Via the magic that is Twitter and Qik, we're being treated to a front-row seat to what is in all likelihood a congressional first -- members of the House refusing to leave the floor, and inviting reporters, tourists, and staffers to join the party. At issue are legislative proposals to allow domestic offshore oil drilling, and Republicans are staging the protest to demand that the House take up the issue. We'll point you to some coverage of this on-going situation:

Bill Richardson and -- sooprise, sooprise -- Ron Paul come out on top of Slate's vice-presidential picker; the Obama campaign is, in the words of one Dean veteran, not innovative but "extraordinarily professional;" we get a look into how professionally-made video fits into the Obama campaign; and much, much more.

Team McCain pwns the Obama campaign by tracking screen captures that show changes to the Democratic candidate's website subsection on Iraq; with an innovative and occassionally funny digital townhall, Rep. John Culberson gets one step closer to be a "real time representative;" JibJib has a new video; we highlight the latest development in the ongoing conservative battle over broadband; and much, much more.

You can never leave the safety of the beltway without missing something. More twitter-dome news breaks while I'm at the beach. The Gray Lady runs with the story but misses the point. Representative Culberson makes a constructive intervention and apologizes for going partisan. Could this be progress?

Further proof that what happens in twitter doesn't necessarily stay in twitter is the continuing controversy over the use of new technology by Congresspeople (or over Democratic attempts to silence Republican tweets).

With it's last-ditch Night of Facebook Action, the anti-FISA group that was organized to protest Barack Obama's stance on the bill is turning into a case study in "worth a try" activism; Carly Fiorina is on the trail and defending John McCain's tech cred; we take a look at a dust-up over congressional rules on third-party web tools; a Daily Kos diarist pushes back against calls for millenials to take their activism to meat space; and much, much more.

The anti-FISA protests of Barack Obama swamp Google News search results for the bill; is the House of Representatives really trying to hush up Twittering Rep. John Culberson?; British PM Gordon Brown, facing no such restrictions, is reporting back from the G8 Summit in Japan, Obama's recording of his memoir might make some radio-friendly ad-fodder this election cycle; and much, much more.

John Culberson, Republican from Houston, has taken an early but wide lead as "most connected Congressman" via twitter and Qik.

A YouTube-enabled video retrospective highlights Barack Obama's past statements on the public financing of presidential campaigns; Newt Gingrich's online petition in favor of domestic oil drilling tops a million signatures; LinkedIn's Answer tool is applied to politics; a congressman is streaming live video of his colleagues during today's FISA vote; and more.