Twitter Campaign Lauds Laxer Rules For Congress 2.0

Though many were disappointed yesterday in Representative John Culberson's (R-TX) Sunlight Foundation registered people behind the Sunlight Foundation, though, are what you might call "Internet savvy." See if you recognize these names: board members Craig Newmark and Esther Dyson; advisors Lawrence Lessig, Kim Scott, and Jimmy Wales; funding in part by the Omidyar Network.

In case you don't recognize their names, here are some others they're associated with: craigslist, CNET, Stanford, Google, Wikipedia, eBay. Sort of a who's-who of successful Web ventures.

They appear to believe Culberson was right about his outrage against what were later revealed to be existing regulations, even if he sort of shot the wrong dog (or donkey, if you will). LetOurCongressTweet thinks the rules should be changed, too, and have launched what could be the first ever petition Robin Sloan nearly convinces me it's possible in this piece about former House member Matthew Smoot's pioneering of an online forum for his district to chat about what was important to them. This passage was choice:

Tad Clawson emerged from the codebase to write a signature post that articulated what we’d all been thinking:

"Direct democracy or representative republic? It’s a false dichotomy. With these new tools, we can harness the best of both: Matt is as much a communicator as he is a legislator. Maybe that’s what representatives should become: Nodes where the collective intelligence of their district comes together, coalesces, and finds expression.

This is a smart country."

Of course, like forums often do, Smoot's Forum 12 became an unwieldy battleground he wouldn't have had time for anyway once he reached the Senate side of the Capitol. (Apparently, Senators are busier than Representatives, not having time to run forums or watch "Lost" in their pajamas—you should read Dan Burton (R-IN) tweeted his first message, and once he was finished with an energy policy discussion (what? you think all he has time for is Twitter?), he signed (tweeted) the petition statement to change the rules. Not bad for the first day.

Update: Looks like the Speaker of the House is on board, too, via