Barack Obama’s inauguration as our next president is a cause for great celebration. Three decades of conservative dominance, not to mention eight years of corruption and abuse of power, have finally been voted out by the American people. Our first black president will be the most popular president to enter office in the history of our country.
But, as Obama reminds us, there is a vast amount of work to do, an enormous weight of problems to solve. He will get panicked advice from all quarters about economic, energy, and foreign policy issues. Even though I believe Obama himself is a genuinely pragmatic progressive, we have to raise our own voices to make sure that the most repeated, loudest advice he receives points him toward effective, progressive solutions to our country’s problems, rather than the same overcautious corporate payoffs the political establishment is so fond of.
This is no time for relinquishing our political agency. Tuesday, January 20th is a day for celebration. Wednesday, January 21st, is the beginning of a new era, one in which we must help our beloved new president guide this teetering country toward stability. In the words of Barack Obama himself: we know the battle ahead will be long, but remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.