From msnbc.com's Carrie Dann
@scotus on Twitter? #notsomuch. 

It hasn't been a such a great week for those who'd like to dismantle a persistent stereotype about the statesmen who roam the halls of power in Washington: some of them are a little bit awed and confused by technology.

Exhibit A: On Thursday, in a scene reminiscent of many American families' multigenerational Thanksgiving dinners, lawmakers and members of the nation's highest court discussed their familiarity with "twitting."

In a hearing about administrative support for the judiciary system, subcommittee chairman Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) asked two Supreme Court justices if either of them have "considered 'tweeting' or 'twitting.'"

"I don't even know what it is," Justice Antonin Scalia responded. "I've heard it talked about."

Scalia, 74, shruggingly added that his unfamiliarity with the social networking site might explain his wife's pet name for him: "Mr. Clueless."

Justice Stephen Breyer, 71, was much more familiar with the social networking site. He noted that his son introduced him to Twitter during the Iranian election protests last summer. He was transfixed, he said, for two hours as he read "Twitters" from Iranians using the medium to document the demonstrations. "It's not something that's going to go away," Breyer predicted. 

(The court is not exactly known for its savvy about cutting-edge gadgetry. TV cameras are still banned from covering its proceedings. And Chief Justice John Roberts was the butt of jokes -- perhaps unfairly -- after his questioning during one oral argument at the court appeared to betray some confusion about the difference between email and pager messages.)

The justices' more-than-140-character exchange happened amidst another barrage of ridicule targeting a Capitol Hill denizen, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), who told a home-state newspaper that he is unfamiliar with ATM fees because he'd never used an ATM. In the interview, Nelson added that he does use plastic to pay for gas and groceries, so he does "know about the holograms." (The cyber-chuckles were enough to prompt Nelson's spokesman to issue a statement to underscore that the 69-year-old lawmaker "understands that many Americans, including many Nebraskans, are struggling to make ends meet and use their ATM cards for convenience and their credit cards to stretch their budgets.")

Of course, Congress is rife with counter-examples to illustrate some lawmakers' embrace of all things virtual. Last week, House Republicans launched a project called YouCut that allows Web users to vote on spending cuts that the GOP pledges to bring to the House floor for a vote once a week. And plenty of lawmakers-turned-social-media-mavens are "twitting," including septuagenarians Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and John McCain (R-AZ).