President Obama continued his Asian tour today with a town-hall-style event in Shanghai. At one point, Obama took a question about Internet censorship is China specifically, whether he thought Chinese citizens should be allowed to use Twitter freely. “Well, first of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter,” Obama began. “My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone.” Actually, Obama’s fondness for obsession with his BlackBerry and, presumably, the ability to manipulate one with his thumbs is well documented, but maybe he was just being considerate by not rubbing his Internet freedom in the Chinese students’ faces. Even so, the admission that he has never once actually used Twitter, if true, means that every one of the 418 tweets on his Twitter page were authored by someone else. The vast majority of them are impersonal and openly written by a staffer anyway, but what about tweets like these?
October 9, 2009: Humbled.
November 5, 2008: We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you. Thanks
October 19, 2008: I am beyond honored. I am deeply humbled to have the support of Gen. Colin Powell. Learn more at http://tinyurl.com/6fovqf
August 29, 2007: Thinking on this 2nd anniversary of Katrina that New Orleans should become an example of what America can do when we come together.
May 31, 2007: Looking forward to watching Michelle’s interview on NBC nightly news tonight.
Was Obama really looking forward to watching his wife’s interview that night? That’s just one of many questions that the world, and Michelle Obama, will be asking now.
