Connecticut Congressman Chris Murphy had a case of Bieber fever, but he's feeling much better now.
Here's where the story begins. Murphy, who would like to become Connecticut's junior senator, has a Twitter account. Who doesn't these days? But unlike many members of Congress, Murphy actually manages his own Twitter feed. "There's no filter," spokesperson Kristen Bossi told the Hartford Courant, "Chris tweets everything."
And that's where things take a turn for the unusual. Apparently Rep. Murphy is a reader of Rolling Stone and caught Justin Bieber's interview with the magazine. In the interview, Bieber apparently sings the praises of his native Canada's government-funded health care system. What self-respecting liberal wouldn't jump all over that? Murphy tweeted a link to the article to the Huffington Post saying "Bieber on health care."
But what Murphy missed in the interview was Bieb's stance on abortion. Turns out the teen pop uberstar is anti-abortion. That's not what Murphy wants in his campaign profile, so an hour later, he sent out this tweet: "Oh wait ... just heard what Biebs said about abortion. Ugh." He even used the hashtags #timetobequietagainjustin and #bieberfevercured.
The whole sordid twitter affair caught the eye of the New York Observer's Daniel D'Addario. "Why," D'Addario wrote, "is a Congressman--one running for Senator--consulting Justin Bieber for political insight?"
Only time will tell if Murphy can weather the firestorm left behind by Biebergate.