Progressive's Reality Check

Now that Barack Obama has been elected, and the Bush years, will finally be relegated to history. We progressives have found that while elated and somehow validated by the recent election results, we are also still alone, perhaps more alone than ever. As our post election reverie fades, and our senses return, we are finding out that the world, with an Obama in the White house may hold a bit more promise than it did with Bush at the helm, but is still likely to disappoint us. For example, post the manic election season, we have noticed that John Stewart is not really that funny, although many of his 'reporters' are very funny, he is not. We have known all along that Barack Obama is every bit a modern politician with his allegiances to big money, and the status quo, but we acted as though we had at least been temporarily seduced by the lofty rhetoric of a candidate who hit some of the right buttons. The problem here is that real deep and meaningful change is as unlikely as it ever was. No doubt we will be buoyed by a shift in political focus, better environmental management, increased investment in renewable energy sources, improvements in access to health care for Americans, maybe even more realistic national focus on education and science, a perhaps more enlightened world view, and a more considered foreign policy and stable and thoughtful decision making in the White House, which will all be welcomed. While Thomas Friedman is just now getting the problems of carbon based energy and overpopulation, his latest brainstorm (hot, flat, crowded) some of us remember Pete Seeger singing about the problems of population growth, a half century ago. And have understood for over a two decades that ending the use carbon based fuels was the only pathway to tomorrow. True progressive thinkers are still in a wilderness, with few other travelers. Where is the reality check on Israel, can we count on Rahm Israel Emanuel to support Obama in implementing the Geneva Accords and bringing 50 years of warfare to an end. Can we count on Obama to restore civil liberties, habeus corpus, and put back the serious constitutional restrictions on the office he is about to occupy? Will Obama support the UN instead of denigrating it, will he allow it to become a serious forum for global action and cooperation? Will he really reform wall street and corporate governance? We hope for big things, as we always do, because at our core we believe in mankind. At least we still have Stephen Colbert.