Top Conservatives On Twitter FAIL
(For the uninitiated, the "#" allows twitterers to code their messages in a way that makes them all easily accessible--all tweets appended with "#tcot" can be found by searching for the term at this website.)
What could "#tcot" mean, we thought? Teabagging Conservatives' Organizing Tool? Tremendous Collection of Ornery Tweets?
In fact, it stands for "Top Conservatives On Twitter," and it is, in a way, a perfectly accurate moniker.
Following on the advice of former RNC chair Mike Duncan, who recently told his party faithful to "do it in the Facebook, with the Twittering," famous tweeters--including, you may recall, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX)--soon began appending their messages with the #tcot hashtag. Some even thought that this little convention would reignite the conservative movement, and, predictably, a website--topconservativesontwitter.com--became a central hub for twitter's top conservatives.
But, alas, a national (or formerly national) political party can't organize around a tic-tac-toe sign. Just look at the record: #tcot didn't bring us the tea parties. FreedomWorks did. And just when the #tcot juggernaut seemed unstoppable, Norm Coleman lost his legal challenge, Jim Tedisco lost his New York congressional race, and Arlen Specter became a Democrat.
And it is with this record in mind, that we report, more in sadness than in laughter, the demise of #tcot. Or, perhaps more accurately, the divorce of #tcot's chief stewards.
The #tcot movement is (or was) the brainchild of conservative activists Rob Neppell and Michael Patrick Leahy. Together, the two created #tcot-themed websites, and when the idea went viral, it seemed like they had a good thing going. But, as is predictable when there's too much teabagging going on, it didn't take long for tensions to arise.
And then today, everything came to a head. "I do not feel comfortable continuing to operate...with a partner who deliberately refuses to communicate with me on fundamental issues," a scorned Neppel wrote an his now defunct website.
I am shutting down those aspects of TCOT which are under my control [and] asking Mike to in turn shut down http://tcotreport.com--or to relaunch it without using our group TCOT's name--and stating publicly that as co-founder of TCOT, that site does not have my approval or endorsement....I regret that it has come to this, but here we are. I do not rule out re-activating TCOT should the situation change, but for now: we go dark.
Breaking up is hard to do. What a bummer. Anyhow, we wish them both the best, and will monitor the situation with bated breath. #tcot
| TOPICS: Arlen Specter, MN-SEN, NY-20, Republicans, Tea Party, Twitter
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
OK, that accounts for the tops. So where are the bottoms?
April 30, 2009 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Honey, everyone knows rethuglicans are all bottoms.
April 30, 2009 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
GOOPer twits.
April 30, 2009 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tinfoil Caps On Tight?
April 30, 2009 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
To Care Or Torture?
April 30, 2009 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin just joined twitter! @AKGovSarahPalin will save #tcot!
April 30, 2009 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did you notice, however, that SP was not among the chosen to rebrand the GOP?
Maybe not being on twitter when that was decided?
April 30, 2009 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
She was actually doing an interview with American Chopper.
April 30, 2009 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
A web design only an Alaskan could love.
April 30, 2009 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
No kidding. I guess they couldn't afford a real web designer.
April 30, 2009 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Attack of the 50-foot Palin.
April 30, 2009 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
definitely not an octothorpe we can believe in.
April 30, 2009 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm a little slow today... what exactly was the disagreement over?
This whole #tcot approach to twitter seems crazy and bizarre, and pretty unstable. Anyone can put #tcot at the end of their tweets, so you instantly need police to weed out the nogoodniks, and eventually the police are going to weed out David Brooks and Pat Buchanan and David Frum whenever they say something vaguely contradictory to whatever is the line that day.
April 30, 2009 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Neppell has to answer the phone, take the garbage out, clean the breakroom and the bathroom (where Micheal's aim is probably as off target as both of their politics) while Leahy is always showing up for work late and gets to go on the teevee (such as it is) on PJMTV using the TCOT name that Neppell so totally came up with by himself. It's just not fair!!!
And now Leahy won't even tweet him back? Sure he's probably on a "Spector stabbed us in the back" weeklong bender but the least he could do is let his boyfriend, er business partner know he's not dead in a ditch somewhere. Is that too much to ask?
April 30, 2009 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pretty much sums it up. . .
April 30, 2009 5:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
That sounds like quite a spat going on between the Top (sic) Conservatives.
April 30, 2009 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is Top Conservatives that new reality show on Fox?
April 30, 2009 10:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously, only one or two top/bottom jokes from a "top conservative" included literally in the name of the group.
Perhaps the reality really has lapped the irony or maybe were just fatigued from all the teabagging.
April 30, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
It should be #tbag, or more accurately, #dbag
April 30, 2009 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or maybe #(_)(_)
April 30, 2009 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice one! To be even more accurate: #(_)*(_)
April 30, 2009 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
The best line in this whole post:
That was freaking hilarious. Seriously I'm in tears. hahahahah.....
April 30, 2009 5:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, no, no,
The very next line:
>And then today, everything came to a head.
April 30, 2009 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're so right! Ha!
April 30, 2009 9:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tax Cut Or Torture!
April 30, 2009 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a waste of time.
April 30, 2009 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
They Can't Overcome Truth
April 30, 2009 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
^ that one wins.
April 30, 2009 8:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm rather surprised you only noticed the tcot tag a few months ago; right-wingers have been using it on Twitter since at least early November and very successfully, unfortunately.
As of today, 825 right-wingers registered at wefollow.com as users of that tag; those users have a combined 937,427 followers. And you can bet most of them also use the tag, but haven't registered at wefollow.
They've been very organized; much of the tea party idiocy both nationally and locally was done via Twitter.
Now some are gravitating towards #rs, for the Red State blog; hope they continue to fracture.
April 30, 2009 8:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm flabbergasted at this "we've got to be on Twitter!" craze that the Republicans are on. Where I work, I hear Republicans say "We've got to get on Twitter and Facebook!!!" That is so stupid. Twitter and Facebook are merely the latest greatest way to spread something. If you have a great idea, you can spread it really quick. If you have terrible ideas, twisted logic, backwards craven philosophy, and your a moron...you can SPREAD that fact REALLY FAST by using Facebook and Twitter.
Please, be my guest.
April 30, 2009 9:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very true seahawk, but that is only until the rational people get past the fb/twitter fad and move on. As shown here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2HAroA12w
Once there are no more normal people on it, the wingnuttery can feed off of each other like bacteria.
April 30, 2009 9:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I remember when blogs and blogging were just fads, too -- 12 years ago.
I honestly don't know why left-wingers, who should be embracing new and creative ways to connect to others and share information, feel the need to look down their noses at tools like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube.
Right-wingers are jumping on these tools and using them; the Left better get off its ass and start doing the same.
May 1, 2009 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
.......spread things around really fast
Just like herpes!
May 1, 2009 1:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is blatantly homophobic!
Now, I'm horned up! Where's that dildo?
April 30, 2009 9:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought "conservatives" didn't believe in anything that happened after the 11th century.
May 1, 2009 12:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
To effectively bullshit, you need more column inches.
May 1, 2009 5:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Looks like it's more of a "Michael Steele fail" than a regular fail. It's the fail that won't quit. The site now reads:
May 1, 2009 11:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
To all the above posters;
FUNNY!
I enjoyed reading every post here. (my favorite blog!)
May 1, 2009 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps you should stop claiming this isn't serious business every time your cover it.
May 4, 2009 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink