Republican Congressman Pete Hoekstra made what some might consider a slip of the "tweet deck" yesterday when he compared the Iranian use of Twitter to the GOP micro-blogging last year in protest of Nancy Pelosi.
Hoekstra tweeted yesterday that the "Iranian Twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in House."
He's referring to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's call to adjourn last August, rather than vote on an important energy bill. GOP members took to Twitter and other social networking sites in an effort to rally support for their cause, in hopes of getting a special session.
Leena Rao,
from TechCrunch, is apparently completely appalled.
I don’t know what’s worse-the fact that he is actually comparing a Republican tiff with House Democrats to the oppression and brutality taking place in Iran or the fact that he used Twitter to express this clearly idiotic statement. You would think that a public figure would know better than to write something so ridiculous on a platform that millions of people can see.
Washington Post blogger, Chris Cillizza
had similar remarks for the Congressman:
"Um, never smart to compare serving in the minority in the House of Representatives to an attempt to unseat a repressive regime."
Hoekstra's staff backtracked on the tweet in a statement released by a staff member, saying:
"the two situations do share the similarity of government leadership attempting to limit debate and deliberation, and the ability of new technologies to bypass their efforts and allow for direct communication. That’s the only point that he was trying to make."
Hoekstra, who represents Michigan's 2nd Congressional District, has a reputation for getting in trouble on Twitter. Earlier this year,
reports the Detroit News, he tweeted about the timetable for his arrival to Iraq - a potentially deadly mistake. That forced the Pentagon to issue a reminder to Congressman about security.
This scenario, regardless of whatever consequences it may bring upon Congressman Hoekstra, showcases Twitter's evolving place in the world today.
