Short and Tweet: Iowa Blogger OWNS Obama, DC on Twitter, Mirth Ensues

President Obama's New Bus: Necessary Expense, "Mega-Hearse", or "Planet-Eating Death Star on Wheels?"

Linda’s article “Debt Ceiling: I Laugh Because I Must Not Cry, That is All!” at the end of June included an embedded video entitled “Eat the Rich”, which vividly illustrated how the class warfare cries for imposing higher taxes on “the rich” isn’t even close to the right approach to solving our increasing economic woes as a nation. For one thing, we don’t have a tax problem, we’ve got a spending problem.

Another reason is provided by way of the following question:

“If we eat the rich, what do we get for dessert?”

This question and the ideas in the "Eat the Rich" video come from the razor-sharp wit of blogger Iowahawk. His occasional postings cut right to the bottom line while provoking howls of laughter. Linda and I confess that we are rather enamored with the fellow. As evidence of mass-generational appeal, my 18 year old daughter has taken a shine to him as well.

This week, President Obama embarked on a bus tour that was purportedly for the purpose of listening to the American people. The black behemoth of a bus used for the tour has been described in numerous ways, ranging from a gargantuan hearse to a planet-eating Death Star.  Linda favors the latter name and wonders whether the bus is equipped with loudspeakers that play the Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) when it rolls into town.  We understand it was accompanied by a 40-car motorcade.  It would complete the Star Wars image if the motorcade was comprised solely of white cars with black-tinted windows.  Then the spectacle would be complete: Darth Bus and its 40 clone-car escort.  But we digress.

Since the President is supposed to be listening, we thought we'd share a selection of some of the questions and thought-provoking musings tweeted by Iowahawk during a "Twitter Townhall" organized by White House social media gurus in early July and another set of tweets he composed in August just before the passage of the debt-limit bill.

For those not familiar, Twitter is a social media site / tool which is "status line" driven, limiting messages to 140 characters. Constructing a message in such a small space presents a bit of challenge. Iowahawk has clearly mastered the art.

Questions tweeted during the President's townhall:

On jobs...

If shovel-ready projects create jobs, wouldn't spoon-ready projects create even more jobs?

Whose spending created your job?

How come you haven't made unemployment illegal? #duh[1. Note for non-Twitter users about Iowahawk's use of the "#duh" at the end of the message: The symbol "#" is called a "hash tag". Twitter uses can search by these tags and see a whole stream of related Tweets, typically by group, subject, or even event. Examples of some hash tags include #quotes, #mac (Apple computer users), and #dwts (Dancing With the Stars TV show).  Iowahawk's use of the "#duh" hash tag is, more than anything else, added humor for Twitter nerds.]

On Mexico...

I let my Mexican drug lord license expire. Am I still eligible for the free machine gun program?

If Eric Holder gets indicted in Operation Fast & Furious, should he get a civilian trial?

On foreign policy...

Since you've doubled the number of wars, shouldn't you be getting another Nobel Peace Prize?

Why do you need permission to be clear, and not need permission to bomb Libya?

When you said "days not weeks" did you mean Venusian days?

My favorites:

Are strawmen cheaper when you buy them by the gross?

How much CO2 is created by a burning straw man?

Why isn't your cabinet unionized?

I just voted to increase my sobriety ceiling. Why won't the bartender give me another drink?

Is this question racist?

Selections from Iowahawk's "Consequences of Default":

Beltway policy experts begin living by own wits; after 45 minutes there are no survivors.

General Motors unfairly forced to build cars that people want, for a profit.

Sesame Street descends into Mad Maxian anarchy; Oscar the Grouch fashions shivs out the letter J and the number 4

Potential 5-year old terrorists head to boarding gates ungroped.

Nation's freeway exits crowded with desperate bureaucrats waving 'will regulate for food' signs.

Chevy Volt rebate checks bounce, stranded owners more than 50 miles from outlet.

Finally, considering that it's back-to-school time, and I started this article with a reference to laughing instead of crying, I have an additional Iowahawk recommendation. As a homeschooling mother about ready to move one of her children, into a college dorm hours away for the first time, ever, I'll confess, I'm in desperate need of some humorous distraction, or I am going to cry.

Iowahawk's "So You Have a College Diploma" probably shouldn't make me laugh, considering it's many tragic truths, but it does.