Republicans Trying to Shut Down House

C-SPAN reports that Republican Minority Leader John Boehner has led a walkout of Republican Congresspersons in an attempt to deny quorum, as a protest against Democrat unwillingness to approve a version of the Protect America Act which grants retroactive immunity to telecommunications corporations who cooperated with the White House's extralegal wiretapping operations from 2001 to 2007.

Majority leader Steny Hoyer has announced that a Democratic bill which authorizes wiretaps- but under the sole authority of the Foriegn Intelligence Surveillance Act courts, and with no immunity for the telecoms- will be put to a vote on Thursday.

As I type this the fourth vote is being taken on whether or not to adjourn the House for lack of quorum. Considering that there are nearly 300 votes against adjournment, I can only conclude that Boehner's walkout is not particularly successful.

What annoys me is that none of my regular sources of news is covering this story- not CNN, not MSNBC, not the Houston Chronicle, none of my preferred blogs, NOBODY. Not even Fox News.

I should have thought that Republicans trying to shut down the federal government again would be news, dammit... but all I can find is goddamn Eliot Spitzer crap.

UPDATE: The fourth motion to adjourn got only four votes versus well over three hundred in opposition. The reason I flipped over to C-SPAN in the first place- an attempt by the House to override Bush's veto of a ban on torture- will go forward, and almost certainly fail against united Republican support of torturing those unable to resist President George W. Bush.