Congress Does YouTube

Move over Barney. That cute Barney Cam of you and Miss Beazley running all over the Bush White House is so declasse. Even that footage of you, with your terrier temper, biting a reporter, has fallen from favor. Change is in the air, and there’s a new animal cam making the rounds in Washington.

No, it’s not the new White House dog, more of a springtime addition to the Obama family. I’m referring to the Cat Cam belonging to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in which the lovely lady from San Francisco actually uses video of her cats in her office to Rickroll viewers as she announces a new development in the intersection of politics and policy: Congress is going on YouTube.

For those who’ve never been Rickrolled before, it’s an amusing prank in which viewers are tricked into watching Rick Astley sing his 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” by some spellbinding intro.

Pelosi’s cats meow over her gavel and look out the window at the Washington Monument just before she Rickrolls you. The cat cam is attracting attention on YouTube – nearly 250,000 views so far, with more than 4,000 comments ranging from snide to entranced.

But the really amazing thing happening on YouTube is that members of the House and Senate – or at least someone on their staff – will take your questions now. Each of the 435 members will have their own site, reachable through The House Hub (http://youtube.com/househub) and The Senate Hub.

So let them know how you feel. 

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