No one could have anticipated that the Republican Twitter revolution would go so horribly awry:
Witness New York Republican Jim Tedisco’s attempt to incorporate the Age of Twitter onto his website. Tedisco, running for the vacant old seat of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in New York’s 20th District against Democrat Scott Murphy, has a nifty little feature on his website which incorporates all #NY20 messages from Twitter.
Seems that this includes all messages from, say, his opponent’s campaign, or the DCCC, as well. In this case, Jimmy T. highlighted a DCCC story on his website which references Tedisco’s having burned $21,000 of taxpayer money on gas expenses in just seven short years…despite living 20 minutes from the state capital. (via)
And this:
Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the top-ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters about the trip days before the group departed and then posted updates on the delegation’s approximate location every few hours using the Twitter social networking service.
[…..]
A former Armed Services aide who is a Republican and a military veteran was more blunt. “By relaying that information and telegraphing what they were doing, he probably placed people in harm’s way,” said the aide, who requested anonymity because his company deals with Hoekstra’s office. “It’s just common sense.”
And this:
Apparently Senator Ralph Northam had agreed with Minority Leader Tommy Norment to vote to give Republicans power sharing in the Virginia Senate today.
Before it was announced on the floor and finalized, RPV Chairman Jeff Frederick tweeted about it.
Majority Leader Dick Saslaw adjourned before it could happen.
The Democrats got into a room and pounded into Northam what would happen if he did this.
Northam backed down.
4tehlulz
whocoodanode that a party dedicated to halting progress would have problems with technology?
TheFountainHead
I smell a sub-committee hearing and investigation into the Un-American-ness of Twitter and it’s ally in the Technological War on Good Older White Americans, Facebook.
peach flavored shampoo
I just cannot imagine the frothy R outrage, the Page One-style treatment from the MM, and the cacophony of right-leaning military leaders excoriating the guilty party, had a Democrat done what Hoekstra has accomplished.
It’d lead every Fox broadcast for the next 2 weeks. Congressional investigations. Rush covering his mic in spittle.
The Moar You Know
It’s obvious that whoever reported this is using a different definition of "pounded into" than I would, as State Senator Northam is still alive.
Media Browski
So the GOP is slightly less capable at using social networking technologies mastered by junior high kids than they are at policy. Can’t wait for one of them to tweet about just losing their virginity on the beach.
I’m making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS!
4tehlulz
@The Moar You Know: Obviously, it refers to hot gay se…oh wait these are Democrats.
dr. bloor
Perhaps the Republicans would master the technology faster if someone pointed out to them the ways in which it could be used to facilitate communication with their
fresh meatintern staff.Shinobi
It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction.
Zifnab
So you’re saying that if I post it on MySpace / Facebook, people might find out about it? Oh goodness, no! This was only blatantly apparent about 5 fucking years ago.
/facepalm.
In the battle between evil and stupid, it’s nice to know which side the GOoPers are now officially leaning towards.
TheFountainHead
"The Twitter’s a lie!"
/unintentional republican humor
Ash Can
There’s fail, and then there’s Republican-style fail.
The Other Steve
Not twitter, but you MUST read this Calvin & Hobbes.
jake 4 that 1
These morans still don’t understand basic recording devices (paging George Allen, paging Mr. George Allen). Watching them play with advanced SN methods is like watching someone bang two lumps of sub-critical uranium together to keep warm.*
When top-ranking members of your party don’t understand basic security measures … you might be a Republican.
*All hail Terry Pratchett.
Stuck
When Twits Twitter we all lose.
Face
That’s a damn good catch. This isn’t some rookie Rep or a clueless aide; it’s the ranking member of the intelligence committee. This is like Wolfgang Puck claiming ignorance after mixing wasabi and chocolate frosting.
Unpossible for Pete not to be aware of the danger he was manufacturing.
jenniebee
@Face:
In all fairness, Wolfgang Puck could probably make that work.
Robert Johnston
Oooooh . . . wasabi chocolate . . . that sounds really good. I’ll have to give it a try. But then again, I’m crazy in that way.
DougJ
How about if you’re a member of this party, you might be redneck?
Athenae
I’ve said it before: watching Republicans use the Internet is like watching my grandmother yell at the answering machine.
(No offense, grandma.)
A.
Media Browski
@dr. bloor: Hey, don’t knock it. If it weren’t for interns there wouldn’t be any attractive people here in DC at all.
@Shinobi: :)
@TheFountainHead: :) :)
"We twitter too much because we can"
@Robert Johnston: I really like hot chocolate with a dash of cayenne.
Rick Taylor
@The Other Steve:
Link is 404.
JL
@Stuck: I wonder how many BJ regulars on a Saturday could say that fast three times.
Ah, heck, On a Saturday night it might be tough to say it fast once.
Dave
That technology summit that Steele is planning for the GOP better have some rudimentary lessons on how Twitter works.
I mean, how the fuck do you screw up using Twitter?
Stuck
@JL:
+1 or 2 maybe, +3 and above, not so much.
Zifnab
@Dave: Typing in all caps is a common error. Also, saying generic stupid shit.
I just wish Sarah Palin had a regularly used Twitter account. Ah well, there’s always 2012.
jake 4 that 1
(Apologies in advance for the mild rant)
Here’s the thing though: I think this highlights – in 50 foot neon letters – the GOP’s inability to do anything but screw around. I’m the last person to stand up for taking things seriously, but I also haven’t spent the last eight years in a party that screams "THEY WANT TO KILL US!" and "OMG STOP ASKING QUESTIONS, YOU’RE ENDANGERING THE TROOPS!" every five seconds. However, anyone, anyone who could go into that situation and not understand the danger they were creating for themselves and the people around them is waaay beyond unsuited for the responsibilities of a legislator (or even assistant to a legislator). I’d classify them as unsuited for anything but a helmet, safety scissors and the fat crayons.
I just wish one of the soldiers watching him had caught him and crammed his Blackberry up his ass.
RSA
Tedisco’s having burned $21,000 of taxpayer money on gas expenses in just seven short years
$60 a week on car expenses?! So that’s how we’ve gotten into our current economic mess! And in only seven short years…
Punchy
Kids, if you havent seen this (via JMM), WHOA NELLY! Good fucking god the GOP is a bunch of fucking assholes.
I thought it impossible to continue to be surprised by their actions. Damn.
Iowa Housewife
Just a little humor
Ben & Jerry created "Yes Pecan!" ice cream flavor for Obama. They
then asked people to fill in the blank to the following:
For George W. Bush, we should create "_________".
Here are some of their favorite responses:
1. Grape Depression
2. Abu Grape
3. Cluster Fudge
4. Nut’n Accomplished
5. Iraqi Road
6. Chock ‘n Awe
7. WireTapioca
8. Impeach Cobbler
9. Guantanmallow
10. imPeachmint
11. Good Riddance You Lousy Motherfucker… Swirl
12. Heck of a Job, Brownie!
13. Neocon Politan
14. RockyRoad to Fascism
15. The Reese’s-cession
16. Cookie D’oh!
17.The Housing Crunch
18. Nougalar Proliferation
19. Death by Chocolate… and Torture
20. Credit Crunch
21. Country Pumpkin
22. Chunky Monkey in Chief
23. George Bush Doesn’t Care About Dark Chocolate
24. WM Delicious
25. Chocolate Chimp
26. Bloody Sundae
27. Caramel Preemptive Stripe
28. I broke the law and am responsible for the deaths of thousands…with nuts
TheHatOnMyCat
Technology serves man.
sgwhiteinfla
DougJ
Have you seen Kathleen Parkers latest contribution to wingnuttia? President Obama is an amateur, oh noez
Conservatively Liberal
IOW, nothing new.
How about if you are still a member of this party, you are a redneck?
I really have to wonder why tech seems to be such a blind spot for Rushublicans. Maybe it is that they are intellectually incurious, maybe they just expect shit to work they way they think it does, I don’t know what it is. They just seem to be cavemen trying to cope in the modern world and not doing very well at it.
One thing going for them is the fact that they are never embarrassed about anything, nothing cracks that impenetrable wingnut coating of theirs. Insults, reality, logic or reason, nothing gets through.
The Bubble Party.
former capitalist
Clinton started it. He stole all the W’s off the keyboards, remember?
Honestly, though, the failure to keep up-to-technology as imperative in government operations is a crisis waiting to happen. As I recall, there was discussion regarding this in a thread a couple of weeks ago. But apparently, a rudimentary course in computer software output would be a pretty good idea for Republicans. It makes one wonder if they could play up the aces on computer solitaire.
NonyNony
I love these stories. Not the least of which because they are nice to pull out to prove to my fellow old people that when we read stories about some jackass teenager posting pictures of himself drinking on his Facebook page or posting nude pictures on a MySpace page, you can’t just say "boy, kids sure are stupid, aren’t they?"
Stupid people do stupid things. It doesn’t matter if you’re 16 or 60. The only difference is that you hope that the 16 year old will learn something after they do something stupid.
Conservatively Liberal
@Iowa Housewife:
That list is a f’ing laugh! I just about choked to death reading it.
Evinfuilt
Its comments like this that make this site so full of awesome. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who immediately thought of trying the mix.
Mind you, I already love chocolate and chili, if you haven’t tried it, you have to go out right away and try some.
headpan
Aw, they were so excited that they got a piece of the internets action (since we progressives have been dominating the shit out of it for the last few years with fantastic results) — they just got carried away! Damn, they are stupid.
DougJ
@sgw
Yeah, it was stupid. K-Par earned a good two years of slack from me for who Palin take down last fall, though.
Face
I pray to the FSM that you don’t mean mixed together.
/chokes back gag reflex
Xecky Gilchrist
I think it’s not so much a failure to understand technology as just being stupid. If you have secret stuff going on, don’t blab about it on any medium. Like, even voice or paper.
Reverend Dennis
Clearly you’ve never had chicken en mole (Pronounced "molay"). Mole is a sauce prepared with chiles, cocoa and spices. Recipe here.
It will send your taste buds straight to nirvana.
headpan
Whatchoo be? Some kinda Aztec?
headpan
Source
Indylib
@Iowa Housewife:
FTW
sgwhiteinfla
DougJ
Yeah she did a good job with that, but I had a hard time feeling any empathy for her when the wingnuts tried to burn her at the stake after she has spent her career attacking "libruls" in much the same fashion. Seems like she has found her sea legs and now is back to her mission of trying to bring down the Democrats.
I just have a major problem with some of her rhetoric in that piece. I am the last person to play the race card but some of the points she was trying to make fail in such a glorious fashion that I have to ask what was her point in the first place? President Obama is weak, immature, scared of Reid and Pelosi (which would make him the only person on Earth who is) unfocused blah blah blah blah. That was an article more appropriate for the Corner than the Washington Post IMHO. What kinda editors do they have at that place?
R-Jud
Wasabi? In my chocolate? It’s moar likely than you think…
(also tastier)
jrg
The best way to deal with the demographics that find the GOP’s message objectionable is to make the message more accessible to those demographics.
Studies by the conservative heritage foundation have shown that most people agree with the central tenants of the Klan’s membership manual if it’s coded in HTML. Similarly, failed governance strategies, reckless spending, and insane "culture war" distractions become cool and important if you use twitter. That’s why we still see so many venerable dot coms left over from the ’90s.
When your political strategy consists of pissing off liberals and moderates, how can you possibly lose by using better tech to piss off more liberals and moderates?
The Populist
I love these dumb asses. They criticize liberals for all kinds of shit that can easily be disproved yet they do the DUMBEST things.
This twitter nonsense that Hoekstra sent out proves that the next time these mental midgets say that the media gives away troop movements, I can say that is a lie and it’s the GOP that does.
Haha. What comes around goes around.
The Populist
Can somebody explain why Rush will pause and shuffle paper so many times a day? Really, does he think this makes him sound smarter? Actually, it sounds like an idiot that is waiting for his blackberry to send the newest talking points to feed his sheeple.
Jwh186
How long before Hoekstra determines Twitter is a dangerous national security risk and begins a campaign to shut it down?
The Populist
Hey Michelle Malkin:
Why aren’t you all over this Hoekstra dummy? Didn’t the CIA say that the terrorists use Twitter to talk amongst themselves and spread the word to the faithful? So using the patented Malkin bullshit feeder, one could argue that Hoekstra used Twitter like the terrorists do. Using the patented Malkin logic, this means he’s a fracking terrorist. He’s giving away sensitive information that any terrorist can read.
Hey Michelle, we know you come here and crib ideas for your "blog" so why don’t you show the objectiveness you say Dems lack and post a rant about Hoekstra hating America and supporting terrorists. Shit, if Rachel Ray likes terrorists because she wore a fricking scarf why not use the same logic to crucify Hoekstra!
Anton Sirius
@Indylib:
Cluster Fudge has to be the winner there.
DougJ
Don’t get me wrong, it was asinine. But was it as dumb as what Gerson and Krauthammer usually write? She’s still their best conservative columnist.
gex
@Conservatively Liberal:
Venturing out in the real world, interacting, and observing cause and effect do not lead to learning experiences for today’s Republicans. You’d suck at Twitter too if it was brand spanking new voodoo to you each and every time.
Rob
Can’t stop the signal. Just can’t.
Goseph Gerbils
TheFountainHead
"The liar’s a twit!"
Look at me still talking when there sliming to do.