Obama and Biden went out Saturday to grab burgers. MSNBC followed with cameras. The clip that appeared on MSNBC cut off Obama ordering just before he asked for Dijon Mustard on his burger.

Cornell’s finest Mr. Jacobson, takes offense. He think MSNBC cut the footage to protect us from knowing that Obama is really an elitist (even worse meta analysis than I provide). Also, Obama wrote in his book The Audacity of Hope about how he loves Djion Mustard and tells a story about getting mad at a campaign staffer who told him not to eat it for fear of looking elitist. But Jacobson posted said belief on his blog. Conservative super blog Hot Air then linked Mr. Jacobson’s post to their website, and now liberal blogs such as Huffington Post are attacking Jacobson for being a dweeb and unworthy of teaching at such a fine institution.

What a record, Cornell. Two major media spotlights this year: once when Coulter and Olbermann fought over their diplomas and now because our law professors hate Obama’s condiment choice…

So let’s spin the DC gossip wheel some more. Who will replace said mystery justice once they leave the highest court?

Is this our next Supreme Court justice?

This is where it gets good, sounds like Obama wants to nominate Cass Sunstein. The intense egghead from Harvard Law who just wrote the fascinating behavior economics book Nudge.

Why this is interesting: He is young, in justice years (only 54). So the Dems will have a seat for a long time, supposing he really is a liberal. He is a professor, Obama was a legal professor so this shouldn’t be surprising, but it means he won’t be coming from the typical federal court background…so he might have a more academic approach.

Most importantly, he doesn’t believe in Adam Smith’s idea of the rational actor. That’s what Nudge is about. He promotes a political philosophy he coined called libertarian paternalism. He writes that government should “help you make the choices you would make for yourself—if only you had the strength of will and the sharpness of mind. But unlike ‘hard’ paternalists, who ban some things and mandate others, the softer kind aims only to skew your decisions, without infringing greatly on your freedom of choice.”

So basically, he could be a total loose cannon…exciting!!!

For more on naming your political movement after forcefully shoving your scrotum in people’s mouths, see:

The “Tea Bag” Revolution’s Unfortunate Name Choice (VIDEO)

I have no clue what the Tea Baggers are really against — it seems to be non guided right wing anger. I think this picture sums it up.

Durha what?!?!?!

Hey, at least the protester admits he is president.

In other news, upstate New York Congressman has amazing Colbert interview:

WATCH: Congressman Talks Prostitutes, Cocaine, And NAMBLA, On Colbert

Turkish News is racist news:

WATCH: Turkish Anchor Reports On Obama In Blackface 

Ad Fox News is Silly:

WATCH Cavuto: Tea Party Protests “Infiltrated” By Diabolical Liberals From ACORN, HuffPost

Sadly Twitter Crashes a Lot

The big buzz in DC this Congress, besides the whole black man in the White House thing, is the emergence of Twitter. Who is twittering? Who isn’t? What did she just tweet? Why aren’t you twittering, Senator? Politico, one of the many DC newspapers dedicated to the insular going on of the hill, even did a story where they listed the top ten DC twitterers.

As with all emerging technologies Twitter has unleashed a debate about its merits.  As with all these debates, the arguing is stupidly focusing on the merits of the technology instead of the proper way to take advantage of it.

If we are to learn anything from this past election cycle, it is that it is not just about using a medium — it is about using it well. Obama not only jumped onto Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and so on, but to used them to mobilize.

I signed up for both Obama and McCain’s email lists to follow their communications and there was a stark contrast. The Obama campaign not only emailed me more often, but emailed me marching orders; McCain did not. Obama even asked if he could send me text messages. I reluctantly went along. The texts were brilliant. He texted me based on my area code when it was time to register to vote, when to vote,  and he even asked if I needed help getting to the polls. Additionally, he would send messages such as, “Can you help make calls on election night, text yes to 5541 if you can.” Mobilize, Mobilize, Mobilize!!!

McCain on the other hand sent out dinking policy statements to “My Friends.”

This brings me back to Twitter. Jon Stewart recently did a segment complaining that Twitter feeds egos, stocking the politicians’ feelings that we care about their most mundane thoughts. While many politicians do this — I am talking to you, Claire McCaskill and Newt Gingrich — others use it to effectively communicate and, more importantly, mobilize — I am praising you, John McCain and David Gregory.

So let me review some political twitterers and explain good uses and bad uses:

Claire McCaskill: While I love reading her twitter, I read it not because she uses it well but because she is so ridiculous. What she does wrong:

• She responds to questions on her twitter, despite the fact that we don’t know the question
• She gave us her chicken stock recipe
• She twitters every five minutes about what she is doing
• She informs us what she is eating at each meal (okay, not each meal but I don’t care about any meal)
• Basically you pander to us trying to create the impression that you are a normal person

Newt Gingrich: While his twitter was bad, recently it has gotten much better.

• He used to update too often about useless things
• He is good about listing when he will be giving talks and about what, but doesn’t provide a link to go with it
• He needs to link the pages of the organization he is visiting or talking about
• He used to editorialize too much, but he has cut back

David Gregory: Moderator of Meet the Press. Has a great twitter because he uses it to include his viewers.

• He updates who will be on his show. In a digital age we watch TV on our computers so we don’t see commercials. His updates are digital age-style preview commercials.
• He uses Twitter to mobilize. He asks people for questions to ask his guests, and then asks them.
• He doesn’t give personal editorials or updates often so when it happens it’s funny, not obnoxious (cough cough Claire McCaskill)

Sen. McCain: Despite his horrible use of tech in the election, Twitter was made for this guy.

• The short format is perfect for updating and listing the Ear Mark projects he hates. It worked like little press brief sound bites, and he stole the headlines with this trick during the budget debate last month
• He gives updates about where he will be and when his press conferences will be
• He posts links to things he thinks are important, a.k.a. lending his voice/celebrity/publicity to his interests
• He editorializes about substance, with links, not about his own life

I could go on and on, but the point is NEW TECH MUST BE USED IN NEW WAYS. There is no point to inventing something new just to do something old. Twitter is not a blog. Blogs are for longer formats. Successful political twittering is about mobilizing and lending your voice and publicity to your causes.

Print media is dying because it isn’t as powerful as online media. Online content is interactive. When you write online and cite a source, you link to that source. When you describe an event, you embed a video of that event. Twitter should be about linking sources. Politicians’ job is to lend their voice to their constituents and to their causes. Politicians are megaphones of interests and their Twitters should reflect this.

This is why McCain and Gregory use Twitter well. They publicize what is happening and what we need to know about. McCaskill’s twitter reads like a teenage high school girl’s. It is totally asinine. Chicken stock recipes, updates on her daughter’s dance recital, and other silliness is simply a waste of time.

What is important to take away from Twitter is that it is a powerful political mobilization tool. It is a new technology and people are learning how to use it. Like all powerful media, people need to experiment, and we are learning what works and what doesn’t. When the people write off Twitter as a self indulgent narcissistic love fest they are seeing the trees but missing the forest. We should not worry about whether a new technology has value or not but about what is the valuable way to use this new platform.

The power of the digital age is not the access it creates to info but the ability it gives each and every one of us to download and, more importantly, to upload. Twitter and any digital platforms that promote uploading are useful. In light of this fact, this congresses Twitter has proven that all tweets are created equal.

As for shameless self promotion, you can follow my twitter on Labor Issues at twitter.com/soundsofthefury.

On the heels of Obama’s visit to Turkey, this is a good sign. Obama’s strategy…I would guess…is to build a network of goodwill in moderate parts of the Islamic world — “goodwill” meaning more than fuzzy feelings but also extremely open communication. Because while Obama and the US might not have sway over Iran, Turkey might.

Obama Visits Turkey’s Famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey’s emergence onto the international stage not just as a secular society that is still majority Muslim provides a way ahead in the Middle East. It is a model for escaping the Middle East oil dictator trap. It is also a more sustainable plan to escape this trap than…say….the Dubai model of spending like crazy. Turkey is an oil-free Islamic future and Obama was right to reach out in such a big and warm way.

And Now the stupid news….oh also not that I care but some basketball team from the South beat some basketball team from the North and got some kinda prize for it.

AUDIO NSFW: Eminem Raps About Sex With Sarah Palin In New Single “We Made You”

WATCH: Ruth Madoff’s ‘Conjugal Visit’

Iraq Cuts Shoe Thrower’s Sentence

SPOILER ALERT: Kal Penn Leaving “House” For White House

April 3, 2009 09:57 AM EST |

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Supreme Court says the state’s same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples, making it the third state where gay marriage is legal.

In a unanimous ruling issued Friday, the court upheld a 2007 Polk County District Court judge’s ruling that the law was unconstitutional.

The case stems from a 2005 lawsuit filed by Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organization. The group filed a lawsuit on behalf of six gay and lesbian Iowa couples who were denied marriage licenses.

The suit named then-Polk County recorder and registrar Timothy Brien.

The Polk County attorney’s office claimed that Hanson’s ruling violated the separation of powers and the issue should be left to the Legislature.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ The Iowa Supreme Court says the state’s same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples, making it the third state where gay marriage is legal.

In a unanimous ruling issued Friday, the court upheld a 2007 Polk County District Court judge’s ruling that the law was unconstitutional.

The case stems from a 2005 lawsuit filed by Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organization. The group filed a lawsuit on behalf of six gay and lesbian Iowa couples who were denied marriage licenses.

The suit named then-Polk County recorder and registrar Timothy Brien.

The Polk County attorney’s office claimed that Hanson’s ruling violated the separation of powers and the issue should be left to the Legislature.

My take: This is just another of the millions of reasons why I am glad we became our own country.

Dear England, at least she didn’t grab her butt!!!

If Obama can kick out this CEO why not some Bankers?

When it comes to the GOP of the past 20 years they preach free markets to welfare moms but gave out some of the most egregious corporate welfare in history. The problem is that crying “free markets” here ignores the facts that this is basically what would happen if GM went bankrupt. Wagner would have been kicked out, pensions would have been eliminated, etc etc. What Obama’s team has done is a special bailout. They said you are bankrupt if you can prove that you can restructure for success then we will give you a softer bankruptcy. Why? Because Detroit has something like 20% unemployment while Michigan is at 12% statewide, and GM has millions of retirees who would go homeless and hungry under a normal bankruptcy. More importantly perhaps is the fact that GM doesn’t just make cars…it’s called General Motors because it makes motors generally. Tank motors, train motors, etc. Letting GM go under would undermine our national security because they make things like our tank engines, things that for national security’s sake must be made here, and no one else has the infrastructure to make them. This reality explains why today’s news says they will save GM but not Chrysler. Chrysler is up the creek without a paddle and Obama ain’t touching that… FIAT be my guest… The more important question is why is Team Obama being so wonderfully careful and thorough with the auto bailouts but the bank bailouts are have been erratic, mismanaged, and absent of the contingency agreements of the auto industry. Why aren’t the bank CEOs getting kicked out? Maybe Leo Gerard of the United Steel Workers is right: “We bailout those who take a shower before work, but not those who take a shower after work.”

The Smack Down

Will post video when I get to a computer made in the past decade.