During yesterday’s discussion of the Stop Online Piracy Act, House representative Steve King had this to tweet:

We are debating the Stop Online Piracy Act and Shiela Jackson has so bored me that I’m killing time by surfing the Internet.

Heckuva job, Stevie.

Needless to say, this is abominable behavior from anyone, let alone an elected official. His response to constituents outraged by his sentiment was simply to say that people “need to get a sense of humor”. It’s nice to see our members of Congress taking their job so seriously.

SOPA aims to provide tools that could be used to easily censor the internet, similar to China’s “Great Firewall”. This sweeping legislation, crafted with little understanding of the issues at hand, could be fatally damaging to the future of technological innovation in our country.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) is planning to filibuster the bill by reading the signatures of an online petition. It’s already passed one million signatures, and every voice is important. It’s also not too late to call, email or otherwise get the attention of your representative; Stop American Censorship makes contacting them as easy as filling out a form.

[Update] It looks like the vote on SOPA has been delayed, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) has been answering questions today on Reddit, and stresses the importance of actually speaking to your representative instead of relying on digital media to get your message across. Both SOPA, and the equally disturbing Protect IP Act, will come to a vote in the near future.