WASHINGTON, D.C. Oct. 23 (DPI) – In another sign that digital anonymity abets puerile behavior, even in high places, a 40-year-old Obama aide was fired last week after it was revealed that he had aired anonymous tweets that scathingly insulted and attacked officials inside and outside the White House.
Jofi Joseph, one of Obama’s national security advisers who apparently specialized in nuclear nonproliferation and wasn’t content keeping his acid thoughts to himself, was fired after the administration figured out he was behind the tweets, which attacked White House aides, Capitol Hill staffers and elected officials alike. The tweets went on for at least two years.
A sampling of Mr. Joseph’s tweets, according to The Daily Beast:
“I’m a fan of Obama, but his continuing reliance and dependence upon a vacuous cipher like Valerie Jarrett concerns me,” he once tweeted.
“Was Huma Abedin wearing beer goggles the night she met Anthony Wiener? Almost as bad a pairing as Samantha Powers and Cass Sunstein ….,” he tweeted on another occasion, insulting a top Clinton aide, a then Congressman, and two White House senior officials in one tweet.
Some Washington insiders characterized the episode as another example of youth and technology – and anonymity — serving as an explosive mix amid the throng of ambitious young policymakers in Washington today.
One report said the tweets by @natsecwonk were widely followed in Washington, a “guilty pleasure” as they dished out mean-spirited anonymous one-liners that Twitter is famous for. At one point during his lengthy tweet campaign, Joseph proudly called himself “Batman.”
Joseph, a former State Department staffer married to a Republican Capitol Hill aide, apologized after being outed and fired. Insiders said it will be interesting to see if Joseph finds another job in Washington.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/10/22/technology/22reuters-usa-obama-twitter.html?hp