [@dictionary.com](#):
>
> 1. a great or complete devastation or destruction, esp. by fire.
or a catastrophe, a devastation, a shambles, a wasting…
It’s a perfectly cromulent word, and in the case of Mr. Grayson’s speech, it was pretty obvious what he was talking about.
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