According to the latest on Twitter, the House Republicans asked in a press conference for President Bush to call Congress for a special session. (Sweet job perk.) This follows up on public outcry to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office that asks for her to reconvene the House and, y'know, ask politicians to do their jobs rather than hang out on vacation. Which many of us can't afford thanks to high gas prices. That Democrats want to do nothing about. In other words: same old, same old.

Why is this important?

Democrats consistently blocked energy legislation from coming to the House. Pelosi admitted that she didn't want a Republican energy plan (involving offshore drilling) coming up for a vote. Why? She's saving the planet. Also, it's her gavel and she ain't giving it away until you pry it from her cold, lifeless fingers.

Guess what, Nancy? That isn't in your job description!

It would be one thing for Democrats--and Nancy Pelosi--to oppose offshore drilling (or any energy legislation!) on its merits. It is quite another for Nancy to decide what will and won't be law, and what will and won't be considered, just because she can do it procedurally.

Paying a lot for gas makes me mad, but listening to one person ask as though she gets to decide the national agenda makes me furious. So even if you don't agree with Republicans on policy, you should agree with them on principle.

This is government by and for the people, not a dog and pony show led up by Nancy Pelosi.

The House Republicans continued their self-proclaimed revolution today. (If you haven't heard about it yet, check out posts here and here.) They say they're going to be at it all week--all month even. Nothing more "real world" than that.

House members today continue to give speeches as bloggers and Twitter-ers cover the events at a frenetic pace. The hub of the activity is DontGo.us, a handy way of compiling the tweets of everyone paying attention to the event. Since the revoluton isn't being televised, the internet is the only way the word is getting out.

But the most important part of this story is that the revolution would not be possible without the hundreds of people across the country pushing it forward. The mainstream media really isn't pushing it. Politicians have limited ways of pushing it since they're cut off from video, audio, and photos on the House floor. So it's the people typing away on their computers or furiously checking their Crackberries/PDAs that are making this happen.

We need to keep it going.

Follow the Twitter feeds. Call Nancy Pelosi (202-225-0100) and ask for a vote on energy legislation. But more than that, tell your friends and family what is happening in Washington DC.

Just because the revolution isn't being televised doesn't mean it won't be heard.

I was really proud to be a Republican today. The House Republicans stayed on the floor to protest the Democrats leaving Congress for a five-week vacation without considering energy legislation. Finally, Republicans acted like Republicans and stood up for a good cause. Quite literally.

I want to write up a longer post tomorrow when I've had time to figure out just why this struck such a chord with me and where I think the enthusiasm and energy should go in the future. So in the meantime, let me recommend the following.

• The brunt of the reporting was done via Twitter. Look at the Twitter-wide discussion and also the feeds from politicians in the middle of the fray (I mentioned them all here). For a little Friday humor, I'd recommend the Twitter feed from" Speaker Pelosi"--clever minds at work?
• The DAG team was up with video and audio clips since we all got involved--and made phone calls to Pelosi's office to ask for a vote on energy legislation. Check out David's call to Nancy Pelosi and my impromptu video discussion with Elizabeth, who has guest posted here. That video discussion also featured my pledge to donate to any candidate carried out by Capitol Hill police; unfortunately, no one was (that I know of now).
• Watch the evening news and see if the story finally hit the "mainstream media." What was an online frenzy all day has just started hitting radio and television in the past few hours. As I wrote in a post on TechRepublican: this revolution was not televised.
• And for the love of all that is good in the world, if you didn't get the reference in the title of this post, go watch the movie this weekend.

This morning the House of Representatives adjourned until September 8. In doing so, it adjourned before it considered any energy legislation to support offshore drilling and drilling in ANWR so that we could pay less at the pump.

The House Republicans were/are angry. Really angry. Because they think (rightfully, I believe) that most Americans support offshore drilling and want Congress to, y'know, just consider it. Maybe. Because that might be in their job description or something.

Instead, the Democrats in Congress successfully blocked attempts to consider energy legislation and bounced from the House ASAP. I like to think of it as cops busting a house party (parents and future employers: I only know about such things from movies). Except now the American people are the cops, the Republicans are the kids looking innocent in the front yard, and the Democrats are sprinting through the woods.

But thanks to the internet, Republicans are fighting back. Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) has been on Twitter, a micro-blogging site, since this morning. What he's reporting now (and it is reporting!) is that although the Democrats turned off the lights and left the building, the Republicans are still inside demanding a vote on energy.

It probably won't work but I love the spirit and I love the idea: "when they turn off the mike, we can still communicate." Who says the internet isn't the future of politics?

I like plans. I really like plans that promise to lower what I pay at the gas pump.

Because right now my (irrational) coping mechanism is to buy $20 of gas a time in DC and then wait until I'm in a cheaper place to fill up. Also, sometimes cry about the books, pet toys, and shoes I could have purchased were gas not $4+. I don't think I'm alone in this--except maybe for the pet toys part.

Anyway, fortunately for me and my four-footed friends, I was pleased to see House Republicans "unveil" their energy bill: the American Energy Act (H.R. 6656). The full text is forthcoming online, but the high points are outlined.

I don’t always (or, okay, usually) agree with President Bush so I’d like to enjoy this (brief) moment that I do.

From a press conference this morning about gas prices and why he wouldn’t push Americans to conserve (via Politico):
"They're [consumers are] smart enough to figure out whether they're going to drive less or not. I mean, you know, it's interesting what the price of gasoline has done," Bush said at a news conference in the White House press room, "is it caused people to drive less. That's why they want smaller cars: They want to conserve. But the consumer's plenty bright. The marketplace works.”

This reminded me of when I was in North Carolina last summer for a record-breaking drought. Local governments urged people to conserve, conserve, conserve (and made it mandatory) but did not raise prices or adopt a tiered pricing scheme. What happened? Since they didn’t take a hit in their pocketbooks, most people didn’t conserve all that very much. The people I saw really caring about each drop of precious water were the ones pumping from wells.

So what’s the point? When resources become scarce, it isn’t the government’s job to ration them—or even worry about rationing them. They’re most likely going to get it wrong and, with money and power involved, they’re most likely going to do it in a skewed, unequal way.

Here's my favorite four-letter word: TGIF. With that, I leave you with some of my favorite tidbits of the day so far and a promise to have more up here next week. Crazy week y'all. TGIF.

• POLITICS + OBAMA -- I absolutely love this Wall Street Journal piece from Matt Miller. It offers a great overview of issues that should sell as "common sense" ideas: competitive pay for teachers; lower corporate taxes; and health savings accounts. Check it out. It's worth the read.
• ELECTION 2008 -- I love cool new toys and Map the Candidates is just that. I'll just let them explain it: "Use the timeline and checkboxes to change your date range and candidates. Click on a map marker or news item to watch media from that stop." Funny, this also reminds me of Where is the Red, the College Republicans' national summer road trip.
• ENERGY + OIL -- Oil prices reached an even higher record today: $147 a barrel. So expect your gas prices to keep rising. And if that makes you mad? Check out Newt Gingrich's Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less campaign. The title should be self-explanatory.