Congressman Markey/Flickr
Rep. Ed Markey (D) is generally considered the leading candidate in Massachusetts' upcoming U.S. Senate special election, so it stands to reason there will be considerably more scrutiny of his daily comments than there was before he launched his statewide bid. But scrutiny and manufactured controversies are not the same thing.
Republicans and some elements of the media got pretty worked up yesterday after learning that Markey made this comparison while speaking to a group of supporters this week.
"I want to go to the United States Senate in order to fight for a constitutional amendment to repeal Citizens United. The whole idea that the Koch brothers, that Karl Rove can say we're coming to Massachusetts, to any state of the union with undisclosed amounts of money is a pollution, which must be changed," Markey said to loud applause.
"The constitution must be amended. The Dred Scott decision had to be repealed, we have to repeal Citizens United," he added.
You can probably guess what happened next. The right and some in the media pounced, arguing that Markey apparently believes there's a moral equivalence between slavery and post-Citizens United campaign-finance laws.
The congressman's phrasing may have been a little awkward, but the criticism is a bit much. As Alex Pareene explained, "[T]he point Markey was making was not that the Citizens United decision was a travesty of justice on par with Dred Scott, but rather the much more prosaic and less inflammatory argument that because it is now Supreme Court precedent, Citizens United will only be overturned by a constitutional amendment, just as Dred Scott had to be."
That's exactly right, but for whatever reason, the political world decided this didn't matter. Ben Smith's reaction struck me as especially problematic: "Kind of hard to imagine a Republican getting away with saying this."
Ben may not have thought this one through.
Putting aside the fact that the "Markey compared campaign finance to slavery" charge just isn't true, the fact remains that Republicans draw all kinds of comparisons involving the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision, and do all of the time. Hell, a Republican actually drew the identical parallel that Markey drew, just a few months ago, and neither Ben Smith nor anyone else batted an eye.
Indeed, very high-profile Republicans, including George W. Bush and Paul Ryan -- GOP officials who've held and/or sought national office -- have also used Dred Scott as points of comparison, and as best as I can tell, Ben Smith, other reporters, and Republicans in general never found any of this the least bit problematic.
"Kind of hard to imagine a Republican getting away with saying this"? Republicans have already gotten away with it.
Dave Weigel called yesterday's dust-up an example of "stupid, pack-journalism" searching for a scandal "that simply isn't there." I couldn't agree more.
Leave a Comment:
IOKIYAR
Markey's right: Citizens United is the moral equivalent of slavery.
Were it not for the far right disinformation project known as "The Politico," Ben Smith would be living in a cardboard box under the 14th street bridge.
Ben Smith, Ben Shapiro, what's the difference? Both want the freedom that comes from fact free journalism. Shapiro makes stories up. Smith just pops off without actually checking his facts. Neither one of them wants to be a reporter.
remember rachel's mantra, IOKIYAR
"Dred Scott equals Roe v. Wade" isn't even a controversial statement for Republicans- it's their operating premise. It's so not controversial for them that no one even notices.
Hell, the Right eats its own - Karl Rove as an SS Officer! Over the top comparison? You decide! -Kevo
We who study Democratic Dog Whistles at the Teahaddist Institute for World Domination, know that the sub text of his remarks was really a comparison of anything Republican to Hitler.
Whew, that is a relief to me since I thought these tea party folk were just a new age NAZI regime.
I am also somewhat surprised that they not only disassociate themselves from Hitler but that they can read.
Given that today's Republican Party is the equivalent of the Nazi Party, for once the Teahaddist Institute for World Domination is right.
When you try to sell an inferior product with no hope of improvement, all that is left is denigrating the superior product. Comparing the GOP to attack dogs would imply much more intelligence than usually displayed. They are more like the hagfish that eat whatever sinks to the bottom. Fortunately most democratic candidates aren't rotten enough to be sunk easily.
Mistake in the headline .
Referring to these hacks and circulators of innuendo, conjecture and outright lies as journalists does a disservice to all who would attempt to provide us with actual factual journalism.
'Right wing hacks' and paid political operatives targets Ed Markey for no reason.
There fixed it for you
Funny how the GOP has no problem comparing Obama to Stalin and Hitler, refer to his administration as a "regime" yet cry offense when the tables are turned. Dish it out but can't take it is the mark of an immature bully.
I'm old...I'm tired...I have no fight left in me...but I be hatin' on the GOP just like if I was a youngster...
It hits too close to home.
They're not on the side of democracy.
The rest of us are just supposed to be too stupid to see that.
The rich may be rich, but they lack common sense and street smarts. I have friends in low places.
Ben Smith doesn't appear to think very many things through. Or perhaps he does, but chooses not to share with his readers.
Without actual civil war involved, ....the Supreme court doesn't reverse itself very often, So oddly the most reasonable course of action would be to follow some of liberal fave Scalia's suggestions in both decisions. I believe he stated all the political donations should be accessible via internet almost immediately(if mcdonalds gives to a candidate you don't like eat at burger king) and he believes reasonable restrictions on firearms are ok(maybe 15-20 rounds per mag, universal backround checks would pass both a vote and court muster)
In the grand scheme of things, I'm not so sure that Citizens United isn't every bit as much of a travesty of justice as was Dred Scott. Just in a different sense.
The predictable faux outrage (just typical Republican whining) about Markey's statement is no doubt is intended to misdirect attention away from the tremendous damage done by this horrible SC decision. It certainly won't hurt him politically in Massachusetts. In fact, the bigger issue Repubs make of this, the better FOR him.
We've already seen the tremendous damage CU has done to the middle class, via its effects on organized labor. Average citizens are gradually losing control of our political system, becoming increasingly subject to the whims and dictates of the uber-wealthy and politically connected. Anyone who doesn't see where things are headed just needs to look at Michigan.