I may have never been more proud to be a Conservative.

A crazy thing was happening today, Friday, August 1, 2008, on the floor of the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) decided to end this session of Congress so they could begin their 5-week vacation... Republicans decided they weren't quite done yet. Instead of leaving for their vacation, Republican members of the House stayed on the floor to talk about gas prices.

Pelosi, other Democrats, and their aides all took this in stride, of course:

Democratic aides were furious at the GOP stunt, and reporters were kicked out of the Speaker's Lobby, the space next to the House floor where they normally interview lawmakers.

"You're not covering this, are you?" complained one senior Democratic aide. Another called the Republicans "morons" for staying on the floor.

At times both the lights and microphones were turned off, and the cameras, which C-SPAN doesn't control, were also turned off, so no one could see what was happening. The Capitol Police even tried to kick out reports, so Missouri Republican and Minority Whip Roy Blunt came out to talk to them, thus holding off the Capitol Police.

The lights and microphones were turned back on for a short time, then back off again, at which point the Republicans cheered. They began inviting in anyone and everyone, with visitors even being down on the House floor, and members are walking up and down the isles, talking directly to visitors (which include "Boy Scouts, members of the German army, stray tourists and even members in shorts and t-shirts"), and the visitors are cheering loudly and interacting directly with the members of Congress. It's not often I wish I was sitting in the House right now listening to debates, but this is absolutely one of those times.

This is one of those times I actually feel proud of the party I belong to. This isn't something that is likely to be all over the news, since there isn't any real footage of it, and it's not something that is going to eat much of the news cycle with McCain and The Anointed One still running around out there, but I heard about it today, and a bunch of others have heard about it today, and word is slowly spreading... and now you've heard about it, too.


Edit: You can read about it in more detail, all journalist-like, here:

Clicky the linky!