FCC Chairman Carr Was Ready for Senate Democrats' Partisan Gong Show Led by Markey

Senate: If anyone out there still thinks Sen. Ed Markey at age 79 is too old to run for reelection next year, they should have seen the vituperation spouting from the Massachusetts Democrat at Wednesday’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing on recent action at the FCC under Republican Chairman Brendan Carr. For more than three hours, Senate Commerce Democrats staged a gong show designed to embarrass Carr. The festivities also included a new communications pricing report that accused Carr of fueling inflation in the retail price of broadband, mobile and streaming services. The report, in reality, was a tissue of partisan half-truths and bogus statistical inferences (see next story) that had nothing to do with Carr’s 11 months in office. Judging by his seven minutes at the microphone, Markey showed that despite his senior status, he remained fully capable of staging a public meltdown, badgering a witness, and airbrushing his own record at bullying media companies. His face red and his voice trembling at times, Markey surprised just about everyone by forgetting to scream at Carr, “Colonel Jessup, did you order the Code Red!” Markey was furious about Carr’s tough words aimed at ABC comic Jimmy Kimmel after the funnyman insinuated during his Sept. 15 broadcast that the alleged assassin of conservative hero Charlie Kirk was a MAGA-loving Trump supporter, a false claim. (More after paywall.)

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