Capitol Calling

Important Point of Clarification

The Missouri Record made an important point tonight that I would like to reiterate.

On the surface, the name 'Jason Rosenbaum' would be an uncommon enough name to avoid confusion. But not only are there multiple Jason Rosenbaums floating around the Internet, there are actually two who are involved in politics.

The first Jason Rosenbaum, who can be found here, is a staffer for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. That's the organization that will almost certainly pump hundreds of thousands of dollars into Missouri to assist Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's goal of getting elected to the U.S. Senate.

The other notable Jason Rosenbaum not only shares the same name as me, but he's also a political blogger. This Jason Rosenbaum blogs for numerous left-leaning sites, most notably FireDogLake. He also lives in Washington, D.C. and sports a nifty beard.

This, by the way, is the only photographed evidence of me with any significant amount of facial hair.

So to summarize, if the Jason Rosenbaum you find on the Internet isn't wearing glasses and isn't writing about Missouri politics, chances are he's not me.

Still, I will commend the two Jason Rosenbaums for possessing an excellent name.

Tilley expresses support for embryonic stem cell research

Travis Brown, a lobbyist for many  in and around the Missouri Capitol, produced a neat service awhile ago that sends out Tweets whenever there's a donation over $5,000 logged into the Missouri Ethics Commission.

One Tweet that caught my attention was a $25,000 from the Supporters of Health Research & Treatments to House Majority Leader Steve Tilley's campaign committee. The Perryville Republican will likely become House Speaker if the GOP maintains a majority in the Missouri House.

That committee is notable because it's typically been a way for supporters of embryonic stem cell research to donate to the political process. The stem cell issue has been a thorny one for Missouri Republicans, prompting a split between those who support embryonic stem cell research and those who oppose it on religious or moral grounds. Socially conservative Democrats have also bucked their party on the issue as well.

Before I talking to Tilley about other topics yesterday, I asked him about the donation. He said he was a "moderate Republican" who supported a constitutional amendment prohibiting the state from restricting any kind of stem cell research allowed by federal law.

"I don't mind that," Tilley said. "I think ethical research is good. I came to the conclusion that I support stem cell because I have two daughters. And I'll be honest with you. If one of them was sick and I think stem cells provided an opportunity - just a chance - to save them, I'd do it in a heartbeat. And beyond that, I think if you had a stem cell cure for cancer, I guarantee that people who are against stem cells would be happy to take the cure."

Tilley said that the "knock" on him when he was running for leadership in the House was that he was viewed as moderate on social issues.

"On social issues I'm certainly more of a moderate," Tilley said. "I think the Republican Party should be for smaller government. But you can't say you want government out of your lives and out of your business, but then preach to people how you should live."

Rep. Mike Talboy, D-Kansas City, will likely become Speaker of the House if the Democrats take over during next year's election cycle.  

Twitter Fail

Twitter is down.

As the AP aptly noted, the outage means the people can't tweet about how much they want to eat lunch or note that the micro-blogging service is out of commission.

In other breaking and important news, Steven Tyler fell off a stage.

You're Tearing Me Apart, David Catanese!

As the world continues to come grips with the death of singer Michael Jackson, an editorial cartoonist for the Missouri Record is poking fun at one of the Show Me State's most prolific political bloggers.

Cartoonist Bryan Stalder created this cartoon poking fun of KY3 political reporter David Catanese's penchant to Twitter. Although he's not directly identified, a cartoon version of Catanese asked a mustached politician to repeat his quote in "140 characters or less."

The cartoon can be found here.

While known to most people as a television reporter covering politics in southwest Missouri, Catanese also gained fame when he won a simulated presidential election in 2006 against GOP political consultant Jeff Roe.

What will the New World Order bring for Yakov?

Chad Livengood of the Springfield News-Letter gave me word of a very important development in the history of the Internet...

... Yakov Smirnoff is on Twitter.

In Soviet Russia, Twitter tweets you!

Happy Friday

Sweeet Tweeets!

NBC comedy king Conan O'Brien had a hilarious sketch last night lampooning Twitter for exalting the mundane activities of celebrities.

Take a look:

A number of Missouri politicians - including Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Columbia, and U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Springfield - have recently utilized Twitter.

Tweet! Tweet! Who's Got the Keys to the Jeep?

Last week I opined on the Twitter phenomenon for my weekly KBIA commentary. The micro-blogging service has become a conduit for state lawmakers showing bits of their personalities and opinions.

Well, AP reporter Lee Logan reported about the practice today:

Lawmakers use Twitter to offer opinions on legislation, chastise political opponents and solicit reaction from the public that has occasionally shaped discourse in the Capitol.

But Twitter also carries problems. Some lawmakers contend it contributes to a decline in decorum. It's unclear whether lawmakers' Twitter posts - known as "tweets" - enjoy the same constitutional protection as their debate.

Twitter also has the potential for lawmakers to say things they shouldn't, such as when a U.S. congressman twittered his exact location on a trip to Iraq.

Read the story here.

KBIA Commentary: Fail Whale?

Is Twitter the next big thing or one giant fail whale?

That's the question I exmained for my KBIA commentary this week. Although local elections bumped it to a Web only trinket to the station exemplary Talking Politics show, you can listen my spiel by clicking here:

Senate reaches Web milestone with Twitter talk

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.