I got to sleep in today!  On the rare occasion that I do get to sleep in, immediately after waking up, I’m compelled to log into twitter to see if I “missed anything”.  So this morning, I log in to twitter, do a search for Ed Markey as I frequently do, and see a flurry of right wingers talking about Ed Markey’s comments, “comparing Citizens United to slavery.” 

“Oh my God”, is my first reaction.  As a long time political buff, I’ve seen many a good candidate brought down by a single stupid mistake.  (I was a huge fan of Anthony Weiner and his downfall really bummed me out).  So I’m thinking “Oh God, no, what did he say” and immediately click on the link expecting to be horrified because of all the comments I had seen.  So I watch the video clip and...

Wait, what?

All he said was “The constitution must be amended. The Dred Scott decision had to be repealed, we have to repeal Citizens United.”

That’s it?  Really?  REALLY?

First of all, Markey didn’t compare Citizens United to slavery.  He didn’t say something stupid like - because of Citizens United we’re all in chains and living as slaves.  He didn’t say something insensitive like - people today can identify with slaves because of a horrible Supreme Court ruling.  All Ed Markey said is that the Supreme Court has made bad decisions in the past and like the Dred Scott decision, they can make things right by repealing a ruling that was bad for the country. 

It’s obvious that this is just another faux outrage being drummed up by the Republican Party to distract people from the issues.  Just look at the video; it’s shot from far away giving it the appearance of a “secret hidden tape” like the infamous 47% Romney video.  But this was a public event Markey was at, not a private closed door gathering of millionaires, and you can clearly see what appear to be cameras up front filming the whole thing.  The GOP know they can’t beat Ed Markey when it comes to the issues so they will try to do whatever they can to keep people from talking about what matters.  Republicans have become experts in weapons of mass distraction.  But you know what GOP?  It didn’t work against Senator Elizabeth Warren.  It didn’t work against President Obama.  And it’s not going to work against Ed Markey.  Unfortunately for the Republican Party, Bay state voters are much smarter than that.