Help me out here. Are we supposed to be shocked and outraged and think that our politics has sunk to a new low because Gabriel Gomez has called Ed Markey “pond scum”?
Isn’t that unconscionable? Shouldn’t Gomez be ashamed? And forced to apologize? My answers are no, no and no.
Why? Well, how does it stack up against the “F” word, which then-Vice President Dick Cheney used on the floor of Congress during an argument with a senator from Vermont.
Now that was an over-the-top attack.
To me, pond scum just isn’t. Instead, it sounds like a clumsy reaction by an inexperienced candidate who lost his cool in the heat of a campaign…Which is exactly what Markey wanted Gomez to do. That’s why Markey has all but called him a tax cheat and why he accuses Gomez of lying about his records.
Are “cheater” and “liar” okay, but “pond scum” is so politically incorrect that we’re supposed to feel some sympathy for Markey?
Please. Spare me.
Want to know what you should be offended by? How about the way the U.S. Senate handles the economy, healthcare and jobs?
I’m Andy Hiller and that’s my instinct.