Obama's 'call to tweet': The wisecracks

In a televised speech Friday morning, President Obama called (again) for legislators to compromise on a budget-slashing deal that would allow for the federal debt ceiling to be raised — and avoid a credit downgrade and default. Obama also suggested specific modes of communication that Americans could use to pressure their representatives into a deal: "Make a phone call. Send an email. Tweet." Even as economic catastrophe looms, the president's "call to tweet" has elicited chuckles. Here, some of their better quips about our commander-in-tweet:

#DeepThinkers

It's a little strange that, in the midst of this tense budget battle, says Noreen Malone at New York, Obama is suggesting legislators spend their time on social media sites. If congressmen really are trolling their Twitter messages for guidance, "this ship might really be going down."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

#FacebookFail

Mark Zuckerberg just can't catch a break, says Leena Rao at TechCrunch. Obama very noticeably "didn't say Facebook message your congressperson," making this a "pretty big endorsement for Twitter." Take that, Zuck.

#ExecutiveProductPlacement

"It's weird" for the president to encourage Americans to use Twitter, considering it's a "private for-profit corporation," tweets Gawker's John Cook. "It's like saying, 'Call your congressman with your iPhone.'"

#BigGuns

The debt talks have become so dire, says Michael D. Shear at The New York Times, that the White House is driving home its political message "every way it can." And that means bringing in the big guns, including the president's "hashtag team."

#NotableOmissions

"It's still weird to hear" the word "tweet" come out of the president's mouth, says David Weigel at Slate. And while the president implored Americans to tweet, he forgot about something even more important. "He didn't actually call for the Boehner bill to pass!"

#Anachronisms

"As Obama calls for tweets," says Michael Scherer at TIME, "conservatives blast faxes." GrassTopsUSA is urging its members to go on a "good-old 'blast fax' campaign," telling Republican congressmen not to compromise on Obama's "radical" agenda. How often do you think John Boehner "checks his fax machine"?