Pat Powers predictably snarkificates on U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson's opening of a Twitter account:
...isn’t raising his profile though the use of social media a political move for someone viewed by many Democrats as the future savior of the South Dakota Democratic Party? And wouldn’t an increased profile keep his name in play…… say, if a current candidate for US Senate named Rick Weiland were to drop out of the race unexpectedly?
I’m just saying [Pat Powers, "Non-Political Brendan Johnson Now on Twitter @Brendan_SD. In a Non-Political Way," Dakota War College, 2013.06.18].
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Pat. You're just saying the same nonsense you've been peddling for months with your oxygen-wasting Brendan-bashing and thoroughly debunked placeholder hypothesis.
Google "Twitter U.S. Attorney." You'll find all sorts of U.S. Attorneys (Massachusetts, Connecticut, North Texas) doing the same thing Brendan Johnson is doing: using social media to connect with the public he serves. Heck, Pat's old boss, Secretary of State Jason Gant, does the same thing. Are we to dismiss the social media accounts Pat set up for Jason as blatant politicking on the public dime (an activity on which Pat and Jason are experts)?
Powers's criticism of U.S. Attorney Johnson's adoption of social media (hey! Brendan's on Facebook, too!) is hypocritical and inimical to open government. Instead of needlessly and baselessly impugning his motives (which will only drive more politicians away from social media), we should welcome Johnson and all other public officials to speak directly to the people they serve through the wonders of the Web.
seems to me that Powers has a hard time talking about the real issues. He can criticize everything and offer no solutions. Typical
I dunno, Owen. He seemed to have had all kinds of solutions in his last government job. None of them involved public service, is all.
Pat probably thinks that Brendan should delete all of his online content, then have a co-worker post for him on work time. Wasn't that his approach in the SOS office? ;-)