Leave it to a politician to completely miss the point. Specifically, comparing the protests in Iran to how the Republicans were shut out of the House last year. That's just what Michigan Congressman,
Pete Hoekstra did - on his Twitter account. Luckily, the fun-loving individuals on the internet were not ones to let him get away with such a bold and erroneous statement.
New York Magazine has captured some of the responses to Hoekstra's post in
this article. A few of my favorites:
- curtsmith @petehoekstra, fell off my surfboard in Malibu today, now I know what D-day felt like.
- mike_bosworth @petehoekstra I got a sunburn last weekend. Makes me think of Hiroshima.
- donnahon @petehoekstra Got some sand in my shoe. Now I know what it's like to be on my third deployment in Iraq.
- benhuh @petehoekstra I had to sit in the last row of our corporate jet this morning. This is what Rosa Parks must have felt like.
- trisloth @petehoekstra My toilet just overflowed a little. Now I know what it was like for the Indonesian tsunami victims.
Ah, the un-ending sarcasm of the internet - such a thing of beauty. If you'd like to see more, check out
this blog devoted to the newly unfolding internet meme.
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Uh, I may be reading the tweet wrong, but I don't think it compares the GOP shut-out to Iranian crackdowns at all. It is more a comment on the positive use of twitter to communicate in asynchronous, non-traditional channels, isn't it?
I read this tweet and and all I get from it is that "Twitter is useful means of public communications when traditional bureaucratic channels are closed to those out of power."
Of course, my race prevents me from fully comprehending English, so what do I know?
When were the Republicans 'shut down' again? They certainly seem to have media access regardless.
Loved the Rosa Parks one.
I drank some lukewarm coffee today. Now I can totally understand how the people in Darfur must feel.
I had to skip lunch today... Now I know how is it like being an Ethiopian.
I was told I couldn't get into a club last weekend. Now I know how minorities in South Africa felt during apartheid.
I coughed on the inhale and got some bong ash on my arm. Now I know how those ancient Pompeiians felt.
Yeah, I think the original is trying to say, "Us Republicans had no chance to have our voices heard AT ALL under the Democratic Congress because, boo hoo, we weren't in control anymore and had to take our turn not being the ones that got voted in!"
I am frustrated lately by how both parties seem to have this hilarious double-standard about everything. How its never okay for a president of party x to make policies based on what his party is prone to do. I mostly read liberal rags (the NY Times) and I hear a lot about how the dems attempt to "reach across the aisle" and I've never heard that phrase from a republican source, but I don't really read those so I can't judge at all (and I'm not sure how well the aisle-reaching-across really works.)
I'm so frustrated by this petty behavior that I must know how Jon and Kate Gosselin's kids feel.
Accidently got a little Raid on me when spraying a beehive, Now i know what all those Jews felt like in the 40s...
I couldn't get out of work early enough to go "yachting" this afternoon, now I know what all those people who were denied lifeboats on the Titanic felt like.