Twittering While Rome Burns
Posted on February 25th, 2009
by Kelley Vlahos |
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Or, perhaps more aptly titled, “Omigod, my teenage babysitter and her friends are representing us in Congress.”
Columnist Dana Milbank lets it fly — rightly so. I can’t decide, after reading this, whether I am more afraid for my country, or embarrassed by it, this morning. Any question about the fate of the country in the hands of Washington can be pretty much resolved right here:
President Obama spoke of economic calamity and war last night in that solemn rite of democracy, the address to the joint session of Congress. And lawmakers watched him with the dignity Americans have come to expect of their leaders: They whipped out their BlackBerrys and began sending text messages like high school kids bored in math class.
“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.”
The silly narcissism and immaturity aside, one can almost pity these lawmakers’ attempt to be hip with the times, no doubt believing that if they don’t Twitter or podcast every inane utterance for their perceived rapt constituency that some snarky blogger from their hometown will call them on it. Almost. I’m reading some of these “Tweets” and I start thinking of all the salt of the earth people in the these members’ districts — yeah, the people now facing layoffs and the loss of health insurance — who might have given 50 or 100 bucks to a congressional campaign last year, thinking they needed the very best representation in troubled times. And look what they got.
“Even the Republican lawmakers went gaga,” wrote Milbank, describing the goofy transformation of grown men and women into annoyingly sycophantic and/or doltish adolescents before his very eyes. “When Michelle Obama walked in, one young Republican House member turned to a colleague and mouthed, ‘Babe.’”
Gag me with a spoon.
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Something that I always found interesting. In 1776 there were maybe two million people in the thirteen colonies. ( and I could be wrong about that number) And out of that population we had giants. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, the list goes on and on. Now, with 300 million, look who we get.
“[George] Washington attended school for exactly two years.” http://preview.tinyurl.com/aphvfq
Bill,
In my opinion, the problem is that our Republic is now altogether too large.
CM’s point about public schooling and how it “dumbs down” the young is relevant, but the problem is that we can’t pick the best individuals to send to congress anymore because we don’t know them personally. The cream simply can’t rise to the top electorally anymore, because the party system, the district system, the fund-raising system, and the patronage system all block the smartest, most independent, most upright candidates from consideration.
Every House District in America has at least a dozen men of Ron Paul’s caliber and intellect. The problem is that they know the game is closed to them so they rarely bother.
And so we’re stuck with a House full of non-descript law school graduates who never question our system of authority. I’m actually glad that they pretend to be stupid. It’s less deceptive than if they pretended to be smart.
““When Michelle Obama walked in, one young Republican House member turned to a colleague and mouthed, ‘Babe.’”!”
Immature, yes, but accurate.
“Now, with 300 million, look who we get.”
Yeah, it’s pretty amazing that with the population of the U.S. s much larger, and the partisan divisions between those they vote for so much greater, you - still - manage to throw up the right guy at the right time. Inspirational, isn’t it?
Unless you meant Bobby Jindal, of course. That was just a bit humiliating.
“Now, with 300 million, look who we get.”
Welcome to the idiocracy….
OTHER than technological advances, is our quality of life better in any way? Do we get better food, or empty calroie industrial fast food? Do we get better arts or mass media?
300 million and when was the last time we produced a Sargent, a Shakespeare, or ‘even’ a hawthorne…
Washington, Hamilton? the ‘people’ don’t want that they want a babysiter/white guilt cleanser/messiah with no obligations check writer..which is just what they got.
It was Henry Adams who said “The progress of evolution from President Washington to President Grant, was alone evidence enough to upset Darwin.”
I wonder what he’d say today?
That the passage of time had proven Darwin had a point?
If only Rome would actually burn. Our empire’s great city is becoming larger as leviathan is a glutton.
Adams was such a curmudgeon and misanthrope, he’d make Lou Dobbs look like an optimist.
The obligatory adulatory comment when Obama is mentioned even if only in passing. Perhaps TAC should put up one of those Che Guevera knock-off posters of the President on its webpage as a sort of talisman for those folks. We can be spared the “he’s brilliant/talented, etc., etc.,” comments about the President just as we grew to be spared the adulatory comments about the past President’s “determination”, “values”, “courage”, “commitment to victory”, etc., etc.
Then perhaps a bit of thought (or, in this instance, mischevious humor) can occur without the tedium of idol worship.
I agree with that guy about Darwin…