Alan Grayson is a bit of a hero on this site for his outspoken defense of progressives and his colorful delivery. I laughed out loud when he called a Berneke advisor a "K Street whore" and his description of Sarah Palin a "wild Alaskan dingbat" is one of my favorite political quotes of all time. I admire Mr. Grayson for his progressive ideals. However, when I tuned in to a C-SPAN webcast of a congressional committee hearing last week, I couldn't believe what I was watching. I was appalled.
The hearing, held by the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, of the House Natural Resources Committee, was an inquiry concerning captive marine mammals, most notably Sea World parks. Sea World Orlando is in Alan Grayson's district, and I'm sure it's a big source of tax revenues there. It's also the place where the killer whale Tillikum killed his trainer a few months ago, which I'm sure precipitated the hearing. Mr. Grayson's testimony at the beginning of the hearing was an icky, fawning defense of the captive marine mammal industry. Here was Alan Grayson behaving exactly like a corporate whore. I'll add the link, in case you'd like to check it out for yourself. His testimony is very near the beginning.
And since nobody else appears to have called him out on it, here we go...
Congressman Grayson,
What were you thinking?! Sure, I know that Sea World has alot of money and visibility in your district, and that they probably requested that you show up and say something. Sure I know that Sea World is full of fabulous animals that you can't see up close in many places. Sure, I know that kids love to visit -- those roller coasters are amazing.
But there's apparently some things that you DON'T know, and probably should know if you're going to shill for Sea World. Did you know that killer whales in the wild swim as far as 50 miles a day, and that there's simply no way to replicate that kind of space in a concrete tank? Did you know they are highly social animals that spend their whole lives with their families, something else the parks don't even try to replicate? Did you know they are acoustic animals, and the sound bouncing around in those concrete tanks is bothersome at the least and dangerous at the worst? Did you know that the aggression these animals display in captivity is a result of keeping them confined in tight spaces, and simply doesn't happen in the wild? Have you ever considered that the message we send to kids by keeping these beautiful, intelligent, wild creatures in tiny pools for our amusement is the wrong message?
You spoke at the hearing about your kids learning things at Sea World. If you had stuck around for the hearing, you would have learned that the educational experience there is mediocre on a good day. Their docents are often not well trained, and wrong or incomplete information is as common as correct information. The signs at the park are minimal, poorly placed, and seem to be an afterthough, instead of a learning tool. The shows themselves give absolutely no information about the species that is in the tank, let alone their conservation.
Mr. Grayson, I know you are an intelligent man, I've seen that intellect on display a hundred times. But this display of corporate whoring was enough to make me reconsider. Please learn the issues, and don't speak when you don't know what you are talking about. That's why we sent you to Congress.