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While DC Burns, Congress Twitters

Congress micro-blogging obsession is unbecoming: Milbank

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 25, 2009 1:22 PM CST

(Newser) – Washington has a problem, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post. No, not just pork, or the influence of lobbyists—Twitter. President Obama gave a speech last night that was solemn but hopeful, bold yet pragmatic. And how did our lawmakers respond? “They whipped out their BlackBerrys and began sending text messages like high school kids bored in math class,” writes Milbank.

Some praise Congress’ embrace of micro-blogging as the dawn of a new era of government transparency. But while some tweets were substantive yesterday, many were trivial bordering on narcissistic: "Capt Sully is here—awesome!" wrote Rep. John Culberson, for example. Milbank notes that many lawmakers’ Twitter feeds boast few to no subscribers—so is Twitter bringing government to the people, or feeding Congress’ inflated sense of celebrity?

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President Barack Obama approaches the podium to announce his nominee for Commerce Secretary, former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, not pictured, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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It's bad enough that Americans are paralyzed by economic jitters. Now the president has to deal with lawmakers paralyzed by Twitter.
- Dana Milbank

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While DC Burns, Congress Twitters