Politicians Act as Professional Weather Vanes - It's Up to Us to Blow the Wind in the Right Direction

David Sirota at Cody's bookstore in Berkeley, CA June 12, 2008

This piece we shot of David Sirota back in the summer of 2008 continues to address the problems we see swarming the halls of government that affect our lives. We are pulling it out of the archives as a reminder of the work ahead of citizens to pull the reins of government so that it will perform for the people and not the special interests.

Evangelicals Undertow Drowning Republican Bastion

This video interview of author Frank Schaeffer by Rachel Maddow is worth a listen to if you want some insight into the Evangelical power hold over the Republican Party.

It was aired back in September in the lead up to the November election. In it, the former Evangelical turned critic Schaeffer describes the cultish undertow drawing the Republican Party away from what many of us call reality into "La-La land." Schaeffer says he knows of no Republican brave enough to bark down the mad dogs for whom anything good is bad because they seek negative feedback to reinforce their belief that America is being punished for its "sinfulness".

Congressman Cao Breaks from Republican Ranks Even Before Election

Polidoc interviewed Representative Cao (R-LA) on the day of his election last December and snatched a quick interview with him in this video. (this is a revised video from one posted earlier today)

Joseph Cao, Congressional Representative from Louisiana has an independent streak and won't buckle down to Republican Party rhetoric. As seen in this video on the day of his landmark election in December 2008, this lawyer hopes to represent his community even in areas that aren't considered Republican today.

On November 7, 2009, Cao, a lawyer and the first Vietnamese Representative in the history of the United States, demonstrated his willingness to break from the Republican Party rhetoric by voting for a landmark healthcare reform bill. While progressives suspect the bill will be a boon to the healthcare industry rather than the reform it had hoped, Cao's break sharpens points of difference between the teabagging Constitutionalist Party leaning Republicans from more moderate voices who might be willing to consider a different definition of conservative.

Cao, who ran as independent in a previous election, was the first Republican to win this district since Reconstruction. As the Representative of a majority black community, Cao had asked to join the Black Caucus but was denied.

YES Men Take Survivaballs for a Stroll On San Francisco Streets

Fun video by Polidoc featuring the Yes Men's Halliburton Survivaballs Escorted down Market Street by "Chevron Minions" during this San Francisco action on November 1, 2009.

Serving up the message of corporate responsibility to San Ramon, CA based Chevron Oil, the YES Men marched down San Francisco streets after the premiere of their activist movie "The Yes Men Fix the World" on November 1, 2009. In conjunction with Global Exchange and other Bay Area environmental and human rights groups, the Yes Men hope to link Chevron's plan to expand its refinery in the East Bay to human and environmental rights abuses in other countries and part of the United States.

In "The Yes Men Fix the World," the infamous pranksters, amongst them Andy Bichlbaum, heaps doses of irony to shine a light on the negligence of companies that place profit over people. Clever vignettes, something that crosses between "Ocean's Eleven" "Pink Panther" and "Get Smart" weave the documentary pieces of their actions together into a great piece of entertainment. This movie now showing across the nation serves up a hopeful and eviscerating commentary on the corporate players of our world.

Waiting for the Elephant: Healthcare

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Progressive Talk Show Host Ed Schultz says that President Obama's backroom deals are leading to a trigger and denying a public option in which real competition can be created, all in the hopes of attaching a Republican or two to the healthcare reform bill in this video.

Protesters Storm Chain-Linked Fence of Coal Plant

Climate Activists Charge the Fence of a Coal Energy Plant in the United Kingdom in a series of protests leading up to the U.N. Climate Convention in Copenhagen in January, 2010.