The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Has Somebody Told @Jack Dorsey That Twitter Was Invented by Ed Markey?

Posted on | May 10, 2013 | 5 Comments

“Breaking down those monopolies in the 1996 Telecommunications Act unleashed $1 trillion worth of private-sector capital that has created thousands of jobs — yes, you know the names, Google and eBay and Amazon and Hulu and YouTube and Facebook and Twitter — but there are thousands of other companies, many of them here in Massachusetts . . . that are the heartbeat of the new innovation economy . . .”
— Rep. Edward Markey, March 27

Everybody laughed the first time Ed Markey — apparently channeling his inner Al Gore — claimed credit for the development of online businesses that he had nothing to do with starting. And since when are Democrats about unleashing “private-sector capital,” huh?

The aroma of bovine excrement around Markey’s preposterous assertion has lingered since March, but might have dissipated were it not for the fact that Markey has made this same claim — that “breaking down those monopolies” was what made Twitter and Facebook possible — the central focus of a new campaign ad:

Right: Ed Markey invented Twitter, and Elizabeth Warren is a Cherokee princess, and I am the reincarnation of Napoleon Bonaparte. But this isn’t just a joke about the delusional fantasies of liberals, because  polls show Ed Markey is a surprisingly vulnerable Democrat:

Two polls released this week — one by Public Policy Polling (PPP) and another by  WBUR-TV — show Republican Gabriel Gomez within striking distance of Democrat Ed Markey in next month’s special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by John Kerry’s appointment as Secretary of State. Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, has targeted Markey as a career Washington politician, the “poster boy for term limits.” . . .
While liberals have defended Markey, pointing to his role in promoting the 1992 Cable Act, the key measure that made possible the expansion of broadband Internet access was the Telecommunications Act of 1996. As my ViralRead colleague Ali Akbar’s research shows, that bill originated in the Senate, not the House, and Markey’s involvement in its passage was insignificant — Republicans controlled both houses of Congress at the time.
It wasn’t as if Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole were relying on Markey’s self-declared “leadership” to get votes for what was, in fact, a relatively uncontroversial measure, whose chief critics were left-wingers like Ralph Nader and Markey’s Massachusetts colleague Barney Frank.

Markey isn’t just claiming credit for inventing Twitter, Google and Facebook. He’s claiming credit for Newt Gingrich’s bill!

Go read the full report at ViralRead. (No, he didn’t invent ViralRead.)

And of course, I’m grateful that our readers are willing to help support the blog by making contributions through PayPal and shopping at Amazon — both of which were #InventedByEdMarkey.





 

Category: Massachusetts, Senate

Comments

5 Responses to “Has Somebody Told @Jack Dorsey That Twitter Was Invented by Ed Markey?”

  1. Kevin Trainor Jr.
    May 10th, 2013 @ 3:27 pm

    Kevin Trainor Jr. liked this on Facebook.

  2. Mike Rogers
    May 10th, 2013 @ 3:32 pm

    “Right: Ed Markey invented Twitter, and Elizabeth Warren is a Cherokee princess, and I am the reincarnation of Napoleon Bonaparte.” Some would believe the last one;)

  3. Sirius U. Guise
    May 10th, 2013 @ 5:44 pm

    Good old Ed “Invisible Hand” Markey.

  4. Quartermaster
    May 10th, 2013 @ 6:21 pm

    Just to set the record stright, I know, beyond doubt, that RSM is not the reincarnation of Napoleon because I am.

  5. Adjoran
    May 11th, 2013 @ 12:09 am

    It’s Massachusetts.

    Even in the unlikely event Gomez is able to pull off a Scott Brown feat in the special election, he’ll be out in 19 months anyway after the general election.

    Money isn’t unlimited, and we should send our donations to places where they might actually do some good.