Politics: The revolution will be Twittered
In case you missed it, and you might have if you rely on the mainstream media exclusively for news, there was a bit of a revolt today in Congress.
There’s been debating new energy legislation in Congress, but the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives adjourned before passing anything. This irked House GOP members, who have been arguing for a chance to vote to allow more off-shore oil drilling and increasing domestic oil supplies. Democrats are arguing for an end to oil speculation and to force oil companies to drill on property they already lease. The result is a lack of comprehensive energy legislation.
So, with the chambers otherwise empty as the Democratic members were elsewhere, the GOPers staged a little Capitol Hill Tea Party:
Inside the House chamber, the microphones were off, the House had stopped TV feeds to C-Span and the lights dimmed after the pre-noon vote to adjourn for the August recess. That didn’t deter Republicans, who one after another rose to demand that Congress stay in session until it does something about high gas prices.
Unlike a normal session where the rules of decorum are strictly enforced, GOP lawmakers and their aides who filled the chamber clapped, chanted, gave standing ovations and booed the Democrats.
“Madame Speaker, where art thou?” shouted out Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, in a glancing rhetorical shot at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Where oh where has Congress gone?”
It was a rare treat for tourists. Republicans invited many, in their shorts and sandals, into the chamber, usually strictly off-limits, to better hear the revivalist-like speeches.
What isn’t getting mentioned is how this event was covered live … on the Internet:
How did social media play a part? Pelosi had shut down all the cameras in the house including those on CSPAN. John Culberson (R-TX) began streaming video through QIK from his phone. (See: http://qik.com/video/147408)
Then others joined in. The search tag #dontgo was started and Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23dontgo) and numerous people started reporting from inside and out the House.
I am not sure how many “Tweets†were sent out but I would guess in the THOUSANDS.
This entire event was captured and cataloged through Social Networking and Social Media outlets by the people directly involved in the action.
So, on one hand, we have the leader of the Democrats turning off cameras to keep dissent off the air, and we have guys like Culbertson using new technology to bypass this censorship. By the way, House rules prohibit members like Culbertson from posting information on any Website that isn’t controlled by the House. Culbertson openly violated these rules, saying he wants to make the House more transparent.
For this and other reasons, I have become a huge fan of Twitter. My Twitter page is http://twitter.com/peoriapundit. I have found an excellent way to network with people who share your interests. And as it’s turned out, it’s a great way to save Democracy from over-officious Democrats.
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 am
It was an interesting exercise and probably good for democracy.
I hate it when I’m forced to agree with Republicans. But drilling is one of the things we have to do. Not the only thing, but one of the things.
The Democrats’ worst argument is the one I hear most now: We can’t get any oil from that drilling for five or six or 10 years. Yeah, so? The inability of government to do anything that doesn’t result in instant gratification is the reason we’re in this mess.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:36 am
I heard it covered on one national news radio program. (FOX) That is one of the mainstream media outlets that did cover it-can’t vouch for the others though. The Drudge Report did have it up this afternoon too.
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
[...] Pundit has a wrap-up of the story here – but what is so revolutionary about this story isn’t the House GOP revolt … it is the [...]
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Let me see if I understand this. The G.O.P., the party awash in Big Oil PAC money, the party whose leader holds hands with “our Friend” the Saudi Prince who has cut production the past several years, and whose party when they controlled the House provided numerous tax breaks and subsidies to Big Oil now wants to do something about oil prices? Drilling in the Arctic is a cover for a massive give-away in public lands, lands that we own. Think people. BTW how is more drilling going to help reverse the effects of global warming? Thank god we have two oil execs in the White House!!!!
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
We don’t need any more DRILLING (although I, for one, am NOT opposed to ANWR), and we have plenty of land available for them to drill on anyway.
What we need is more REFINING, and this again is where the oil companies and GOP lie to us. NO ONE is keeping them from building new refineries. They simply refuse to meet simple regulations designed to keep big oil from completly ruining our air, land, and water.
Big oil turns in more record profits every quarter in part because they refuse to spend any money on infrastructure, instead preferring to continue to use aging refineries and purchasing oil from elsewhere.
The entire “the Dems won’t let us drill!” argument is another silly GOP ruse to make it appear that Dems and Liberals are the enemy. We are not. Period.
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I hate typos. That word was obviously supposed to be “completely”. My bad.
August 2nd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Increasing domestic oil production is as much of solution to the energy crisis as increasing domestic production of cocaine and heroin is a solution to the problem of drug abuse in this country.
3% of the world’s oil reserves … 25% of the world’s oil utilization. Republicans are supposed to be the fiscal conservatives. Do the frickin’ math.
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Any idea that Republicans are fiscal conservatives is now officially dead.
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:03 am
haha…the post took on a life of its own.
August 3rd, 2008 at 3:39 am
The point to this post isn’t the positions of the participants. It’s the use of technology to bypass the whims of arbitrary authority and to shed light on the inner workings of government.
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:07 am
So the Republicans never shut off the Dems on topics they wanted to debate when they held the reigns of power? {SNORT} I’m not saying that was ever right – it’s tyranny of the majority – but that’s how the House rules work. The temper tantrums of the Repubs ring a little hollow when most of them gleefully participated in such antics before 2006.
Besides, it’s not like the idea of offshore drilling isn’t getting air time. The Republican candidate for POTUS has it as the center of his proposed energy policy. It’s an essential pandering point of the McCain campaign.
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I figured as much Billy…but boy does oil get people hot.
August 3rd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
[...] The other day, I wrote about how the Democrat-controlled Congress went home and tried to turn off the lights on debate about energy policy. Dissident Republicans staged a Twitter revolt. [...]
August 4th, 2008 at 9:41 am
(insert upside-down exclamation point here)Viva la Revolucion!
I’m fed up with the Republicans, though, who wouldn’t push through their agenda when they had both houses and the presidency. We should be drilling in ANWR by now.
BJ is correct about refining capacity. Would reduce the swings in price when any refinery loses capacity.
Another thing that would help is to standardize the formulation across the state, and maybe across the MidWest, to help stabilize prices. It’s ridiculous that different mixes are required in different counties. Let’s just all adopt the same standard (the most stringent one, even!) and make things simpler.