Congess Twitters While Obama Speaks

President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress on February 24 outlining his vision on dealing with the current economic crisis and the foreign policy challenges that his new administration faces.

Clearly visible, as the camera zoomed out from the podium, were various members of Congress staring intently at their laps. Were they studying a transcript of the speech that all members were provided? Some were. But others, upon closer examination, were Twittering. At one point, when all the members in the chamber rose to give the President a standing ovation, one congressman conspicuously remained seated punching out a message on his cell phone.

Photo Credit: The Today Show

Anyhow, some of the most publicized of the tweets from that evening include:

One doesn't want to sound snarky, but it is nice not to see Cheney up there -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.)

I did big wooohoo for Justice Ginsberg -- Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)

Place is on fire -- Rep. Dennis Rehberg (R-Mont.)

I am sitting behind Sens Graham and McCain -- Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.)

Subsequently, two controversies dealing specifically with this matter made headlines. First, Representative Joe Barton (R-Tex.) issued this tweet:

Aggie basketball game is about to start on espn2 for those of you that aren't going to bother watching pelosi smirk for the next hour.

Followed shortly thereafter by the following:

Disregard that last Tweet from a staffer.

Representative Barton was guilty of one of two things: either speaking the truth as he sees it (Pelosi smirking) or lying about being the one actually Twittering (my staffer did it). A no-win situation that proves the danger of technology in the hands of one not meant to use it. Trying to be hip, he reached for the brass ring and fell off the carousel horse.

Then there was the aforementioned Senator McCaskill. After taking flak from her own mother for being inconsiderate to President Obama for using Twitter during his speech, Senator McCaskill issued the following tweet the next day:

Ok ok. Mom's upset that I was rude at Pres speech re:tweets. For the record, I tweeted bfor,at very begining,& after speech.I wanted to listen.

Stephen Colbert, on The Colbert Report, caught her lying. On his show, he said the records clearly show that her tweet came nine minutes after the speech began.

So where does that leave us? The more obvious aspect is that the members of Congress who Twittered during the President's speech were simply being rude. One doesn't need to consult Emily Post or even Miss Manners to know that the basic rules of etiquette compel proper behavior in such an august setting. A teenager not long in adult society can be forgiven for indulging in such behavior; reasonably intelligent adults who we entrust with leading our society cannot be.

Another, more important point: Congress, the branch of government that allocates billions of dollars for technology research and development, consists of those who cannot use Twitter properly. Perhaps this is the learning curve that we must endure to ensure a congressional body ready to face our technological future. Then again, based on their recent deliberations on stem cell research, the fate of Terri Schiavo, and intelligent design, that may be a long curve.

Twitter Used By Surgeon

On February 9, a surgeon removed a cancerous tumor from a kidney at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. An ordinary, if somewhat risky procedure, merited a feature article by CNN because it was the second known instance of a surgery conducted via Twitter.

Photo Credit: CNN

The surgeon, Dr. Craig Rogers, said that Twittering allowed him to let people know that a tumor can be removed without taking the entire kidney. "We're trying to use this as a way to get the word out," Rogers said.

Dr. Rogers' colleague, Robert Hendrick, who was involved in the first Twitter surgery, added: "Newer and newer generations are used to putting their life online. This generation shares everything."

According to the CNN article, the clamps used to restrict blood flow to the kidneys must be removed within 30 minutes or damage can result. The chief resident soon Twittered: "25 minutes left!!!"

That's right, the doctors believed that Twittering, while the surgery was underway no less, was the best method to disseminate the details of the procedure. As if that information wasn't readily available on any medical Web site or even Wikipedia. Or could have waited until later that day.

Wouldn't any normal person want their surgeons to devote their full, undivided attention to the task at hand? Doctors constantly remind us lay people that there's no such thing as minor surgery, particularly if general anesthesia is involved. So to have this surgery treated like a basketball game ("25 minutes left!!!") as if the only downside would be slipping in the standings as opposed to having permanent kidney damage must be some sort of a violation of the Hippocratic oath.

A publicity stunt plain and simple.

Erykah Badu Twitters Childbirth

The singer, Erykah Badu, gave birth to a healthy girl on February 1. Intimate deails of her birth were Twittered by her husband, the rapper Jay Electronica, during the whole process. Tweets included:

My daughter is ready. Labor has begun. Everybody standback. No hospitals. No doctors. No medicine. Were waiting on midwife to show up.

I’m doing foot squeezes and foot rubs when the contractions hit. Puma is rubbing her hands.

Ok... The midwife is here now and a few family members. Feels like a scene from the color purple.

She’s dialated to 8 1/2 centimeters.

Getting closer. She says she feels like she’s ready to push

Feb 1. 2009 my first child, my daughter was born at 1:30 pm exactly. Its the happiest day of my life

Photo Credit: Wikimedia CommonsAccording to New York Magazine, no drugs were used on Ms. Badu, who we understand is resting comfortably. While we all wish her and her family good health going forward, a question needs be asked: "Why did this need to be Twittered?"

Admittedly, to hear the blow-by-blow of each part of childbirth is dramatic. There is that vicarious thrill of being an intimate witness of someone's life-altering event. But a somewhat disturbing image presents itself, one of Mr. Electronica intensely typing on a computer or cell phone while his wife is giving birth. In this technologically overloaded society, is it too much to provide a spouse with his or her undivided attention?

The worst-case scenario would have been complications during the childbirth. Fortunately, there weren't. But it brings a disturbing vision of what that tweet would've been. Probably nothing more than "brb".