Grayson gets pushback for ‘Taliban Dan’ attack

Alan Grayson speaks at a town hall meeting in Oct. 2009.
Alan Grayson speaks at a town hall meeting in Oct. 2009.

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson has compared Republicans to "Nazis," likened Dick Cheney to a vampire, and stated that Rush Limbaugh was "more lucid when he was a drug addict." So it's no surprise that the Florida Democrat is now lobbing insults at his current Republican challenger, Dan Webster.

But critics say that Grayson's latest ad labeling his opponent "Taliban Dan Webster" not only goes too far, but is misleading.

"Religious fanatics try to take away our freedom in Afghanistan, in Iran and right here in central Florida," the ad's narrator begins. The commercial then plays a clip of Webster stating, "wives submit yourself to your own husband" and "she should submit to me, that's in the Bible."

The ad then outlines several positions it claims Webster holds on issues related to women.

Watch the ad below:

But the full text of Webster's "submit to me" comment shows a much different context.

Webster, the former state Senate majority leader, released a video of his complete comments in which he can be heard stating: "Don't pick the [Bible verses] that say, 'She should submit to me.'"

"Grayson's 'Taliban Dan' ad takes Webster's words out of context, twists meaning," reads a headline in the Orlando Sentinel, one of the congressman's hometown newspapers.

The nonpartisan, nonprofit FactCheck.org wrote of Grayson in its analysis: "He's using edited video to make his rival appear to be saying the opposite of what he really said."

[Video: Rewind: Another bizarre attack ad starring robot sheep]

Grayson spokesman Sam Drzymala told FactCheck that "the campaign interpreted Webster's remarks to mean that he believes wives should submit to their husbands."

The ad also claims Webster opposes abortion in cases of rape (something Webster has not denied

), wants to "make divorce illegal," tried to prohibit alimony payments to an adulterous wife but not to an adulterous husband, and "denied abused women health care."

Freshman Grayson represents a competitive Orlando-area district, which automatically makes his re-election race a challenge for the Democratic Party.

Efforts to reach Webster on Tuesday were unsuccessful. The challenger did suggest on his Facebook page that the recent flap has boosted his campaign: "Donations from around the country are flowing in! You can donate online at the link below, and help refute Alan Grayson's lies!"

*UPDATE: Sarah Posner at Religion Dispatches raises the question of whether Webster's complete remarks really do show a different context. Posner interviewed author Kathryn Joyce, who said the following:

Saying that a woman should pray for God's guidance in submission, if she wants to, is not leniency, but rather standard evangelical language that emphasizes individuals must obey biblical mandates regardless of how others around them behave. So, Webster is saying, men must be accountable to God for their responsibility to love their wives regardless of whether she submits -- that they must pray to do right, even if she doesn't.

Webster's camp hasn't spoken directly about the submission statement, but it continues to blast the ad overall.

"Mr. Grayson seems to have a problem telling the truth and no problem misleading the public. Dan has been an amazing husband and father, and the finest man I have ever known. Mr. Grayson should be ashamed of his nasty smears against my husband," Webster's wife, Sandy, said in a statement Monday, Politico reports.

(Photo of Grayson: AP/John Raoux)

Browse > Home / Articles / Rep. Grayson Lowers the Bar

Rep. Grayson Lowers the Bar

The Florida Democrat manipulates video to make his opponent seem to urge wives to 'submit' to husbands. He didn't.

September 27, 2010

Summary

We thought Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida reached a low point when he falsely accused his opponent of being a draft dodger during the Vietnam War, and of not loving his country. But now Grayson has lowered the bar even further. He's using edited video to make his rival appear to be saying the opposite of what he really said.

In a new ad, Grayson accuses his Republican opponent Daniel Webster of being a religious fanatic and dubs him "Taliban Dan." But to make his case, Grayson manipulates a video clip to make it appear Webster was commanding wives to submit to their husbands, quoting a passage in the Bible. Four times, the ad shows Webster saying wives should submit to their husbands. In fact, Webster was cautioning husbands to avoid taking that passage as their own. The unedited quote is: "Don't pick the ones [Bible verses] that say, 'She should submit to me.'"

Analysis

The ad compares Webster to "religious fanatics" in Afghanistan and Iran. It says Webster opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest, which is true. But it also claims that "Webster wants to impose his radical fundamentalism on us," and to support that claim it blatantly misuses a video clip of Webster speaking at a Christian conference in Nashville in 2009.

⬐ Click to expand/collapse the full transcript ⬏

Grayson for Congress TV Ad: "Taliban Dan"

Announcer: Religious fanatics tried to take away our freedom in Afghanistan, in Iran and right here in Central Florida.

Webster: Wives submit yourselves to your own husband.

Announcer: Daniel Webster wants to impose his radical fundamentalism on us.

Webster: She should submit to me. That's in the Bible.

Announcer: Webster tried to deny battered women medical care, and the right to divorce their abusers.

Webster: Submit to me.

Announcer: He wants to force raped women to bear the child.

Webster: Submit to me.

Announcer: Taliban Dan Webster. Hands off our bodies, and our laws.

The ad, which first aired Sept. 25, starts by saying, "Religious fanatics tried to take away our freedom in Afghanistan, in Iran and right here in Central Florida," cutting to a clip of Grayson saying, "Wives submit yourself to your own husband." Later the ad cuts to a clip of Webster saying, "She should submit to me. That's in the Bible." And twice more, it shows him saying, "submit to me."

We contacted both campaigns to gather information on the claims in the ad and to obtain a copy of the video to better understand the context of Webster's remarks. We also contacted the Institute of Basic Life Principles, which is a non-denominational Christian organization that runs programs and training sessions. Robert Staddon at the institute provided us with the section of Webster's speech (see the video below) that deals with the Bible verse in question.

In an email, Staddon said the video was "taken from a talk to fathers" at the Advanced Training Institute regional conference in Nashville in 2009. ATI is a religious-based program developed by the Institute of Basic Life Principles "to support parents in raising their children to love the Lord Jesus Christ." Bill Gothard, the founder of the Institute of Basic Life Principles, said that Webster home-schooled his children using the institute's curriculum and has given speeches at the training institute on more than one occasion.

The full context of the remarks make clear that Webster is not telling wives to submit to their husbands. Just the opposite.

Webster: So, write a journal. Second, find a verse. I have a verse for my wife, I have verses for my wife. Don't pick the ones that say, 'She should submit to me.' That's in the Bible, but pick the ones that you're supposed to do. So instead, 'love your wife, even as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it' as opposed to 'wives submit to your own husbands.' She can pray that, if she wants to, but don't you pray it.

Grayson campaign spokesman Sam Drzymala told us that the campaign interpreted Webster's remarks to mean that he believes wives should submit to their husbands

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