Media Continues Four Day Blackout on House Republican Energy Revolt
Posted by Kelsey Golden on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Several months ago, The House Republicans put fourth an "All of the Above" energy plan titled "The American Energy Act." The bill sought to lower prices at the pump by vastly decreasing our dependence on foreign supplies of energy. Even though the bill included provisions for wind, solar, clean coal, nuclear, and alternative energy solutions in addition to drilling and polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans support such measures, the Democratic leadership of the House has refused to allow debate or a vote on the bill. Instead, they chose on Friday to go on a five week recess while their constituents continue to suffer at the pump.
In response to Nancy Pelosi’s decision to adjourn congress without considering the act, House Republicans immediately and spontaneously ceased the floor and began demanding that congress not be adjourned until they voted on the American Energy Act. Pelosi responded with an order to shut off the lights, the microphones, and turned off the CSPAN cameras in the House Chambers.
Following the congressional adjournment, several Republican Congressmen continued, without microphones, to demand that the people’s voice be heard and a vote on the act occur. Bystanders began recording video on cell phones and posting them to which is still the only way to see footage of the revolt. The minutes became hours and as word spread, more Republican Congressmen began filtering back into the chambers to participate, having canceled their flights home. After ordering Pizza, they remained for another five hours before retiring to their Washington DC residences and not before vowing to return on Monday.
As I anxiously awaited the evening news, I was certain the revolt would be one of the top stories. But from my local news to the national network news, there was not a single mention of what house republicans were continuing to do even as the news networks went live! I then awaited the next morning’s paper and I was certain that the story would be on the front page. Alas, the story was not in the paper at all! Sunday morning - more of the same. Across the Internet, I’ve found token mention of the story most often in Newspaper blogs but I have yet to see the story mentioned during prime time or in an actual printed newspaper where the vast majority of American voters will notice it.
Then came Monday when the morning paper yielded no new surprises in their lack of willingness to cover the story. Despite their lack of media attention, the GOP Congressmen not only returned to the floor, they held a press conference and they vowed to stay through the week, if not the entire recess! Despite this, there was little if any mention of it in the national newspapers, the 24/7 television news networks, or the major network evening news. Below is today’s press conference, split into 3 parts:
When and if the media finally does decide to start giving this story the attention it deserves, I wonder what the headline will look like. Maybe It’ll begin with something like "Two weeks ago…"
(6 Ratings)
Filed Under: = BREAKING NEWS =, News & Politics
August 5th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Great job, Kelsey!
The blogosphere, as stated in the first video, is really pushing this issue.