Step Away From The BlackBerry, Sir...
A couple of weeks ago, I marveled at the fact that Congressman Pete Hoekstra was twittering from inside what was supposed to be a private session with President Obama. Now, CQ Politics tells us:
A congressional trip to Iraq this weekend was supposed to be a secret.
But the cat's out of the bag now, thanks to a member of the House Intelligence Committee who broke an embargo via Twitter.
A delegation led by House Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R-Ohio, arrived in Iraq earlier today, and because of Rep. Peter Hoekstra , R-Mich., the entire world — or at least Twitter.com readers—now know they're there.
“Just landed in Baghdad,” messaged Hoekstra, a former chairman of the Intelligence panel and now the ranking member, who is routinely entrusted to keep some of the nation's most closely guarded secrets.
Before the delegation left Washington, they were advised to keep the trip to themselves for security reasons. A few media outlets, including Congressional Quarterly, learned about it, but agreed not to disclose anything until the delegation had left Iraq.
Nobody expected, though, that a lawmaker with such an extensive national security background would be the first to break the silence. And in such a big way.
Not only did Hoekstra reveal the existence of the lawmakers' trip, but included details about their itinerary in updates posted every few hours on his Twitter page, until he suddenly stopped, for some reason, on Friday morning.
I wonder: Does Osama bin Laden have a Twitter account?
(As the spouse of a State Department reporter, I know first-hand--and appreciate--that these trips are supposed to be kept under wraps. On more than one occasion when Mr. Swamp has traveled with the Secretary, I learned of the fact that he was in Baghdad only after she (and he) arrived there safely.)
UPDATE: Commenter Jay Ackroyd informs us that "Osama" does indeed have a Twitter account. His most recent updates:
GETOSAMA... Get Osama... XBox? English not good. Cave boring without XBox. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id... 4:26 PM Dec 24th, 2008 from web
Hung over from drinking bad Pakistani... uh I mean Afghani... uh... "cave in an undisclosed location"-i liquor 11:34 AM Dec 14th, 2008 from web
154 people are following me on Twitter -- far more than from the American army! 10:57 PM Nov 20th, 2008 from web
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If he was in high school he'd be the guy posting the keg party pics on MySpace.
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http://twitter.com/osamabinladen
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Yep. I guess. -
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The question is when are they going to smack him upside his friggin head. Imma pull a K Tizzle right now. "Imagine if a Democrat would have done that" Freeper and Red State would be calling for the guy to be thrown out of Congress and tortured.
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I'm forced to admit that the Internet feels different than real life and I routinely type things that I wouldn't say in person (usually in the direction of being ruder)
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But that's just plain STUPID -
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Once again proving the Republicans really understand the term National Security. I bet there's some US command officers in Iraq more than just a little disjointed over this major lapse in security. After all it's their troop's lives on the line protecting this idiot from himself.
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Pete Hoekstra is a wingnut with a big mouth...On November 3, 2006, The New York Times reported that a website created at the request of Hoekstra and Senator Pat Roberts was found to contain detailed information that could be helpful to anyone seeking to produce nuclear weapons....
...September 17, 2007, major news outlets [were] reporting that the Congressional committee he oversees is creating "erroneous" and "misleading" reports about Iran's nuclear capabilities.
...and an overinflated sense of importance, both of which make him pull some terribly stupid stunts. Now he's thinking of running for governor of Michigan with support of the Amway Republicans from the west side of the state. God help us all if he wins.
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Seriously, someone should think about getting him off of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence since he just loves to shoot his mouth off...
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Want to know how to get your message out? Telegraph, telephone, tell-a-Hoekstra. -
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Is Geraldo Rivera traveling with them?
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Good to know that JoeK's BFF is such a smart guy.
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Perhaps he thought his message would get stuck in the intertubes for a couple of days? -
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The twiterers Osamabinladen is following are pretty funny.
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Ill bet Joe The Plumber is gonna be PISSED!! LOL
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Is it possible Hoekstra thought it was going an RNC account? They lose millions of emails all the time. He's the former chairman of the Intelligence committee and breaks security so blatantly...suddenly a couple of democrats "forgetting" to pay their taxes seems so much more plausible.
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OT, but sure would be nice if some journalists out there decided to cover this: The RNC begs for help on right wing talk radio.
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Just a thought. -
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wvng-"Doctor" Laura still has a show? Who knew?
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I'm more convinced than ever that Republicans TRY to be malfeasant.
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They are trying to make the stimulus less effective, yes. They are literally trying to make the recession worse in order to improve their electoral prospects. It's Kristol's health care letter all over again. If the Democrats can recover from the clusterf___ of 6 years of Republican "policy"making, then it'll be decades in the wilderness for the Republicans.
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Agree with wvng. A blog like this would be a great place for a serious journalist to investigate the RNC's unashamed alliance with such hatemongers as Bob Grant and Michael Savageweiner, and convicted criminals like G Gordon Liddy.
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I just wish Liberace would've had one and twittered "I like dudes," b/c I did not see that coming.
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pourmecoffee: Liberace was a stunner. When I heard that, all the feathers fell out of my boa.
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[...] he is still doing it! CQ politics writes (according to Swampland) that ‘a member of the House Intelligence Committee wrote a Twitter about a trip to Iraq, [...]
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What an irresponsibe moron!
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22
Orin Hatch gave Osama Hoekstra's twitter address.
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A suggestion for KT, who is careful about what she says in this uncertain economic environment for her chosen career. You clearly have the soul of a blogger, how about doubling down with the High Sheriffs and tell them that Time needs a blogger named K-Tum who is unconstrained by concern over stepping on toes and simply letting the chips fall where they may.
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Ex-TPMer Greg Sargent is doing that at the Post, and is getting lots of hits and is schooling his bosses in the process. For example, this excellent post: On The Origins And Meaning Of The Term, “The Villagers”. -
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words fail me. (acceptable, printable words)
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kathy, it's just us here. And if you write in a white font we won't be able to read what you wrote. So go ahead, tell us what you really think.
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