#PeterTheTweeter

Lt. Governor Peter Kinder has gone out of his way today to spread allegations that unnamed Democratic leaders are committing acts of "bribery" and "blackmail" to threaten other Democratic lawmakers. 

Kinder doesn't have any evidence to back this up, and hasn't explained who he thinks is bribing and blackmailing whom.  I asked via Twitter who his is accusing of such crimes, but (you'll be surprised to learn) he has not responded. 

Let's assume for a moment that there is actually a strategy guiding Peter Kinder's crazy Twitter behavior.

Very few of his tweets have anything to do with Missouri government. Instead, our  Lieutenant Governor spends a great deal of time sharing his profound thoughts on decidedly federal issues. Looking at his hysterical tweets in recent days, Kinder has:

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and his Deputy weren't interested in supporting property tax breaks for new homeowners at this morning's MHDC meeting, but they did find time to tweet about far more important matters.

As of 12:45pm, Kinder has not found the time to tweet an explanation for why he cast the sole vote against the program for Missouri families.

Lt. Governor's Peter Kinder "calculated" strategy to be more effective and less ridiculous continues apace with this breathless tweet:

Kinder, as you might expect, is way off base. The EPA ruled today that greenhouse gases endanger public health – not exactly an extreme idea – which will allow the agency to regulate emissions IF the Senate fails to adopt clean energy legislation.  A 2007 Supreme Court ruling rebuked the Bush administration and required the EPA to determine under the Clean Air Act if carbon emissions had an impact on public health. 

The ruling does not require any immediate reaction, but does provide for new options if the Senate chooses not to reduce emissions legislatively.

Wednesday afternoon, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder took to the twittersphere to express his outrage about the charging of Post-Dispatch reporter Jake Wagman for allegedly interfering with the police response to the scuffle outside the August 6 Russ Carnahan forum. @PeterKinder wrote:  "YOU get charged but NOT the thugs who beat Gladney?"

If Kinder had sought information outside his Twitter feed, he would have learned that a total of six people had been charged with misdemeanor ordinance violations for their behavior at the town hall, including two people who allegedly scuffled and injured Kenneth Gladney. 

This may be one of those crazy tweets Peter Kinder wishes he hadn't published when he decides that he no longer needs to pander to the extreme base of his party, and decides it's time to look like a reasonable person again. Regurgitating Re-tweeting a message from Ed Martin yesterday morning, Kinder wrote:

The massive fraud exposed RT: @Ed4Congress Emails suggest that UK Scientists fudged data on global warming http://bit.ly/6pOEkL

The Missourian has a really interesting story this morning with different perspectives on the use of Twitter and social media in yesterday’s purported hostage situation. Here’s what the Lieutenant Governor had to say:

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder was one of the first people to tweet about the incident, which he said he could see parts of out of his office window in the capital building…

He said he decided to tweet about it because he thought it was “important to notify the world.”

“This was obviously a public event,” Kinder said. “And being Twitter, it seemed appropriate.”

First, Kinder couldn’t see much from his Capitol office window beyond cars with flashing lights and law enforcement personnel moving around (I took the photo above less than a block from the corner from Madison and East Capitol – you can barely see Kinder’s 2nd floor window in the distance).

What did we learn from Tuesday's hostage non-event? Well, the media should always get reliable information before reporting it. And mostly they do.

But on Tuesday, media outlets were not the parties spreading incorrect information. That unseemly role was grabbed by a reckless statewide official and his staff, all craving attention and publicity.

With the imprimatur of the Office of Lieutenant Governor and the immediacy of social media, Lite Gov. Peter Kinder went off not even half-cocked, Twittering about supposed hostage-taking and unconfirmed reports of shots fired in a crowded state office building. Kinder was babbling live about the situation on St. Louis’ Fox2, ending with a boast that he was first to Tweet.

Who can possibly explain why Kinder thought such babbling would be helpful in this fluid and uncertain situation? It speaks volumes that Fox2 has taken down the link to its silly interview with the hyperventilating lieutenant governor. (Fear not: it's still available on YouTube.)

A short dispatch from The Star's Steve Kraske, posted here in full:

How false stories get spread

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican, tweeted today that President Obama told ABC that jail time is appropriate punishment for not buying health insurance.

Except that Obama didn't say that.

The Lieutenant Governor could do himself a favor by setting Twitter aside for a few days/months/years.