Category Archives: Politics & Government

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill on Twitter

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Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill has been getting a lot of interest in her use of Twitter (microblog, social networking tool, blah blah blah) to keep her constituents informed about what she’s doing. Politico recently named her to their list of the ten most influential Twitterers in DC (right behind Karl Rove).

Missourinet (network owned by Learfield, the company that pays me) reporter Steve Walsh brought up Twitter in a recent interview and the senator spoke wistfully about a day when she can “speak directly to everyone in Missouri,” describing it as “Nirvana.”

It was telling that my friend (and co-worker) Steve set his question up as “nothing at all to do with anything serious.”

Hmm. Should the day come that every elected official can speak directly to every one of the people they represent, without talking to a reporter, things could get serious (for the news media). Don’t get me wrong, we need good reporters like Steve, who can call bullshit on the politicians when necessary. They will always have a role. But it seems to be changing.

And this just in… anyone with access to the Internet can hear directly from Senator McCaskill.

Why @anamariecox wears pants to the White House

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When you have almost 50,000 folks following your Twitter feed, a little guide book comes in handy. Here’s a snippet from Ana Marie Cox’s:

“I cover Washington and am somewhat obsessive about politics in general so you’ll be getting what is a basically a live feed from inside my head regarding whatever I’m doing that day: Attending a White House briefing, going up to the Senate, watching C-SPAN, trying to figure out why that small man from Alabama is so angry… (Here I am referring to Sen. Jeff Sessions, aka, “the littlest Senator,” aka “the Southern leprechaun.”) Because I also have a “blue” streak (not talking politics here) you will also get hopefully funny interpolations of wonkspeak into what I like to call “sexytalk.” See here, for examples, for what happens when congressmen start talking about how a “stimulus” requires a “big package.”

If you like your politix serious, you can skip AMC. Has she been on the Daily Show yet and why not?

Looking for pork in the stimulus bill

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The Huffington Post is asking readers to dig through the compromise Senate stimulus bill and report any examples of “wasteful pork-barrel spending or corporate giveaways.”

This just seems a great example of the Net empowering people. Thousands of folks who care enough to dig through this mother, taking notes and sharing them. And when they find the bull-shit we know is there, we all scream bloody murder. Has anyone turned the kitchen light on the the DC cockroaches like this before. We used to leave this stuff to the AP or the Washington Post or some other MSM entity. I love the idea of anyone with time and inclination to get involved. Shoot, this seems almost as useful as voting.

Inauguration: Day One

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Not counting Saturday since that was just travel. But today was a full day. We rode the Metro from the northern part of the district where we’re staying down to the National Mall. Got there around 9 or 9:30 a.m. Not a lot people there yet except media types getting set up or already in place (MSNBC).

Couldn’t get the GPS on the iPhone working until George suggested I reboot. You don’t want to be at an event like this without a fully functioning iPhone.

Walked down to the Capitol (as close as we could get) and then all the way down Pennsylvania Ave to the end of the parade route, mostly to locate the office of the firm at which Barb works.

By then the crowds were flooding in to get seats for the opening ceremony and concert. If today is any indicator, tomorrow and Tuesday are gonna be scary. But I must say everyone seemed happy (joyuous?). Lots of little kids, even as cold as it was.

Tomorrow we head back down to pick up our tickets, at which time we’ll have some idea of where we’ll be for the Big Moment.

The historic nature of this event is starting to get to me and it’s hard not to feel a real bond with the millions that will be here. You won’t find many in this crowd who think O is “just another smooth talking pol.” We are all believers.

Inauguration security tightest ever

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“People attending the ceremony and parade can expect to be searched by machines, security personnel or both. Precautions will range from the routine — magnetometers like those used at airports — to counter snipers trained to hit a target the size of a teacup saucer from 1,000 yards away as well as undercover officers, bomb sniffing dogs and air patrols. And Washington’s 5,265 surveillance cameras, spread around the city, are expected to be fed into a multi-agency command center. Including the Secret Service, 58 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are providing security.” – Associated Press

Tweeting the legislature and state government

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There are several reasons why a reporter covering the state legislature wouldn’t use Twitter to complement their MSM work:

  • Don’t have time
  • Don’t have access to net
  • Against the House/Senate rules
  • Don’t see value
  • Don’t have laptop or text-enabled phone

…and I’m sure there are others. But with state legislatures coming back into session, I believe this is the year we’ll see Twitter used to cover floor debate, committee hearings, and general under-the-dome gossip.

And I’d look for a flood of Twitter feeds from special interest groups, putting their own 140 character spin on legislation and state government.

Our company has provided live audio feeds of floor debate from the Missouri House and Senate since 2001 (2000?). What we have NOT been able to provide was audio from the committee hearings which, I’m told, is where all the action takes place.

We’ve made repeated attempts to get a live audio stream out of those committee hearing rooms but could never get past the technical/political obstacles. (Translation: the folks in charge would rather NOT have live coverage of the hearings)

But this year there will be folks sitting in the back with iPhones and Twitter pages, clicking away. Initially, these will be savvy folks on one or both sides of the legislation being discussed. And, yes, they’ll be putting their own spin on what’s being said.

With-it news organizations will be using Twitter to cover state legislatures. I did a real quick search and came up with @matt_stiles, a reporter for the Houston Chronicle bureau in Austin, TX. The political parties are all over Twitter: @colosengop is the Twitter page for the Colorado Republican Caucus and @iahousedemocrat promises “short updates on what’s going on inside the caucus and with action on the floor.” @nebraskagov is the “official Twitter feed” for the state of Nebraska.

If you’re aware of others, hit the comment link because I’d like to see what others are doing with Twitter in this space.

UPDATE: In January and February of 2010 we began experimenting with streaming video from committee hearings.

An Oral History of the Bush White House

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Just finished reading a very long piece on the Bush administration in Vanity Fair. Almost 40 pages printed from their website. It reads like a very depressing, but gripping, novel. Painful but hard to put down. I’m posting here because I don’t consider this politics. If you don’t want to wait for The Golden Bush Years chapter in the 2080 history books, read this Vanity Fair account. Sort of a high colonic to start the year off clean. A few nuggets from the final page:

“Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell: As my boss [Colin Powell] once said, Bush had a lot of .45-caliber instincts, cowboy instincts. Cheney knew exactly how to polish him and rub him. He knew exactly when to give him a memo or when to do this or when to do that and exactly the word choice to use to get him really excited.

Bob Graham, Democratic senator from Florida and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee: One of our difficulties now is getting the rest of the world to accept our assessment of the seriousness of an issue, because they say, You screwed it up so badly with Iraq, why would we believe that you’re any better today? And it’s a damn hard question to answer.

Meanwhile, the Taliban and al-Qaeda have relocated, have strengthened, have become a more nimble and a much more international organization. The threat is greater today than it was on September the 11th.

David Kuo, deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: It’s kind of like the Tower of Babel. At a certain point in time, God smites hubris. You knew that right around the time people started saying there’s going to be a permanent Republican majority—that God kinda goes, No, I really don’t think so.”

“We are the Arabs!”

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“In the 1980 film “The Formula,” George C. Scott plays a detective who uncovers a plot to kill anybody with knowledge of a secret Nazi formula for a synthetic fuel. The bad guy in the film is Adam Steiffel, the Chairman of Titan Oil, played by Marlon Brando. The two meet on Steiffel’s patio, where the oil mogul is enjoying breakfast, and the scene produces a couple of memorable lines in a case of art imitating life.

“You’re not in the oil business; you’re in the oil shortage business,” Scott says to Brando. An aide to Brando’s character races to the table with news of price activity by the Arab states, to which Brando’s character responds, “You idiot, we ARE the Arabs!”

— Terry Heaton

And I hate crowds

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Did I mention that Barb and I will be attending the inauguration in a couple of weeks? I use the word “attending” loosely.

Bridges and major roadways closed to all but bus traffic; the D.C. subway system expecting ‘crush-level’ crowds; escalators closed. The Congressional Inaugural Committee issued an “Inaugural Advisory” that basically said: stay home.

From CBS News: “While the actual swearing-in will take place shortly before noon, the formal program begins at 11:30 AM and the musical prelude and seating will begin much earlier. Security checkpoints will open for ticketed guests at 8:00 AM, and the committee advises arriving no later than 9:00 AM to ensure that you are through the checkpoints by the time the program begins. Screening will end when the program begins at 11:30 AM and late arrivals will not be able to enter the grounds.”

And if it’s raining like pouring piss out of a boot?

“Regardless of the weather conditions, umbrellas will not be permitted in the ticketed areas.”

Same goes for “strollers, Laser pointers, Signs, Posters, Animals (other than service animals), Alcoholic beverages, (and) Other items that may pose a threat to the security of the event as determined by and at the discretion of the security screeners.”

But I’ll get some good pix that I can put online, right?

“Be aware that it may be difficult to talk or send pictures from your cell phone, according to wireless companies. Please use text messaging to send critical messages.”

What the hell. I waited in for five hours to hear a Steve Jobs keynote address at MacWorld (which, as it turns out, was his final one)… I can wait a few hours to watch history being made. I’ll be the one dressed like Frances McDormand.