Not since the days of Tip O'Neill have I been so fascinated by the role of The Speaker Of The House.

There is something refreshing about Nancy Pelosi, even if I don't agree with everything she does. Like taking the Impeachment of George W. Bush off the table in 2006. Or letting her party give George W. Bush a final victory by giving retroactive immunity to phone companies for breaking the law under his watch with the latest approval of the Federal Intelligence & Surveillance Act known also as FISA.

If I push that aside though, I have the same reaction that Michelle Cottle has about her when writing one of the best profiles of The Madam Speaker :

Now, having smiled, sweated, and strategized her way to the top, the speaker is savoring her burgeoning reputation as a power broker and all-around political badass. While she may not be the person who killed the Bush presidency (that honor goes to the president himself), Pelosi has of late emerged as the chief figure propelling his slide into political oblivion-- blocking his bills, stiff-arming his congressional compatriots, and reminding everyone of how lame the duck has become. In much the same fashion, her status as party eminence has been burnished, particularly on the left, by her tie-ups and stare-downs with Team Hillary. Thwarting the will of both an opposition president and the most fearsome political machine in her own party, Pelosi is now being touted as one of the most powerful speakers in modern history. It is a particularly sweet victory for a woman who has spent her political career striving to prove she can hold her own with the big boys.

One of the things I've learned about Nancy Pelosi is that she is a fast learner and a woman who is not afraid to try new things. She was one of the first people in Congress to actually staff a blog, even dropping in on it and writing posts herself from time to time. She also was one of the first higher ups on The Hill to get an online outreach director to work bloggers and other political digiterrati. She particularly keen on what organizations like The Sunlight Foundation are doing to open up the political process in Congress to citizens-at-large.

So it's with interest and curiosity that I urge you to check out AskTheSpeaker.org. It is a website put together by the good people of Netroots Nation, the largest gathering of online activists in the United States.

Gina Cooper scored a victory by getting Nancy Pelosi to appear on the event as one of the keynote speakers. They will "gather around breakfast" on Saturday the 19th at 9:00 in the morning and shoot the breeze about politics over bagels and coffee. Well, at least the attendees will.

To make sure that the community of activists got an opportunity to choose the questions to be asked to Ms. Pelosi, they set up a site where people can pose their questions and have anybody vote for them. All you have to do is register with the site, write up your questions and encourage others to vote for it up.

What's interesting is that it's a concept that I heard Pelosi is interested to see unfold. It's the kind of new tools she asks her staff take note for potential future implementation in their work.

If only she had had that before voting for that FISA bill.

The third annual gathering of the Netroots (formerly known as the YearlyKos Convention) will be held July 17-20 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. Netroots Nation 2008 will include panels led by national and international experts; identity, issue and regional caucuses; prominent political, issue and policy-oriented speakers; a 26,000-square-foot interactive exhibit hall; a progressive film screening series; and the most concentrated gathering of progressive bloggers to date.