Txtng Rulerz!

Jesse Walker | February 25, 2009

Dana Milbank mocks lawmakers for posting pensees to Twitter during Obama's speech last night:

"One doesn't want to sound snarky, but it is nice not to see Cheney up there," Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) announced as Obama entered the chamber.

"I did big wooohoo for Justice Ginsberg," Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) broadcast, misspelling the name of the ailing Supreme Court justice. McCaskill could be seen applauding with BlackBerry in one hand.

"Capt Sully is here -- awesome!" announced Rep. John Culberson (R-Tex.), spotting the US Airways pilot in the gallery.

Then there was Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), in whose name this text message was sent at about the time the president spoke of the need to pull the country together: "Aggie basketball game is about to start on espn2 for those of you that aren't going to bother watching pelosi smirk for the next hour." A few minutes later, another message came through: "Disregard that last Tweet from a staffer."

Milbank thinks this makes Congress look like "a support group for adults with attention-deficit disorder." And I suppose that's true, but it does enrich the documentary record, doesn't it? How many historians have a real-time report on the aimless thoughts passing through a legislature's heads? Barton -- sorry, Barton's staffer -- just ensured his immortality.

Comments

|2.25.09 @ 3:27PM|#

This could become a source of vast embarrassment for some politicians, which would be a source of vast entertainment for me.

|2.25.09 @ 3:55PM|#

I completely concur with Barton's staffer, although I never watch any Presidential speeches, no matter who the President is at the time.

I just can't f***ing stand the sight of Nancy Pelosi.

Warty|2.25.09 @ 3:56PM|#

I can't wait for the first Twitter sex scandal. "yng bois 4 a2m plz"

|2.25.09 @ 4:02PM|#

"u bring teh live bois i bring teh ded girlz"

Joshua Holmes|2.25.09 @ 4:04PM|#

Obama's speech may be even more boring than college basketball. I didn't know that was possible.

Xeones|2.25.09 @ 4:08PM|#

Barton should own up to that comment. I'd like to see more overt snark amongst our legislature.

Elemenope|2.25.09 @ 4:10PM|#

"u bring teh live bois i bring teh ded girlz"

ROFL.

This could become a source of vast embarrassment for some politicians, which would be a source of vast entertainment for me.

Bonus: No more professional historians bitching about how they would have insight if only they could glimpse what decision-makers were thinking at the time.

|2.25.09 @ 4:22PM|#

Barton should own up to that comment.

I agree. It was a genuine constituent service.

Stagman|2.25.09 @ 4:34PM|#

It cuts out the middleman in getting news. Of course a reporter would be against this.

Elemenope|2.25.09 @ 4:39PM|#

I just realized that my second comment was entirely anticipated by Mr. Walker, and I was in essence dumbly repeating him. That's what I get for not reading the entire post before I post.

[Sigh.]

Russ 2000|2.25.09 @ 5:15PM|#

Milbank thinks this makes Congress look like "a support group for adults with attention-deficit disorder."

He's just realizing this now?

ed|2.25.09 @ 5:45PM|#

Aren't all these betrayals of confidence another reason not to "twitter" in the first place?

Anonymouse|2.25.09 @ 6:57PM|#

If you're going to italicize pensée, at least get the accent mark right.

Jesse Walker|2.25.09 @ 7:05PM|#

I dont need no pansy punctuation

alisa|2.25.09 @ 8:54PM|#

Ha. Kind of strips them of their gravitas, don't it?

This is like when I first read the transcripts of Nixon conversations and realized that he swore like a particularly nasty frat boy. I suddenly realized, "Wow ... these people ... aren't serious."

ed|2.26.09 @ 9:07AM|#

They also fart, and beneath their clothing, they're naked!

|2.26.09 @ 10:26AM|#

" can't wait for the first Twitter sex scandal"

We already had it. Mark Foley. Another one of those "sex scandals" that did not actually involve sex.

I remember when Clinton was President, once someone booed him during a state of the union speech - it was a freshman Republican congressman, and the scuttlebutt is afterwards the Republican House leadership took him aside and told him in no uncertain terms to never boo a President during the state of the union. Those were the days.

Soon our decorum will be lowered so much we'll be just like the English Parliament "rabble rabble rabble!"