In 2007, Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee's Summit, made blogosphere history when he read critical blog comments of a filibuster... while he was filibustering.
With advances in information technology, that seminal event seems like ancient history. Case in point: Sens. Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, and Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, spent part of a filibuster of a coerced abortion bill discussing how many people follow them on Twitter.
Both lawmakers have accounts on the site allowing users to project short status updates to potentially hundreds of people. As Post-Dispatch reporter Tony Messenger pointed out, Justus has 279 followers, while Smith has 278.
Talk about a squeaker.
Smith and Justus also gave a shout out to the "tens of people" listening in on the Internet. Well-established laptop issues prompted me to listen in to the debate from Columbia, so I guess I'm part of that group.
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