The very serious Heritage Foundation is angry about something. It’s a tweet from Robert Gibbs.
Some guy from Heritage:
Government officials using their position to endorse businesses and products creates very obvious conflicts of interest. Will every business Robert Gibbs walk into now offer him special treatment in the hopes he gives them a shout-out or endorsement? Will Revolution Cycles offer him special treatment for today’s tweet? Did he already receive special treatment from Revolution Cycles, considering his tweet specifically calls out “Ken” who helped him with his bike?
I wonder if Jake Tapper will pick up this important story, too.
Bill E Pilgrim
We have to be fair though, the enormous influence exerted on our government by bicycle shops is a plague.
mistermix
I’m saddened to see that the billions spent by the vile corporate bike lobby have finally corrupted the Obama administration.
Adam Collyer
Between this and the inevitable Kagan uproar, today’s going to be a very long day.
Violet
Big Bike obviously calls the shots in the Obama administration.
dmsilev
I saw that “story” somewhere else on the blogosphere last night. One of the unmentioned bits of hilarity is that the same bike shop made a small amount of news a few years back as being the place that George W. Bush liked to go to for his biking needs.
Also, the fact that the Obama administration patronizes “Revolution Cycles” is clear evidence that they embrace Marxism and are working to bring soshalism to America.
dms
Bill E Pilgrim
@Violet: I think it’s called Big Wheel. According to their spokes person, at least.
Would be more in keeping with how juvenile this attack is in any case.
jeffreyw
@Bill E Pilgrim:
We have a winner!
soonergrunt
@Bill E Pilgrim: win.
Gibbs needs to tell Heritage and anybody associated with them to take a flying fuck at a rolling donut. He needs to do this from the podium.
MikeJ
Remember, if you try to put any limits on the speech of a person who is handicapped by not having a physical body and merely being a consensual fiction, that’s destroying the constitution. If you allow a person to express opinions on how various businesses help them or not, that’s corruption.
Chyron HR
Republican confusion is understandable. They’ve been conditioned to view Tweets and/or Faceyaps as official press releases from their party’s de facto leaders.
jeffreyw
Gah! Outta half&half, used heavy cream in my coffee. And to think I teased someone here for misusing cream like that. Two faced? No! Wait! What? Where was I. Oh yeah, drinking coffee..dammit…the cats are not laughing. They are out stalking hummers. Heh heh, learned that from me.
dmsilev
Does anyone else get the feeling that there’s a contest inside the Obama administration to see who can provoke the most absurd reaction from the right wing establishment?
dms
Bill
What next, the Heritage Foundation complaining that Bo Obama craps on the White House lawn?
Comrade Mary
@Bill E Pilgrim: Ooh, nice double pun!
(Hey, does anyone else use a bent spoke to keep the chain taut on the drive train when you’re trying to refasten it? I think it only works if you can get a really sharp bend in the spoke, as I’ve found it slips out of the links every time. Oh well, I use Masterlink all the time now anyway.)
JK
Mark Halperin, Mike Allen, and Howard Kurtz will all have a field day with this story because they are the clown princes of cotton candy fluff journalism.
Violet
@Bill E Pilgrim:
Bwahahaha. Big Wheel it is!
Shalimar
Be happy that they haven’t figured out yet that it is part of an evil Obama strategy to encourage alternative forms of transportation and destroy the US auto industry and the American way of life in general.
MikeJ
@dmsilev: I’m hoping Gibbs comes to the podium wearing a kaffiyeh.
That Other Mike
@Bill E Pilgrim: Good punning, although I’m surprised that you didn’t latch onto the opportunity to talk about Gibbs giving them special tweetment.
WyldPiratd
funny how stupid shit like a goddamned bicycle at a store is big controversy to this idiots, but Cheney’s secret energy panel, oil spills, revoving door between Wall St and SEC and the stupid fucksticks runniing the economy isn’t.
The discourse in the media is what we the people deserve. Most of us are too preoccupied with surviving, have a “I got mine fuck you” attitude or, are simply too stupid to care.
Fuck it. I need my morning Klonopin. At least I can ignore the idiocy then.
The Moar You Know
@Comrade Mary: Back when I used to ride a lot, I used to break chains on my singlespeed quite frequently – I guess single speed mountain biking is a little rough on the drivetrain – and yeah, I’d use the bent spoke, set up almost like a fishing hook. Worked well enough.
I’m fifty pounds heavier now, shame I can’t ride a bike anymore. I’ll bet I could snap a chain inside of ten minutes.
Southern Beale
IMPEACH!!!
Kidding. But you know that’s where this is headed.
Guster
Who is this so-called “Ken?”
Bill E Pilgrim
@That Other Mike: Believe me that was the restrained version.
I’m of the school that believes that there’s good word play and bad. Whereas some just say “Oh, a pun. Ergo, not funny”.
You were spared the idea that I was tired of the overinflated complaints of these blowhards. For instance.
El Cid
What people don’t understand is this is a secret communication for the black helicopter bicycle force to initiate phase 1.
Ash Can
Seriously, these guys have absolutely fuck-all.
Brian J
I’m assuming they’ve expressed similar outrage when Obama, or even Bush and Cheney in the past, has described a restaurant they’ve been to. To not do so would be hypocritical and petty, and the Heritage Foundation surely wouldn’t want to be those things.
debit
@MikeJ:
And his bike shorts.
@El Cid: The mountain bikes are not laughing.
Sly
Because when I want the latest evidence that calls for stricter rules governing the influence private businesses can have on public officials, I turn to the assholes at the fucking Heritage Foundation.
stuckinred
@Guster: KEN
stuckinred
“What’s the frequency, Kenneth?” is your Benzedrine, uh-huh
I was brain-dead, locked out, numb, not up to speed
I thought I’d pegged you an idiot’s dream
Tunnel vision from the outsider’s screen
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh
stuckinred
KEN
Bill E Pilgrim
@Ash Can: No kidding. What strikes me is that they so transparently do things just in the spirit of revenge, as they openly admitted with the whole attempt at “it’s Obama’s Katrina!” which utterly failed.
The problem is that they really do believe that people were just unfairly abusing poor George W Bush for doing perfectly reasonable things, and not that he was actually the complete screwup that he was. Which leads to thinking that they can do the same by just trumping up some charge about absolutely nothing.
There are serious things to criticize Obama about, I’d be the first to stress. We don’t have time for the stupid manufactured stuff.
Rosalita
and GOPers, NEVER have any conflict of interest with business, ever…
ellaesther
@Guster: I hear he has no genitals!
jrg
This is really scary stuff. Is it possible that we’re going to invade the Netherlands in order to drum up business for Revolution Cycles?
Michael D.
Next thing you know, presidents will be patronizing restaurants in the towns they visit and saying the burgers are good or something equally nefarious!
Citizen_X
@Bill E Pilgrim: I don’t want to pan yer posts, but you should stop pedaling that nonsense around here. Some attempt to derail; you’re doing it!
ksmiami
Obama+bikes+revolution+China deals = Marxist-Leninist-Communista plot for US citizens to lose weight.
THE HORROR
Why would anyone listen to the Heritage Group?????????
jon
Oh no! A government official is thanking a private corporate entity!
That he does so using a private corporate communications site isn’t mentioned, since Twitter is the official Republican mode of communication. By the 2012 Convention, the party platform will be 140 characters. The Democratic response will be something along the lines of “LOL” and “ROTFL”, but will include a keyboard cat link.
Bill E Pilgrim
Didn’t they already have some sort of trumped up tire gauge outrage during the campaign? Which turned on them when it turned out that Obama had been exactly right?
These people need to get another outrage mold for their Vac-U-Form, they’re reusing the same ones over and over.
Only the olds will get that reference, BTW.
Randy P
This is way worse than giving multi-billion dollar contracts to Halliburton without competitive bidding in situations where federal law requires competitive bidding.
@jeffreyw: My sympathies. For my taste (which is just enough cream to change the color) the absolute worst way to mess up coffee is to have it be too light. It’s undrinkable if there’s too much white stuff.
You can get it right with pure cream, but you have to keep your wits about you. I’ve learned this as “Au Bon Pain”, a chain that uses straight cream.
@Bill E Pilgrim: Yep, I remember that. “Ha ha, Obama’s energy plan is to check your tire pressure. He claims that will make major fuel savings”. And Obama was backed up by, as I recall, NASCAR.
It’s basically just a throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks strategy. So far I’d say the push for offshore drilling is the worst misjudgement of the Obama administration, but Republicans can’t come out against big oil so they’re kind of stuck making a big deal out of that one.
ellaesther
Actually, honestly, you know what? Maybe he should be more careful. Maybe the White House press secretary should not be tweeting his shopping choices — like when Biden said something like “my family won’t be getting on planes” during the swine flu scare, the folks in the White House occasionally forget the enormity of the microphone into which they forever speak.
AND YET.
GOP, if you have the time and energy to spend on this sort of thing? You have far too much time and energy, and I know of an inner-city preschool that needs some helping hands.
Honestly. What is this fuckery?
Randy P
@Bill E Pilgrim:
I’m afraid I understood you exactly.
Vac-U-form got kind of boring. The toy got a lot more use when we figured out that the cooker also fit Creepy Crawler molds, so we could do mass production of Creepy Crawlers.
I’m feeling very dated this morning. Last night my wife and I stayed up ridiculously late watching Mary Tyler Moore on Hulu, and then an amazing “Best of Ed Sullivan” show. I know there’s great TV these days so I won’t say “those were the days” but my TV watching kind of peaked in the 70s and I don’t even have a cable subscription any more.
Luthe
@jon:
This sounds like a challenge.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Randy P: I spent hours a week or two ago watching Twilight Zone and Outer Limits episodes from the 60s on some site.
Oh so here’s one: One of those kind of shows, not the Twilight Zone because it was longer than a half hour I think, and in it this pilot was downed in the desert, came home, then started to feel weird and ended up going back into the desert into some tomb, where he ran inside and saw that……..
Which is where the reception cut off and I never saw the end. I was going to say the cable cut off, but it was way before cable.
Does anyone know what this was?? I’ve wanted to see the ending ever since I was eight, I think.
It’s not the one where Rod Taylor and his fellow pilots vanish, one by one. Which was always one of my favorites.
I can’t find a trace of it. I can almost see the actor’s face, but not enough to remember who it was.
Randy P
@Bill E Pilgrim: You’re not talking about “Night Gallery” are you? That was Rod Serling’s other show. I grew up with that one and only discovered “Twilight Zone” in reruns.
Night Gallery was a real creative playground for Serling. It had an hour time slot and could be subdivided into stories in any way he chose, that varied from the humorous to the extremely creepy. Sometimes the whole hour was one story, and sometimes a vignette would just be a couple of minutes long (those were usually the funny ones).
I don’t remember your description as a “Night Gallery” episode in particular, but it could have been.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Randy P: No this was before Night Gallery, it was likely the Outer Limits or some other one. But thanks.
Bill Section 147
I don’t remember the Heritage Foundation spending 3 seconds complaining about the in-show placement of the Dunkin’ Donuts cup on GW’s desk.
I realize Dunkin’ is a Heritage Donor, and they are a large corporation that gave a lot to GW and other conservatives but it wasn’t like GW was tweeting thanks. Damn librul media
strikes again… Lucky Strikes again, please…mmm…satisfying and relaxing.Bill E Pilgrim
@ellaesther: I’m sorry but “Getting on a plane? Me? Are you nuts? They’re dangerous!” was an entirely different kettle of fish from “Hey, thanks to the bike shop for fixing my bike, good work guys”
I can actually sort of see why the former might be a bit ill-advised (even though I thought the reaction to that was over the top also) but the latter? Meh. Meh I say.
Roger Moore
@jon:
That doesn’t seem so hard. Let’s see how much you can pack into a tweet:
Cut taxes. No abortion. Guns for all. War on Terror! War on Drugs! No more illegals. Drill, baby, Drill. Liberals are evil. Vote for us!
I think that fits in pretty much the whole Republican platform, and with 4 characters to spare.
debit
@Bill E Pilgrim: Thanks to this discussion, I’m ordering the Night Gallery DVD sets. I didn’t even know they were available. Thanks guys!
someguy
Revolution, and not Capitol Hill Bikes, City Bikes or The Pro Shop? Snubs of Congress, Mare Fenty, and Italy, respectively…
Surly Duff
The Revolution Cycles lobby is getting too influential. Just more proof that our democracy is failing. It won’t be so funny when the gubment starts bailing out Revolution Cycles, and taking over the bike industry.
Also, if that a-hole starts pimping New Coke or Clear Pepsi, and those companies bring those shitty products, I will shout “conspiracy” from the rooftops!
Waynski
I think this falls into the lighten up, Francis, category.
The Raven
Oooh, shiny. Does Revolution Cycles now get to put up a “purveyor to the President” sign?
(In the UK, “purveyor to the Queen” is used.)
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@MikeJ:
I’m hoping he shows up with a penny farthing bicycle. Also, too he can start giving the reporters numbers rather than names. Tapper can be #6.
ellaesther
@Bill E Pilgrim: Apology accepted!
My point was, you will recall, that, regardless: THIS SHOULD NOT BE A BIG DEAL.
That was my point.
ellaesther
@Waynski: Or, you know, what Waynski said.
twiffer
i think the heritage foundation is just confused and shocked that a business would provide helpful and excellent service without kickbacks or promises of gov. endorsement/favors.
asiangrrlMN
Holy crap. If I were Gibbs, I would be thinking of new and creative ways to piss off the right just because I’m juvenile like that. Seriously. A tweet about a bike shop? Ken, you better not have granite countertops.
slag
@Roger Moore:
Just enough room for “God”.
JasonF
@Bill E Pilgrim:
Off-topic, but the funniest part of the entire attempt to portray the oil spill as Obama’s Katrina is that it happened at the exact same time that a major American city was being flooded. Of course, the administration’s response to the Nashville flooding was exemplary, so that comparison doesn’t help the Republicans either.
catclub
@That Other Mike: This is how the Obama machine wins the news cycle without even trying.
And gets included in all the braking news.
Heritage is just re-cycling their talking points.
And spinning the news to fit their old stories.
I fought the LAW and the LAW won.
I couldn’t come up with anything using bicameral.
If only were a photo shop!
Bill Murray
@catclub: well if it’s any consolation, the US Congress can’t come up with anything using bicameral either
Anne Laurie
@twiffer:
Truly. By HF standards, Gibbs is spitting in the face of Capitalism — the heretic!
EJ
Shhh, nobody remind them about St. Reagan and his fucking jelly beans.
That Other Mike
@Bill E Pilgrim: Pure gold, my friend. :D
And bravo, catclub. You should have some kind of award.
TooManyJens
What the hell, I’ll be that person: I don’t think it’s appropriate for Gibbs to use “An official WH twitter account” to promote a particular business. OTOH, it seems like a harmless mistake and people who didn’t mind the last administration fucking torturing prisoners should STFU already.
Batocchio
I’m sure Dick Cheny and Halliburton are shocked, too.