The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Yes, according to Representative Hoekstra, this thing looks like that thing. Oh, and according to John Culberson, some jerkoff Rep from Texas, the attempts by Iranians to publicize news the government doesn't want released—acts that put their very lives at risk—are just like how congressmen Tweeted about how the Democrats were mean to them, yesterday.

How incredibly self-deluded do you have to be to say these things, in public?

"The issue itself is almost mundane," Roll Call explains. Love that hedging "almost." You know, the future of the free world might depend on allowing members of congress to vlog, we better leave that for the reader to decide. How did this particular negotiation fall apart? Did John McCain step in at the last minute to broker a deal, again?

At one point, Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.), who heads the franking commission, accused Republicans of twisting the issue and misrepresenting the commission’s proposal.

“Yesterday it was OK. Today it’s not. Make up your mind,” he yelled. “Honestly, if you want to make a deal, pick up the phone or find me on the floor. This is not the cooperative way to do it.”

The problem is Senators are not allowed to use Senate resources for politicking. House Dems want the same rule applied—no ads on members YouTube accounts. The debate fell apart over interpretation of that rule and over a seeming violation of parliamentary procedure by a Republican.

The attempted negotiations and the subsequent fiery meeting seem to have lessened the prospects for any action during this session. In a statement released after Thursday’s meeting, Capuano said the meeting “made it clear to me that further review is required.”

“[W]e do not agree on interpretation of that language,” the statement read. “Apparently, Republican Members of the Commission believe there should be no restrictions whatsoever on where a Member can post official web video. Democratic Members believe that official web video should appear on sites free from commercial or political advertising.”

Ha ha ha and there the debate ends. The Dems won't just push a bill through for whatever reason, because then they'll get in trouble or something, and that is the story of how Schoolhouse Rock lied to you about bills, and congress.

1. Facebook stays independent and private, strikes a meaningful deal that legitimizes its business plan, and buys a startup.
2. Born out of the writers' strike, at least one "Funny or Die" style site gets big buzz and maybe even gets bought, but it fails to produce any videos near the quality of FoD or Super Deluxe.
3. Google releases some limited version of voice search beyond GOOG 411. During the year, the company's stock tops $800.
4. Digg sells to a major media company for at least $200 million, and founder Kevin Rose starts a non-web-based company.
5. YouTube announces it's adding HD video, but the feature doesn't arrive until 2009.
6. Gawker Media, publisher of this site, starts a men's site and a Web show.
7. Yahoo suffers major layoffs, leading the press to dub it the next AOL.
8. Yet AOL is spun off and reframes itself. At the end of 2008, the company's future is still uncertain.
9. Apple releases a second-generation iPhone, and at least one New York Times article tries to draw a "middle class/rich" line between those who upgrade and those who stick with the first generation.
10. A new videoblogger emerges as the go-to example for slick independent daily vlogging, following Amanda Congdon and Ze Frank.
11. Tumblr, the pared down blogging service, enjoys the popularity that 2007 brought Twitter.
12. Twitter remains independent and spins off a new service.
13. The Internet again fails to drive one presidential candidate to success. So does Chuck Norris.
14. Jason Calacanis, still running his online directory Mahalo, starts another project.
15. A new meme started in a geeky part of the web infiltrates the "normal" population even more deeply than LOLcats.
16. Yet another e-book reader comes out and no one cares.
17. Blog search engine Technorati collapses after failing to get enough funding to stay afloat.
18. The Wall Street Journal announces it will soon be free online.
19. Blog platform maker Six Apart, having spun off LiveJournal and rearranged its exec staff, gets bought.
20. Dell screws up the good will it won in 2007 with another customer-service or bad-parts scandal.
21. Net Neutrality takes another hit from a telco-friendly Congressional bill.
22. Second Life plods along.
23. The TechCrunch blog network lands a regular TV appearance, if not a show.
24. The country tires of the last round of famous-for-being-famous celebs, and gossip blogger Perez Hilton's TV show gets cancelled.
25. A minor medical incident renews the "can Apple survive without Steve Jobs" argument.

Looks like HP chairwoman Patricia Dunn and Outside Counsel Larry Sonsini, the two perps of a possibly illegal investigation of board members and reporters, will soon have their day in court. The two were asked to testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on September 28. HP General Counsel Ann Baskins and investigator Ronald DeLia were also sent voluntary letters to attend the hearings and use it as "an opportunity to be fully open and transparent." Why letters? The congressional committee can't officially subpoena. Still, Dunn and Sonsini might not want to flake on this hearing.

Congress Asks HP Chairman, Exec To Testify [CNET News]